“DallanC” wrote:

…First type, hard to light, burned slow and I had to keep rotating the paper to allow the flame to consume it. It went out before burning even 30% of the paper.

One problem with using “roll your own” cigarette papers is, it is my understanding that they are treated so they don’t burn or smoulder away any quicker that the tobacco. I may very well be this that causes them to not burn away quickly and totally. The True Wave seems to be the better option by far, and they are cheap enough as well.

Aloys, from memory, back in the 1800’s it was common practice to “cover off” the end of each chamber in a revolver after loading with “bear grease” to stop chain fires.

Ok, finally got some free time to try these. They actually were very easy to create. I did have two mis-haps with balls not being glued well enough to the paper. Also, Some were a bit on the fat side so it took a little pushing to get them into the cylinder.

But! They all fired. I was expecting some kind of delay in ignition from the time the cap fired until the charge went off, but I was please to say I noticed no delay at all with them firing. All paper was consumed just fine. I fired 18 and the only problem I had seems to have been a weak cap, I replaced the cap with another and the load went off immediately.

Pretty fun... much quicker to load and fire, but I really like a lubed felt pad under the ball... something you really cant do with a paper cartridge due to the lube soaking into the paper and powder.

Overall, it was a full success, easy to make if you're patent.

My wife shot a 6 shot string and started laughing after the first shot, these percussion guns are really fun. This was a Colt 1860 Pietta replica (I'm still trying to decide if I want to fire the original 1860 still... lol)

-DallanC

A lubed felt pad is still an option mate…try using pure beeswax. Melt the beeswax, dip your felt pad in it and allow it to dry. It should dry hard (sorta) but still be flexible enough to do the job. You could probably do the same with paraffin wax. When I was shooting pistol, I also tried dental wax…it’s dry but malleable however, it was too much mucking about for me to get it into the bullet lube bands (I didn’t have enough to put through a lube sizer or to dip the bullets in the melted wax).
The lube I ended up using was my own recipe, a mix of beeswax and ATF. Was a great lube and easy to use in the RCBS Lube Sizer. From memory, it was also reasonably “dry” so may not contaminate the powder etc.

Hooked!

Now try different powders... use 1 chamber only and go for a groupe...
and then use another shape of the bullet instead of the round ball and test again...

and did I already mention that there are also smoothbores? Going from a Brown Bess to a double flint... we don't have quail game overhere, but you can go quailhunting with a BP shotgun... lots of fun, only 1 disadvantage: hard to see if you hit the target or not...
and that double barrel: you can load 1 barrel with a ball or conical for wild boar and the other with shot for small game...

You know have entered another world, a world of smoke, fun and amazing things, a world you'd never have believed in when you were young...

Oh I've been into black powder rifles since about 1985... thats why I'm kindof shocked it took me this long to discover black powder pistols.

I think I have 5 bp rifles, all but one I've killed quite a few deer with. Its my weapon of choice ... we have 3 different weapon type seasons here, you can only pick of the 3.

I have a old pitted and rusted out hawkin barrel lying around. I've always meant to drill it out to .54" and use sabots for wads and turn it into a shotgun. I should revisit that idea one of these days.

-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

I have a old pitted and rusted out hawkin barrel lying around. I've always meant to drill it out to .54" and use sabots for wads and turn it into a shotgun. I should revisit that idea one of these days. -DallanC

Curiosity made me look that up... A .54 bore would be about a 28 gauge.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Curiosity made me look that up... A .54 bore would be about a 28 gauge.

That'd be perfect for grouse. A 410 is a tad light, 20 is a tad heavy... 12 definitely too heavy for close grouse. Certainly just a gimick type toy... but as I already have the barrel... $20 for a good bit and another $30 for drill extensions to drill over that length. Might be a fun winter project.

I just finished rebuilding a 1873 Winchester 44-40 firing pin that was broken. I absolutely can not find anyone with a the new pin I need (rifle is a gen2 but right as they were transitioning from gen1 so it has a gen1 bolt and firing pin but the rest of the gun is gen2). Lots of people have Gen2 pins... but gen1's are in very short supply.

