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Bare with me here. Water's off this week and I am too lazy to pull weeds today. So it is story time 
A couple of my Internet buddies here would seldom even consider shooting anything but the Holy Black in a Colt, Winchester or Sharps old or new! Troglodytes I envy for the most part. Well at least I envy their guns for sure!
Any way I took possession of a 1892 Colt late yesterday from a mutual friend of my buddy Jim Martin. This one is a 45. And one Jim had tuned some time ago. Likely Jim has gotten more old 1st Gen Colts up and running, and then perfectly timed than any modern smith has even seen in their shop. All good for us and more importantly saving thses old guns one at a time.
This is a curious gun as it was obviously rode really hard, but seemingly never put away wet. The original barrel and cylinder were both in really nice shape for a BP gun. Sights were untouched.
My original plan was to make it a "wall hanger". But after looking it over, I changed out the ejector rod to a crescent instead of a modern Colt bullseye piece and then ran a throating reamer into the barrel and removed a good bit of the BP pitting at the barrel throat. Not much of a throat job mind you, just enough to make a clean transition from cylinder to barrel. This one was beginning to show its 130 age and really needed it!
I get pretty antsy about folks wanting to shoot "reduced smokeless loads" in the older BP guns. And I am not a big fan of the BP clean up routine. So generally, I just don't shoot my oldest guns. Lots of reasons...the 2nd reason, after the clean up, is a 255gr bullet on top of a case full of 3f is a hand full. If you haven't had that pleasure you really need to make that effort for at least 6 rounds. It can be life changing and is for some. I like the experience just from a historical prespective.
I shoot 1000s of 45acp ball equivalent rounds a month. And my hands eventually get sore these days. When they do I switch of 9mm and shoot a lot less. A 255gr load in 45 Colt I simply find unpleasant. Kinda like hot 44 Mag loads.
But this 1892 gun I really wanted to shoot. That in mind, I do have a good stock of 200gr bullets loaded over a full case of Swiss 3F in the "Cowboy 45 Special" brass. Basically a 45 ACP case with a 45 Colt rim. Any pressure issues in the old guns are solved with the shorter case, less powder, lighter bullets. But trust me, you know you are shooting a 45 when you drop the hammer on these stubby little C45S cases. And they actually fall out of this gun's cylinder chambers once fired. Hard to not like the end results of C45S brass.
Any way, back to the Colt. Barrel and cylinder are still in fine form. Front sight left untouched for 130 years and 30 days. There might be a good reason for all that. There generally is.
So down to our range I go. I set up the bench at 20 yards. Not expecting much with the tiniest of V notch rear sighs and short tapered blade on a 4 3/4" gun. I mean tiny sigths here. They aren't gonna get any smaller and still be called a V "notch". I am just hoping to keep the rounds on paper on paper.
I put a orange dot in the middle of an USPSA target. And then load up 5, take a breath and slowly squeeze off a surprise break, followed quickly by 4 more.
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Holly smokes! I am grinning from ear to ear and start laughing, choking on the sulfur smoke and laughing. Shoot! Score!
Now I am gonna get serious. Only wish I had more ammo made up! But this gun obviously shoots! 6 rounds into this one with the orange dot the POA and POI just a tiny bit higher. Perfect for 20 yards! A 255gr bullet and the bigegr Colt case would make it shoot higher yet. Likely dead on at 50 yards with a 45 Colt BP load.
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Needing a pair?
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Then I start shooting a couple on each dot. 2 here.
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6 here
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Two more.
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The smell of BP is addictive. The first time my wife has ever noticed the noise from the our little range. She says the BP makes a distinctive "boom" which she can hear at the house. Not that she minds. But she never notices all the smokeless ammo going down range. Interesting. Even after a quick clean up I am still grinning ear to ear. BP and a gun that really shoots? Hard not to smile.
![Plant People in nature Terrestrial plant Tree Grass]()
Balls of fire? It was bright and sunny here today. Never noticed anything but the smoke
BP sure aint "smokeless".
