Bought and shot my baby dragoon

[JJB22]

I picked this 31 cal baby dragoon (made in Italy) up from a friend of mine. He bought it in 1971, he told me he picked through a rain barrel of them-- they were 5 bucks each. He also said the box of balls that he had was the only box he ever bought-- looked like 25-30 missing. (wall hanger) I loaded up the little guy with 10 grains of 3F powder, some .320 balls and number 10 caps of course--used bore butter to grease the cylinders and gave it a whirl. I shot 15 shot to get used to the point of aim, I had to hold the sights 4 inches right and 4 inches low to hit the bull at 30 feet. I shot the card on the first attempt--missed the next 9 shots. :surrender: I had a consistent group shooting it off hand (one handed) but I will play around with it and see if I can get it to shoot a bit closer to the sights. Any ideas?

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Nice shooting :thumbsup: .

I never fired a .31, so I can't comment on the 10 grain charge, except to say that if the ball isn't up close to the chamber mouth, you might be able to get a little more in there.

Most revolvers shoot high, requiring you to aim low. The baby dragoon isn't a target gun...it was designed as a gentleman's back-up, and as such is meant for torso sized targets at close range (not 30 feet). These revolvers were carried in a jacket pocket.

Perhaps using a wonder-wad will aid in accuracy? It's a 5-7 yard gun, so just have fun! Loading it to the same tolerance each time as far as powder and ramming pressure will affect the groups as well.

Good luck!

Dave

 

[JJB22]

Good idea, the ball is halfway down in the cylinders so I I can put a wad in under the ball. As for the 30 feet, it just happened to be what I was shooting when I switched to this gun. The group was the size of a baseball with a golf ball sized hole where a bunch of balls went through. I was impressed with the group to say the least. The reason I used 10 grains was the spout on the flask is 10 grains and it pops the balls out pretty good-not sure I want to go much more than that with this gun.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Good idea, the ball is halfway down in the cylinders so I I can put a wad in under the ball. As for the 30 feet, it just happened to be what I was shooting when I switched to this gun. The group was the size of a baseball with a golf ball sized hole where a bunch of balls went through. I was impressed with the group to say the least. The reason I used 10 grains was the spout on the flask is 10 grains and it pops the balls out pretty good-not sure I want to go much more than that with this gun.

The Baby Dragoon is built like a tank! The old adage of being able to "fill-her-up" with enough black just to enable the cylinder to turn and not hang-up applies to this gun as well. 11 or 12 grains and a wonder-wad should do the trick and be a good compromise. Your group might even "center-out" and align better with your sights, who knows till you try it!

I once say a guy shooting a .36 with only 10 grains at a target which was backed by plywood...he just stapled the target to the plywood target backer. The gun made a pop sound instead of a boom, the ball hit the paper and BOUNCED BACK off of the hard plywood and sailed past his ear :shocked2: . So the moral to the story is watch what type of surface you shoot at :wink: and have fun doing it :thumbsup:

Dave

 

[DanChamberlain]

Once you settle in on your load, you can open up the notch on the hammer shroud with a file. Open it up a bit in the direction you want the ball to move and you'll drift your point of aim.

Dan

 

[trent/OH]

I have one that looks a lot like yours. What's the difference between the 1848 Baby Dragoon and the 1849 Pocket model? Mine is brass framed, and is a 5 shooter. I can't figure out the manufacturer; the mark looks like a capitol B inside a larger G. It also dates from 1971.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Once you settle in on your load, you can open up the notch on the hammer shroud with a file. Open it up a bit in the direction you want the ball to move and you'll drift your point of aim.
Dan

While I understand the concept of filing sights (or adding height) to adjust Point Of Impact to match Point Of Aim; I use a lot of caution and very little filing.

It's very easy for someone to go overboard on the hammer nose. I picked up a used Baby Dragoon about 7 or 8 years ago. I looked it over rather close and made the deal in spite of the fact that much of the hammer nose "overhang" had been filed away (obviously to lower the Point Of Impact).

I figured (wrongly) that this shouldn't hurt anything. Upon firing it seemed that things got kind of "hot". I tried night firing to see if anything would show differently and had a friend fire it so I could watch the flash.

Well there was a lot of "fire" coming back off of the chamber which was getting fired. Eventually I caught a tiny piece of cap fragment (shrapnel?) in my hand; and that just would not do! I finally ordered a replacement hammer from DGW, (yes I take a long time to do things!) and am checking the hammer for burrs and tooling marks. After I'm sure the new hammer fits well and is smoothly operating, I'll get to have some rather small, but "Dragoonish" fun.

NOTE: I'm sure more that a few of you are curious as to why it took so long for me to replace the hammer and keep things moving. I am disabled and chronically ill. I have long periods where I'm fighting for more than just the chance to burn charcoal. Those of you that have a mind to, I'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I hadn't realized how long it had been from my last cluster of posts and replies. Time sure goes by...

When you have your health, you REALLY DO have everything...

Regards, and shoot safely
WV_Hillbilly

 

[JJB22]

I can't tell you the manufacturer but the difference between the two is the pocket model is a little over 10 inches long (hardly a pocket gun in todays day) but it came with a 5 1/2 inch barrel down from the 7 and 7 1/2 inchers that were standard for the time. I think the baby measures something like 7 1/2 inches overall but the workings and other items on the revolver are the same on the two, outside the brass frame vs steel. I sure had fun with it and plan to go Friday to make more smoke with her.

 

[JJB22]

I lied the 1849 pocket model is a scaled down 1851 model it is about the same size as the baby dragoon that is a Walker, 1st, 2nd or 3rd model dragoon scaled down.

I was yaking about the Hartford pocket model of 1849. Sorry. :redface:

 

[nkbj]

Back in the 70's you could get Remington swedged soft lead 88 grain .32 pistol bullets. They were coated with Remington's typical black graphite wax lube and had a shallow concave base with a rebated rim (almost a bevel base). They worked really great in .31's. If you run upon somebody with a 32 pistol mold it might be fun to give it a whirl.