I "SNAG"ed A Couple Tool Boxes Yesterday

I plan to use this set just for gunsmith only tools, cleaning supplies, and parts. It will clean out several drawers and a couple square feet of surface on my front office work bench. I may put some reloading supplies and a couple presses in it as well if the bottom drawers are deep enough. Well, until I get the file cabinets out of the file room, and get a proper work bench built in that room.

Bob La Londe

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Do you know a good non-fouling target load for a "BP-only" 45-70 Sharps or original Trapdoor?

Powder or lead fouling ? Have you tried triple 7 ? A little hotter than BP but it burns pretty clean and the residue isn't as corrosive as the real thing . Are you casting your own slugs ? Gas checks ?

Nice play on words , Bob ! Sounds like your score is as good as mine .

Triple 7 is about as good as there is. Its very marginally more powerful than PB, but a spacer of some kind to fill the case will work just fine. In cap and ball you just drop the powder load a little and work up to what you want.

I've heard good things about Blackhorn 209, but its a lot more expensive, and some states will not accept it as a BP substitute for BP only hunts.

I do have a BP loading manual somewhere that I can use to look up some loads if you like, but you may be more comfortable buying your own copy than taking the word of "some guy on the Internet."

Ha! You beat me to it.

A little hotter

On page 308 of the Lyman Black Powder Handbook & Reloading Manual, where the cartridge data begins it says, "All loads are measured by volume. All loads completely fill the case and are compressed by the bullet

This is what I thought. You can get over pressure with black powder if it is loose in the cartridge / chamber. That is why muzzle loaders try to always be careful to fully seat the bullet (and patch) against the charge. Failing to do so can result in ruptures in old weak guns and bulges even in newer reproduction guns. Yes, even with an otherwise correct charge.

I do not know if Triple 7 is subject to the same issues, but except for being slightly hotter its a direct replacement. It should be used the same except for adjusting the volume down and adding a spacer or wad to get the muzzle velocity you normally would with a similar BP load.

I'd been looking into this for possible use in reloading 32SW. 32SW Long is still available and I may be able to order 32SW Long brass and cut it down for those old vest 32s. There are also modern powder loads for 32SW and 32SW long, but I don't want to wind up with 50 different powders on the shelf.

I can look in my other manuals to see if there is a modern powder load for your cartridge, but you asked about BP sub. Triple 7 would be my first choice.

Hodgdons has a BP loading chart on their website . I don't know if it covers BP metallic cartridges though . I was looking for load data for

The Lyman book shows 44 revolver from 20-35gr with round ball, and from

If you are target shooting short to medium range I'd start at 20 if your lever arm will push them in deep enough. Less powder means less fouling, although with BP that may be a distinction without a difference.

The Lyman book shows 44 revolver from 20-35gr with round ball, and from

If you are target shooting short to medium range I'd start at 20 if your lever arm will push them in deep enough. Less powder means less fouling, although with BP that may be a distinction without a difference. Bob La Londe

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I have a repro Colt 1851 Navy, 36 caliber, and settled on 15 grains of BP for making the powder flask to dispense the target load.

Apparently .36 caliber is 100 balls per pound of lead and .44 is 50.

One's a .36 Navy , the other is a .44 Army . Both were built from kits , the .36 by me and the .44 by my father . It's been a long time since these have been fired , but I seem to recall filling the chambers level full and pressing a ball in flush - or a bit below . I need to replace the hand on the .36 , I damaged it when I built it and it's never been quite right . Got a new hand , just haven't taken time to fit it .

I did that the last time I shot C&B revolvers, and I recall the fouling was pretty horrible. That was using Goex, but the first thing the BP revolver groups said was too much powder. The second was Goex produces a lot of fouling.

I downloaded the Hodgdens BP data , I think I'll start with around 25 gr for the .36 and 30 for the .44 . I'll start with the Pyrodex P , then try the 777 FFF . A question since you have gunsmithing experience . This .36 Navy revolver has always shot about the width of the front sight to the left . The octagonal barrel is not clocked precisely to the frame , if I can rotate the barrel just enough to bring it into alignment it will also correct the windage . How big a deal is this to do ? One thing - the finish on this revolver (and my CVA .50 Plains Rifle) is straight out of the Browning Arms tanks in SLC , courtesy of my friend since childhood , The MudShark . Muddy was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and I'd rather leave it the way it is rather than risk damage to the finish .

"Snag" wrote in message news:v4vlq8$26dqj$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...