![Revolver Air gun Trigger Wood Gun barrel]()
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A couple of my Internet buddies here would seldom even consider shooting anything but the Holy Black in a Colt, Winchester or Sharps old or new! Troglodytes I envy for the most part. Well at least I envy their guns for sure!
Any way I took possession of a 1892 Colt late yesterday from a mutual friend of my buddy Jim Martin. This one is a 45. And one Jim had tuned some time ago. Likely Jim has gotten more old 1st Gen Colts up and running, and then perfectly timed than any modern smith has even seen in their shop. All good for us and more importantly saving thses old guns one at a time.
This is a curious gun as it was obviously rode really hard, but seemingly never put away wet. The original barrel and cylinder were both in really nice shape for a BP gun. Sights were untouched.
My original plan was to make it a "wall hanger". But after looking it over, I changed out the ejector rod to a crescent instead of a modern Colt bullseye piece and then ran a throating reamer into the barrel and removed a good bit of the BP pitting at the barrel throat. Not much of a throat job mind you, just enough to make a clean transition from cylinder to barrel. This one was beginning to show its 130 age and really needed it!
I get pretty antsy about folks wanting to shoot "reduced smokeless loads" in the older BP guns. And I am not a big fan of the BP clean up routine. So generally, I just don't shoot my oldest guns. Lots of reasons...the 2nd reason, after the clean up, is a 255gr bullet on top of a case full of 3f is a hand full. If you haven't had that pleasure you really need to make that effort for at least 6 rounds. It can be life changing and is for some. I like the experience just from a historical prespective.
I shoot 1000s of 45acp ball equivalent rounds a month. And my hands eventually get sore these days. When they do I switch of 9mm and shoot a lot less. A 255gr load in 45 Colt I simply find unpleasant. Kinda like hot 44 Mag loads.
But this 1892 gun I really wanted to shoot. That in mind, I do have a good stock of 200gr bullets loaded over a full case of Swiss 3F in the "Cowboy 45 Special" brass. Basically a 45 ACP case with a 45 Colt rim. Any pressure issues in the old guns are solved with the shorter case, less powder, lighter bullets. But trust me, you know you are shooting a 45 when you drop the hammer on these stubby little C45S cases. And they actually fall out of this gun's cylinder chambers once fired. Hard to not like the end results of C45S brass.
Any way, back to the Colt. Barrel and cylinder are still in fine form. Front sight left untouched for 130 years and 30 days. There might be a good reason for all that. There generally is.
So down to our range I go. I set up the bench at 20 yards. Not expecting much with the tiniest of V notch rear sighs and short tapered blade on a 4 3/4" gun. I mean tiny sigths here. They aren't gonna get any smaller and still be called a V "notch". I am just hoping to keep the rounds on paper on paper.
I put a orange dot in the middle of an USPSA target. And then load up 5, take a breath and slowly squeeze off a surprise break, followed quickly by 4 more.
Holly smokes! I am grinning from ear to ear and start laughing, choking on the sulfur smoke and laughing. Shoot! Score!
Now I am gonna get serious. Only wish I had more ammo made up! But this gun obviously shoots! 6 rounds into this one with the orange dot the POA and POI just a tiny bit higher. Perfect for 20 yards! A 255gr bullet and the bigegr Colt case would make it shoot higher yet. Likely dead on at 50 yards with a 45 Colt BP load.
Needing a pair?
Then I start shooting a couple on each dot. 2 here.
6 here
Two more.
The smell of BP is addictive. The first time my wife has ever noticed the noise from the our little range. She says the BP makes a distinctive "boom" which she can hear at the house. Not that she minds. But she never notices all the smokeless ammo going down range. Interesting. Even after a quick clean up I am still grinning ear to ear. BP and a gun that really shoots? Hard not to smile.
Balls of fire? It was bright and sunny here today. Never noticed anything but the smoke
BP sure aint "smokeless".
