Well I clicked the Cabelas' banner which lead me to a sale on Black Powder Revolvers. The deal was too good to pass up so ordered this using wifi on the flight going to CA and the revolved was waiting for me in TX when I got home yesterday. No background check or FFL, just straight to my door. Its a Pietta Model 1858 New Army Target .44 Caliber Revolver. Got lots to learn now as I have never done Black Powder before. After studying the BP process, found a low pressure load for my 1868 .45-70 Rem Rolling Block. Hoping I can find a substitute for this revolver like TrailBoss. Either way I have lots to learn. Any tips?

do you want to use TrailBoss in that revolver? I can assure you that it has a strong (closed) frame, but I would never try anything else but black powder... and I don't use that thing very often. It's too much work to clean and I never trust it completely due to that possible chain reaction (when you forget to at some fat at the top of your lead ball).
What I can recommend is to take your chamfering tool and give a few turns on every chamber (so the lead ball can enter easier with les stripping).

Pay attention: the balls for a .44 revolver are somewhat bigger in diameter than for a frontloader, because it has to seal without the use of anything else.

BTW: don't be afraid to make your hands dirty when using such a thing.

Have a look at Hodgdon Triple Se7en...It's as close to black powder as you can get. I use it in my TC Hawken .50 cal. Ballistics and charge levels are the same.

Nice revolver.

Boy, you sure are a "downer" today Aloysius...

it's raining here and I don't have duck-feelings nor feeth, alltough I could make similar noises occasionally...
he who needs glasses to see, often doesn't like water. Any idea how often I have to clean my glasses now?

Well Damn sorry Aloy. Suppose to rain here too. It IS gettin' on to winter you know...

Waiting [im]patiently for a "gun report"...

You're pardoned.

And I'm also wondering when SJ is going to heat his blackpowder to make these temperature curves... never seen results when using hot BP

And yes it's a nice revolver, but nevertheless try to be carefull when you're having fun.

ever tried "quick draw" on balloons? Just fill him up with (coarse) BP and no ball...

Bushmaster wrote:

Waiting [im]patiently for a "gun report"...

yes, Bushy, you will have to be patient. Got too many higher priority projects to take care of. The price was just too good to pass.

MMMMMM....gun porn there Slim, looks very nice mate. I like Aloys suggestion about the Trail Boss mate. If you get sick of the mess from the black, maybe some light loads of TB will be fun to try.

TB was made for cowboy action shooting loads so it shouldnt be too hard at all to get it to work for you.
very tidy looking weapon.

Most black powder reproduction gun come with a warning to never use any smokeless powder. I have known some who did but I wouldn't risk my gun using smokeless powder.
Most of the cowboy action shooters that I know are using guns made for smokeless powder and loading them with black powder cartridges.

I second the Hodgdon 777. Cleans easily with water. Don't use petroleum based lubes with black powder. The fouling reacts with the stuff and gets like tar. I use "bore butter" from T/C. I'm also trying some Seal 1 to see how it does. It smells like bubble gum!

www.seal1.net/Seal-1-P...-PAGE.html

Pkslinger, are you using the Seal 1 on modern firearms?

Interesting...looks to be a reasonably good product Punkin. I'll be looking forward to a detailed "range report" mate.

Slim, yep, trying it on some handguns (that I don''t get to shoot enough).

Thanks Mike, I hadnt heard of Seal one, might be worth a look.

Now you got me wondering what they put in bubble gum.....