I downloaded the Hodgdens BP data , I think I'll start with around 25 gr for the .36 and 30 for the .44 . I'll start with the Pyrodex P , then try the 777 FFF . A question since you have gunsmithing experience . This .36 Navy revolver has always shot about the width of the front sight to the left . The octagonal barrel is not clocked precisely to the frame , if I can rotate the barrel just enough to bring it into alignment it will also correct the windage . How big a deal is this to do ? One thing - the finish on this revolver (and my CVA .50 Plains Rifle) is straight out of the Browning Arms tanks in SLC , courtesy of my friend since childhood , The MudShark . Muddy was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and I'd rather leave it the way it is rather than risk damage to the finish . Snag

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First off. I hack at my own stuff more so than I am any kind of gunsmith or have any real gunsmithing experience. Mostly I make parts and I replace parts.

There is a lot to unpack in that question. Exactly how do you plan to twist it all?

If I recall in the old CVA imported kit guns (I built a .36 Navy when I was a kid) there are pins in the front of the frame that align with holes in the barrel assembly. While not a wide stance it is a 3 point alignment with the cylinder pin.

I suppose if you can twist that assembly you will be changing the position of the front site in relation to the rear site. In that respect its no different than adjusting adjustable sights. Well other than being harder and less predictable since you will be moving both the sight and the bore.

The first thing I would do is check the alignment of everything. Just look everything over and make sure everything looks straight and even. If anything is out find out why and see if you can fix that.

Then took a look down the bore and see if your timing is right. That might be hard to see, so if you have access to a bore scope you might pull a nipple, and look in from the back with the hammer in full c*ck or removed. If not you can try to "feel" it with a stiff wire hook tool from the front

These kit guns vary from one series and maker to the next. If its got a blade front it might be just as easy to bend the front blade that much. Or maybe you can work the hammer notch over... which would require re-bluing.

Often its about what you are willing to accept to get what you want.

Recently I repainted the sight holes on a Norinco 1911A1 for the owner. Norincos are somewhat collectable since their import ban in the early

Yeah, soft jaws are really handy if you need to reef on something. Leather padded plywood jaws are one of my favorites. Prismatic jaws are handy for somethings too, but simple leather padded wood works for

This is all just my opinion based on my thoughts and my experiences, and as Paul Harrell would say I have no illusions that my thoughts are housed in a mind of greatness. LOL

Paul is a fun, entertaining, and educational GunTuber who unfortunately is dying cancer. There was a big push to get his channel up to over a million subscribers before he died. Its over a million subscribers.

If you want to see some great restoration and repair videos check out Mark Novak. He covers rust bluing, spring making, and a host of other interesting topics.

This one was built from a Navy Arms kit , around 1975 or 76 . The barrel is threaded into the frame or I wouldn't be asking ... the barrel is not quite tightened to the point that the vertical flats are parallel to the vertical sides of the frame .

The timing is dead on . The bolt locks up just as the sear engages the hammer . It's never shaved lead .

Repairing this finish is not an option - I forgot to say that it's browned . The 3 mementos I have of one of the best friends I ever had are the 2 BP arms he had browned for me when he worked at Browning Arms and a Buck 110 sheath he gave me because his dog chewed mine up in 1994 when my brother (the dead one , not the tranny) had a massive heart attack .

I was mostly looking for ideas on holding it - probably by the barrel

- while I used some kind of "wrench" - likely to be a chunk of local hickory properly shaped for the task - to tighten the frame/barrel a few degrees to bring the front blade to center over the barrel .

I was mostly looking for ideas on holding it - probably by the barrel

- while I used some kind of "wrench" - likely to be a chunk of local hickory properly shaped for the task - to tighten the frame/barrel a few degrees to bring the front blade to center over the barrel . Snag

--------------------------------- I'm not a gunsmith, but I looked into it and several other skills for hints on building scientific instruments and lab experiments when I managed a lab and model shop at Mitre. I think what you want is to buy or make an "action wrench".

This one is a Remington , full frame with a top strap - which is why I chose this one . Dad liked mine so much he got one in .44 - looking at the box Dad's came in it says "Remington 1858 style steel frame revolver" . Colts have the barrel retained by a wedge if I understand correctly .

Just looking at it , The barrel being octagon I can put it in my mill vise with some padding . Using a wrench on the barrel is almost certainly going to damage the finish . A nice sized chunk of hickory with a couple of notches to engage the frame top and bottom straps might be stout enough to rotate the frame - or maybe not .