ken fowler
Regular
- Location
- Sarnia Ontario
I am thinking of loading BP for cowboy. I shoot 12 gu and 357.pistols and 44 rifle. Can any one give me some tips. I do have R/S =FFG can this be used in any. Thanks Ken
cartrige loading BP
- Thread starter ken fowler
- Start date
for 12 g shotguns you want 80 grains of 2F then a fiber wad (no plastic) and of course your shot. I use prelubed muzzle loading wads which are readily available locally.
For pistol, I would suggest using a soft lube such as SPG or Paul Mathews lube or much cheaper a 50% mix of bees wax and an animal grease such as rendered suet or beef fat. You would also be wise with black powder to pour some water through the barrel plus a quick brush every two cylinders or so to reduce leading. I would use 3F powder and fill the case with enough that when the bullet is seated it touches the powder and is the correct length.l Black powder cartridges are most accurate when the powder is lightly compressed and on a short pistol shell, I doubt that a drop tube is very important.
If you are buying prelubed slugs with a hard waxy lube on them, would suggest putting them in boiling water to melt the wax off of them then lube with the soft lube.
cheers mooncoon
For pistol, I would suggest using a soft lube such as SPG or Paul Mathews lube or much cheaper a 50% mix of bees wax and an animal grease such as rendered suet or beef fat. You would also be wise with black powder to pour some water through the barrel plus a quick brush every two cylinders or so to reduce leading. I would use 3F powder and fill the case with enough that when the bullet is seated it touches the powder and is the correct length.l Black powder cartridges are most accurate when the powder is lightly compressed and on a short pistol shell, I doubt that a drop tube is very important.
If you are buying prelubed slugs with a hard waxy lube on them, would suggest putting them in boiling water to melt the wax off of them then lube with the soft lube.
cheers mooncoon
Even if you melt off the smokeless lube and relube with BP lube, you'll likely run into fouling issues, especially with the rifle. The lube groove on any commercially cast bullets I've seen is miniscule and doesn't carry enough lube to coat even a carbine barrel. You may get away with it in the handguns. If you don't want to get into casting, I would suggest you invest in some BoreSnakes for each calibre. Get some Windex with Vinegar (not Ammonia). I've only seen it at WalMart. I dilute one bottle of Windex with Vinegar into a gallon jug of water. This gets transferred into smaller bottles, and should last you a good long time. This stuff just eats BP fouling. After each stage, douse the BoreSnake with the Windex/water solution and pull it through the barrels. Remember to keep the top of the rifle action facing downwards so nothing runs into your action. This should keep you functioning through the match. I've had some luck with Pyrodex pellets, topped with a WonderWad, and then using one of the re-lubed commercial bullets. Not great, and I wouldn't leave them sitting around for too long after you load them since the lube in the WonderWad may contaminate the powder.
If you want to do a bit of reading on other options, wander over to w w w.cascity.com and scroll down to the Darksiders Den. A wealth of info here. Also, surf over to #### Dastardly's site and read up on BigLube bullets. These let you shoot an entire match without cleaning, but you'll have to get into casting.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
If you want to do a bit of reading on other options, wander over to w w w.cascity.com and scroll down to the Darksiders Den. A wealth of info here. Also, surf over to #### Dastardly's site and read up on BigLube bullets. These let you shoot an entire match without cleaning, but you'll have to get into casting.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
sid strait
New member
- Location
- north west of edmonton
a couple years ago wholesale sports had some lyman cowboy bullets ready made and had a black lube worked well for me with 45 colts, basically i fill the case , using powder measure on press, to about 1/8 or so from top , compress powder with bullit and crimp on groove, I have shot as many as 100-150 rounds without cleaning(full afternoon) usiong cowboy bullets lubed with tenderflake lard pork fat not canola and a little bees wax , clean-up hot water and dish soap, dry guns reaaly well oil them a little exesivly and check them after a week or so to make sure oiling is good
rhs has it right, use a cast bullet with lots of room for lube and don't use a lube with petroleum products in it.....fill case with 2f or 3f so there is some compression, but def. no empty space. Cast bullets lubed with BP lube avail. from MT Chambers Supply...enjoy! There is nothing neater than when you set off a few BP loads for the first time!!!
