How do you feel about shooting antiques? I hear opinions from you shouldn't and I never, to hearing from guys on this forum who clearly shoot their old guns. What's your thoughts? Is it wrong to put the stresses of firing on old guns and not preserve them from any further wear and tear?
Do you shoot your antiques?
- Thread starter Grizzlypeg
- Start date
I have a bunch of antique revolvers and rifles, and I shoot them all. I don't try to soup the ammo up, and generally, if it is a black powder era gun, that is what I shoot in it. Some antiques, like the French 1892 revolvers, were actually made for smokeless powder and jacketed bullets, so that is what they get. It is best to shoot black powder in the BP era antiques, since there is no worry about over charging a case using BP. Antique guns don't have the reserve of strength that, say, a Ruger Blackhawk has to handle an overload. Read some of the posts in the handloading forums, and there is always a story or two about accidental over charges. If you must use smokeless, use Trailboss powder. It's bulky enough that you can't over charge MOST cases. Keep in mind, many BP guns shoot best using black powder. It isn't wise to run 100 rounds a month through old guns, of course. Parts will eventually wear out, and replacements may be pricey! But, provided the gun is in good shape, and some common sense is applied, there is NO reason to retire an antique gun to the safe. Shoot them! Have fun!
I shoot all mine.
I have a few higher Valued guns that i only shoot lighter loads in tho.
No point in stressing them more than nessasary.
My bush packer gets the crap shot outa it tho.
Its a Solid frame gun tho so its a tough bugger like the 1878 DA colt i have listed in the EE it can handle heavyer loads than most Antique handguns.
I also have a S&W DA frist model with the long cylinder that i Shoot that factory 44 special Winchester cowboy ammo outa. its a 240 Gr bullet at about 730 Fps.
The gun can handle 800 + fps with a SWC but i dont like to stress it to much as i love S&W top breaks and its one of my favorite guns.
I wont shoot BP in ANY of my Antique revolvers tho.
I have a few higher Valued guns that i only shoot lighter loads in tho.
No point in stressing them more than nessasary.
My bush packer gets the crap shot outa it tho.
Its a Solid frame gun tho so its a tough bugger like the 1878 DA colt i have listed in the EE it can handle heavyer loads than most Antique handguns.
I also have a S&W DA frist model with the long cylinder that i Shoot that factory 44 special Winchester cowboy ammo outa. its a 240 Gr bullet at about 730 Fps.
The gun can handle 800 + fps with a SWC but i dont like to stress it to much as i love S&W top breaks and its one of my favorite guns.
I wont shoot BP in ANY of my Antique revolvers tho.
I have two classes of antiques; those that I shoot and those that I have not reconditioned yet so that I can shoot them. The earliest date to around 1790 and I have several percussion rifles from the 1840 - 1860 era that I shoot several times a year. In condition they range from hard used to very good in condition
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
- Location
- Spencerville, Ontario
My oldest is a Marlin 1892 in .32 long Colt, made in 1896. The rest are lever guns up to 1920. I've fired them all, except the above mentiond Marlin. Now I have the ammo, so its turn is next. .32 Colt is pretty light anyway and the gun has been inspected. The ammo is from the 60's. I have much older ammo, but don't want to use collectible stuff. I've never had a problem with old ammo. If it doesn't show any physical damage, it's probably ok to shoot.Guns were made to shoot.They should all be enjoyed at every opportunity, regardless of age.
- Location
- vancouver island
shooting antiques
at least half the enjoyment in owning old stuff is being able to use it. i have 3 different percussion long guns that are antique and get shot at reasonable intervals. a flint .34 and perc. .38 i use in squirrel shoots, a.54 scottish stalking rifle for trail walks ,and a .65 smoothbore for that frustrating pastime. smaller charges in fff seem to work well and little coking occurs. same with antique pistols, still waiting to try my remington navy but with only 15 gr of fff again it should not be a problem. nothing beats the thrill of sighting down a 160 year old barrel touching her off and hitting the bull. thanks to the craftsman that first put her together.
at least half the enjoyment in owning old stuff is being able to use it. i have 3 different percussion long guns that are antique and get shot at reasonable intervals. a flint .34 and perc. .38 i use in squirrel shoots, a.54 scottish stalking rifle for trail walks ,and a .65 smoothbore for that frustrating pastime. smaller charges in fff seem to work well and little coking occurs. same with antique pistols, still waiting to try my remington navy but with only 15 gr of fff again it should not be a problem. nothing beats the thrill of sighting down a 160 year old barrel touching her off and hitting the bull. thanks to the craftsman that first put her together.
