Black powder pistols

[Jerry Bruette]

No recommendation on black powder, but if you decide to look at modern handguns in revolvers a S&W 686 or in semi-autos a Glock 19 would be a good starting point.

Had a S&W 686 with a 8 3/8 inch barrel, very nice shooting gun. Sold it to a family member and I've regretted it ever since.

[Scott Donley]

The real problem with BP guns, is having to clean them with soap and water and not get the wood wet, very messy.

[Tom Stenzel]

Reading over the replies a couple of things come to mind.

I was trying to point out why blackpowder won't achieve what smokeless powder can. That doesn't mean something is 'under powered'. When I mentioned the humidity test earlier the gun used was a Ruger Old Army. The writer would get routinely get over 1000 fps out of it. That's not slow. I have one, it's a wonderful weapon. If I didn't have anything else and was hungry I'd go deer hunting with it.

For accuracy even with my shaky hands I can hit a pie plate at 50 yards every time. My rickety shot out M1 carbine isn't all that much better!

There was an article in American Rifleman years ago about ammo in magnum rifles with box magazines. Sometimes when the gun is fired the recoil will cause the rounds in the magazine to get a flattened tip. American Rifleman tested ammo with various flattened tips to see how much accuracy was lost. Turns out there was very little lost. Then they tried and put marks and damage on the trailing edge of the bullet. Then they went everywhere.

So why am I recounting this? When you put the ball in a muzzleloader the instructions are to always put the casting mark (sprue) upward. I think you know where this is going.

To make operating the ram easier I got the bright idea to load my revolver with the sprue downward into the powder charge. After shooting all six rounds at the target, I had ONE hole. In the paper. Nothing in the rings. I wondered what the heck happened. It was years later when I read that article and found why my bullets flew willy-nilly. Consider yourself warned.

With a single shot rifle or pistol make sure the ball is seated right on the powder. If it isn't you no longer have a gun. You now have a pipe bomb. The gun can and will come unglued on you. Before you shoot a muzzle loader make sure you read ALL the instructions and safety info. We want you to come back and show us the fancy wood stock or grips you made.

Ok, I had to make this relevant to wood working somehow.

-Tom

[Rich Engelhardt]

@ Tom - I, for one, didn't take anything you said as meaning the BP guns are under powered. Matter of fact, I think you did a good job of explaining a lot of things about BP.

@ Mike, a revolver is - - very broad brush here - - more reliable than a semi auto. If a round in a revolver fails to fire, for whatever reason, you just squeeze the trigger again. With a semi auto, you have to go through a "tap, rack, bang" drill - tap or rap the magazine to make sure it's all the way in, rack the slide to both clear the unfired round and chamber a fresh round, then squeeze the trigger.
On the flip side of this issue though, generally a semi auto is faster and easier to clear of a malfunction than a revolver. If/when a revolver gets tied up, it takes some time at a workbench to clear it and make it functional again.

This is just my opinion, but, in general I believe a stock revolver is far more accurate than a stock semi auto. For a revolver to even function, it has to me machined to much tighter specifications. Each chamber has to be pretty much in perfect alignment with the bore, or, the gun will batter itself to death by the bullets always hitting the side of the forcing cone.
Also - the sights don't constantly move - in conjunction with the action of the slide moving.

There's thousands of exceptions to my opinion......I'm just saying that if you took 1000 Smith and Wesson model 10 .38 specials & 1000 Glock model 17's - both extremely popular police pistols, the revolvers would shoot better and tighter groups.
So don't read more into what I said than that. And - there's a fair number of semi auto's that don't have their sights on the slide....

Also - to go along with what Daryl said - if you reload/handload, with a revolver you don't have to chase all over the place to collect your fired brass.
Also - to go along with what Jerry said - a revolver doesn't depend on the ammunition used to make it function. You can mix different power levels and different bullet types in the cylinder. In snake and bear country for instance, you can load shot shells for snakes & a heavy solid or hollow point for bear.

[michael langman]

Mike, Another point about revolvers is, alot of us grew up with revolvers and that is what we are used to. The barrel of the revolver sits up higher in the hand then a semi-auto pistol. A semi auto is naturally pointing in the hand then a revolver, but I still find the revolver more accurate to shoot for myself.
With e revolver you can usually see if a round is chambered and ready to be fired. In a semi auto not as evident. Therefore you could leave an empty round in the revolver and feel much safer, though an accidental fire is usually unlikely in a revolver.
Semi auto can seem more complicated to some people. And the revolver being more simple in operation is the best gun in some situations for a lot of people.

In regards to black powder guns and accuracy, and power: I bought a Gonic Arms 50 caliber rifle from a fellow toolmaker that had a business making them. He bought his barrels undersize, and sized the bore to an exact size to be used with his conical lead bullets.
The sized barrels improved accuracy, and consistant pressures under fire that produced consistant stopping power, enough to drop a rhinoceros with one shot of a 465 Grain bullet at 1800 fps. The accuracy at 100 yards is unbelievable.

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks to everyone for the comments on revolvers. I grew up on a farm and only used long guns. My first real experience with a handgun was in the army with the 1911A1 45 caliber and I guess I imprinted on semi automatics. Never had a lot of experience with revolvers - probably less than 100 rounds total.

Mike