Kindof fun projects.

-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

Pumpkinslinger wrote: Curiosity made me look that up... A .54 bore would be about a 28 gauge. That'd be perfect for grouse. A 410 is a tad light, 20 is a tad heavy... 12 definitely too heavy for close grouse. Certainly just a gimick type toy... but as I already have the barrel... $20 for a good bit and another $30 for drill extensions to drill over that length. Might be a fun winter project. I just finished rebuilding a 1873 Winchester 44-40 firing pin that was broken. I absolutely can not find anyone with a the new pin I need (rifle is a gen2 but right as they were transitioning from gen1 so it has a gen1 bolt and firing pin but the rest of the gun is gen2). Lots of people have Gen2 pins... but gen1's are in very short supply. Kindof fun projects. -DallanC

Don’t know where you’ve looked for a firing pin mate, but this guy seems to have a reasonable range of goodies…

Winchester Bob

Is there much difference between the 32.20 firing pin and the 44.40 firing pin? I would have thought that both being centrefire, the firing pin would be the same or similar apart from maybe bolt differences.

If nothing else, if you have a mate with a lathe, I’m sure he could produce a pin for you. Easy enough for a good machinist, then it’s just a matter of hardening and tempering the pin…again very easy.

Bob's pretty much retired from what I've heard. He stopped answering his phone due to "robo-calls" and says he will only answer emails. I've emailed him a couple times with no response. So while his website shows pins in stock, its impossible atm to get a hold of him to actually purchase anything.

What I did is what I saw someone else recommend on a Winchester forum. Square up the end of the broken firing pin, then center drill with an appropriate size drill bit (I measured and determined from calipers it was a #34 drill bit, that gave me just enough clearance for the bit to slide without interference in the bolt.

I then chucked that up in a drill press and inserted the pin into the bolt, and used the bolt as a guide to center up the firing pin itself. I made sure the bit had no pressure against the bolt, as I didnt want to remove any of that material. From there I slowly... and I mean sloooooowwwwwwwwly "pecked" at the firing pin to take off a few thousands at a time making sure its centered, parallel to the bit etc etc. After a good 10 min of that, I had enough of a hole and felt good enough about how everything was proceeding I increased the amount drilled before rechecking.

Once I got a deep enough hole to align the drill bit I stepped up the rate until I had a good 5/8" hole in the center of the firing pin. I put another #34 bit shank first into the bolt and rechecked everything, it slipped freely though the bolt face. I was really happy.

At that point I cleaned out all the drilling oil, and JB Welded that sucker in and left it to cure for 24 hours. The next day I slowly cut it off a tad long with a dremel, being careful to not heat it too much. It looked really good and I started taking material off until I reached .060" which is the max protrusion length for that gun. I then shaped it to a nice round shape. That gives me a nice tool hardened pin tip of the proper diameter and length.

I've yet to shoot it, but the next few shots will determine A) if it works, B) if I need to shorten it at all (obvious sign will be punctured primers). The min spec length is .040 so I have some wiggle room to dial this in.

-DallanC

That looks fantastic mate, and it’s a great idea.i have the remains of an old 32.20 her…if needs be, I can have a look at the firing pin in that and if it’s the same as yours, you’re welcome to it mate.

From what I've seen on suppliers, the 32-20 always has a different part # than the 44-40 pins. I'd imagine if they were interchangeable then they would be listed as such

As an aside, these people have alot of parts... just not a first gen pin LOL

homesteadparts.com/shop/index.php

-DallanC

This is from one of my local gun shops mate. It may or may not be of value to you. Note the price is in Aussie Dollars…at current exchange rates (XE) it comes out to US$97.75.

Hey thanks. Let me try out the current fix, if it doesn't work I'll have to go that route. Its a nice gun, its a round barrel 1873 in 44-40. I wanted a variation from the octagon version I already had. Yet again sortof recreating the small collection of rifles my dad had.

-DalanC

Roger that mate.