Pistol fired in the dark

[misher]

I just had to see how my 50 cal Traditions Kentucky Pistol looked when fired in the dark....WoW..pretty.

P.S. Yes I did it safely.

 

[bwhoffman]

I was 'spectin to see one a them "kodak" moments!

 

[misher]

Just not that good with a camera, and reloading at -10 wasn't much fun, but I know I'll do it again.

 

[biliff]

Our Cowboy club has put on night shoots in October. Not totally dark, as illumination was provided by glow sticks and such. BP rounds were quite impressive in the dark. Brought my flintlock once just to try it. Couldn't see squat in my right eye for awhile from the pan flash.

 

[misher]

Bet if I used 2f instead of 3f in the pistol it would be a more impressive flame!

 

[MtnMan_03]

Ever try a candle shoot? Those are loads of fun!

Basically, you wait until it's good and dark, then put a lit candle in a tipped-over box. You then shoot at it to put the flame out, but you aren't allowed to hit the wax...

When we do it for competition, we only allow loading from the pouch, and fire from a set range. I've never tried it with a pistol but I bet that would be fun too!

 

[misher]

Never heard of that, sounds like fun.

 

[OB OBrien]

I had my wife stand off to one side sorta close with the camera aimed at the ROA. When I fired it , she flinched and we got a great picture of the flame and all the sparks. Better than stuff on the 4th of July.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

There's a video on Youtube of someone shooting a fully loaded Walker at dusk--WHAT a SHOW!

Dave

 

[mykeal]

Not mine - I'm looking for the name of the guy who posted this. He's on this forum.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Not mine - I'm looking for the name of the guy who posted this. He's on this forum.

NOW THAT's a real LIGHT SHOW :haha: . Is it just me, or is the hammer coming back after ignition? Could be the result of a timed exposure where the exposure started prior to ignition. Just enough "available light" to do this maybe.

Either way, it's a LIGHT SHOW FOR SURE!!

Thanks for posting from the archives!

Dave

 

[misher]

Is all that in the back really from the cap? I had no idea so much escaped from under the hammer!

 

[renovato]

Is all that in the back really from the cap? I had no idea so much escaped from under the hammer!

That's fascinating to look at. Especially from the standpoint of preventing crossfires. You can see how each chamber mouth is blasted by hot gas. That's why a tight ball fit is important. That blast would have no trouble pushing past grease. The blast from the back doesn't look like it has much influence on the other nipples, at least in that model, but it does show that it occurs. Another reason to make sure the caps fit tightly.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

No, it's not all from the cap!

Most of the blast is from the back pressure of the 50-60 grains of black powder being ignited. When I shoot my Walker, I HAVE to clean lots of bp residue off of the hammer--this photo proves how that residue gets there!

Just like a cap lock rifle spewing hot gases from underneath the nipple on a rifle, the hand guns spew hot gases & residue contained therein out of the nipples too!

Dave

 

[mykeal]

It's actually a time lapse using a flash (notice the trees are illuminated with white light). The flash is why the hammer is caught before striking the cap. I didn't take it but I've had similar results using a relatively long (like 1/50) exposure. Most of mine were ruined by poor timing - I got the recoil and blurred images but not the hammer strike. But if you get it right...this one is much better than my best.

 

[misher]

Went and fired some caps in the dark. I'm surprised at the amount of spark that gets out. Wonder how much really goes into the powder?

 

[bingo1952]

Enough to light the powder. Thats all that really matters. These aren't sealed systems.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

mykeal,

You're right with the flash thing! Upon closer examination (I'm a photog by trade) this exposure is an example of what we in the biz call, "dragging the shutter".

Here's how you can do it at home: set the camera on a tripod to take-out the shake and the surprise of the person taking the photo. Set the camera for say 1/4 second, with the aperture closed down at least three stops from wide open, so you get some depth of field. Instruct the shooter to fire as soon as he/she sees the flash.

The shooter sees the flash go off, and snaps the trigger, during the exposure sequence, prior to the shutter closing. Since the hammer is at full-cock during the flash firing, the hammer is "frozen" in place by the flash. So is the rest of the gun, so the recoil isn't captured by the flash. Someone with a strong hold on the gun is also required so that the "blast" isn't too wavy.

One of these days I'll have to try this, but alas, at the two ranges that I belong too, range rules don't allow for firing at the start of dusk, let alone when it's completely dark .

 

[preston cook]

if the gas escaping through nipple had enough force to push the hammer back that far ,would not the cylinder rotate to the next position and since the hammer is at full cock you would only have to pull the trigger :hmm: semi-auto dragoons :bull: :rotf:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

O-K, you got me on that one! I guess that I was just looking at the blast itself at first, without examining the technicalities of how it was accomplished.

But a semi-auto Walker would be interesting...I could bring it to IPSC, IDPA, etc. :rotf: :haha: :shocked2: