Help fireing an early black powder cartridge rifle

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msg.drew

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My grandpa has now retired years back he bought a black powder rifle... golf season is over and I want to take him to the range to fire it since he has never shot it since he had it. Only problem is I have never shot a black poweder and want to make sure is all done right. Another issue is I dont have instructions for the gun and just a box of bits...

The gun is a german copy of an ealy 54 cal black powder cartridge gun...I want to say its a civil war classic... its a rifle that is a falling block that you can load up brass black powder cartridges with powder and a 54 caliber ball and then at a later time insert them into the gun to be fired... I know how much powder to use because there is a little paper in german that came with the gun.

In the box of bits there is about 10 thick brass cartridges, 54 cal balls, percusion caps, little round cloth patches and I think there was some other patches either cardboard or cork...

I have the basic idea down... load the brass bit with powder and then jam the ball on the end of the brass cartridge but I dont know what the patches are for...

I might go and take a picture of everything later on if know one can figure out what i am talking about.
 
Apart from the falling block comment, sounds like one of the Gallagher reproductions. These were made in Germany. The barrel moves foreward and then tips up? Cloth patches are likely for cleaning, perhaps lubricated wads were used under the balls.
 
Be sure to fill the case with powder. No airspace allowed in BP cartridges. If there is cardboard wads (circular disks - bore size) one or two can go over the powder charge, then some lube, like crisco or BP lube like SPG, then a ball.
BP guns like to have a lot of lube or grease in the load to keep the fouling residue soft.
Take a cleaning rod to the range and use it to clean the bore every couple shots. A cloth patch wetted with windsield wiper fluid works well to clean away the fouling.
 
cool that alot of good information... its probally a good idea to assemble these rounds at home like you would reload smokeless... I have some spg and lyman gold on the bench so i will use that as lube.

How do you know when the ball is seated properly in the brass case... do you tap it in with a hammer or is there a special tool
 
yep I went and looked at it today its a Gallager alright

The instructions say to open the breech... insert the lead ball, fill up the brass powder measure, insert the powder measure, close the breach and lock it...

I thought you could assemble these brass rounds before hand?

It also says powder; 55 grain max at 55yd. 43,3 grain

In the box there is also some Match Schusspflaster, match patches for those who dont speak german... and some verdammungs-pfropfen my german isnt that good but they are little 54 caliber wads i think they are like little scrubbing pads.
 
Yes but there is a ledge on the brass measure it wont go past that...

Actually I think the instructions are right just missing some information... if you fill up the brass powder measure and stick on of these wads on top it caps its off perfectly...
 
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How sensitive are these things to lead... I am going to cast out some handgun bullets can I use the same lead to make balls for this?

Its about %6 antimony %2Tin %92 lead
 
Bullets cast for Black Powder use should be pure lead if possible, for best accuracy. as soft lead will expand to seal barrel upon firing. Hard lead will not expand and may not be a good fit, actually causing more leading,then a soft lead bullet.
 
Well never fireing a black powder gun before in my life these things are pretty awesome I would rank it up there with such cool modern stuff as AR-15's and tacticool toys some of us like to play with.

Thanks for all your help guys this was a great day today with my grandpa he really enjoyed shooting this black powder gun that he has had for 10 years now and never fired....

The recoil is 0 which is suprising

Interesting fact is the pure led balls that came with the rifle where less accurate then my alloy mix balls I made last night with left over lead from my pistol casting machine.

We fired 11 shots in total because thats all the brass meausures that I loaded up with my digital scale the night before its not in the spirt of black powder but I am sure its more accurate then the old funnly and line on the case.

Anyone who owns the this model do you know why the brass measure sticks in the action of the gun sometime and wont retract out with the breach after its been fired... I am guessing it just needs to be fired a bit more to wear on the brass powder measures a bit.

Anyways I might add a few black powders to my collection now they are pretty cool... maybe a historic rifle and pistol...
 
Cleaning was fine about the same time it takes to clean any other gun..

He hasn't shot a gun in about 30 years and it was the first time ever shooting a pistol... not to bad with a 1911.

Actually I am impressed with the rifle for 1860 its was quite the thing I could imagine the rate of fire on this vrs an old style ram rod black powder.

Wonder if I can use this type during the controlled shotgun muzzel loader hunt here in ontario I am guessing its not a muzzle loader though
 
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You probably can't use it in a muzzle loader hunt, but that is the perfect excuse to buy another rifle.
This story is a neat reversal of the more common scenario, where Grandpa takes the kids out shooting. I like it.
 
He wants to go again... we did historic military rifle the black powder and then modern military... I let him try a 10.5" AR and a 1911 too..

What kind of velocity do you think the 54 black powder is producing?
 
We went back to the range again today we shot the black powder again and a few more of my toys...

couple more gallager black questions... the brass rounds are getting a slight bell on the end and its preventing them from easly entering and exiting the barrel... is there some sizing tool to get them back in spec?

second we cant quite figure out once you fired the gun how to extract the case sometimes it comes out fine other times I had to slowly open the action and use my thumb to apply pressure on the case and use the lever on the bottem to get the case out sometimes it was stuck right tight so I used the a piece of rifle brass to tap it on the sides to get it loose so i could pull it out...

Is there some special way to get the case out quick and easy.
 
I lube my cases well they come out easier a wood dowel as a clearing rod to poke out old case .
 
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