BP Pistol question

n5638b · 08-07-2007, 04:22 PM

Hi all, Just got a bp pistol for my birthday and have a couple of questions. It is an 1851Navy Civilian replica by Pietta, 44 cal. Can a guy shoot conicalsout if this suchas the Buffalo Bullet Slick Silver's?Or are you stuck with round balls only?If you can, do you need to use a wad with them? Also,the book recommends some kind of lube on top of the ball for an additional seal. What if anything do you guys recommend?

cayugad · 08-07-2007, 05:42 PM

There are conical bullets you can shoot out of them. I had some 200 gr .451 diameter conicals that would shoot out of my Pietta New Army .44 caliber Revolver but I had; terrible accuracy, they were a PITA to load, and you had to be very careful with seating depth or you could jam your cylinder. They just were not worth the hassle. In fact I melted them down and made roundball out of them.

I used to shoot a .451 roundball with 30 grains of Goex 3f. Not anymore. I now shoot a .451 roundball, a fiber wad all on top of 30 grains of American Pioneer 3f powder. Accuracy is exceptional, power if excellent, and the fact you are shooting APP helps in the end of the day clean up, plus I never had to break the revolver down during the day time and actually clean the revolver as I used to have to do with Goex 3f.

with this load I was able to penetrate at 25 yards a true 2" thick plank. With that kind of penetration this is a very powerful revolver load.

I would tell you to check Black Jack Hill's site for those conicals, but I heard he is taking for ever to fill orders now, which does not impress me, so you judge for yourself....

n5638b · 08-07-2007, 06:10 PM

Cayugad, do you use some sort of lube on top of the ball for a seal?

cayugad · 08-07-2007, 07:41 PM

I load; pwder, wad, press the ball into the cylinder and I do then smear the top of the cylinder with a home made castor oil, bees wax lube. Bore butter or Crisco also work for this. They claim if the lubed wad is used, you do not have to use the over they cylinder lube...

BUT

Many years ago, I had a chain fire and that scared the devil out of me. I was even using Spit Ball on the cylinders at the time. How the chain fire happened, I have no idea, but that is not something you want to experience.