BrotherRockeye
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rural Saskatchewan
black powder is corrosive and requires far more clean up.
smokeless ain't a passing fad
and to the original question- absofrigginlutely
shootin irons were made to shoot!
Ya its corrosive and i know you can clean it up but with the minor pits ect in old antique bores i just dont think id get all the salts outa them tiny pits.
Even a 120 year old bore that looks pit free and minty has tiny micoscopic pits here and there.
I perfer Smokeless and know enough about it that i dont need to use BP
I used to use BP once in awhile but had a bore get worse when i thought it was cleaned really good in and old wilkinson revolver after storage.
thats never happened with smokeless gunpowder to me.
So im Smokeless only now.
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tactical870
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Buckhorn, Ontario
All my antiques get shot regularly including a 577 Snider, 43 Mauser, 455 Webley, and 32 rfs. And hopefully an 1892 in 8mm in the near future...
It is easy to clean up. As to leaving corrosive salts, that is another myth. BP fouling is not corrosive in the way Czech military 7.62x39 is. The effect is much the same as leaving a piece of cloth in the bore, it will absorb moisture if left in contact with the metal. Unlike Pyrodex, which actually leaves CORROSIVE acid in the fouling. I once had a Webley rust on me, after I left it for a week after shooting Unique. If I had been using BP, I would have been more inclined to clean it right away, but I know now that ANY fouling left in the bore can cause rust. If you have a pitted bore, treat it with olive oil, or bore butter, before shooting BP. That will ensure that the pits don't accumulate fouling.
That's right, when I fix up an antique to shoot, I clean the bore really well. Then, I pour a kettle full of boiling water through it, let dry, then apply either bore butter, olive oil, or my bullet lube. Let it sit, then run one dry patch through the bore. Never use petroleum based oil in a BP gun! That is what turns the fouling hard.
I only recently started using olive oil, and it's easier to use than the stiffer bore butter, etc.
Same here.. Unique smokeless powder in very conservative quantities is what my antique iron gets. I actually undercharge a little bit at first to see how well it goes, then add some more powder on each reload to see if the accuracy gets better (while never exceeding recommended loads, of course). For example, my .44 special reloads have the same loads as those for .44 russian, with the minimum smokeless load stipulated in the book being my maximum for antiques. No way that will cause any damage... and I try not to drink & reload, so a double charge shouldn't be a problem either.
Personally, I think jacketed bullets and BP are a big no no if you want to keep your antique cartridge guns in good shape. A cast bullet will never wear out a bore, whereas jacketed ones will strip rifling over time. Hence my recent investment in a lead melter & a variety of molds in order to feed my collection with a healthy diet.
Oh and yes... BP should be used for muzzleloaders/cap and ball ONLY! (now let's get ready for some flaming by the hardcore BP enthusiasts, lol!)
Same here.. Unique smokeless powder in very conservative quantities is what my antique iron gets. I actually undercharge a little bit at first to see how well it goes, then add some more powder on each reload to see if the accuracy gets better (while never exceeding recommended loads, of course).
Personally, I think jacketed bullets and BP are a big no no if you want to keep your antiques in good shape. A cast bullet will never wear out a bore, whereas jacketed ones will strip rifling pretty fast. Hence my recent investment in a lead melter & a variety of molds in order to feed my collection with a healthy diet.
I've never known anyone who used BP with jacketed bullets.
Sounds like a fool's errand. My old .32WCF '92 is used almost exclusively with BP now, and has been for eight years. The 18gr. charge of FFFG leaves so little fouling, that one patch with some olive oil cleans it right up, even after 25 or more shots. The bore in that old rifle is covered in fine pits, too.
