Pleasant Afternoon with the Pietta .36 1851 Navy

[PastorB]

We had an unusually pleasant afternoon here in NW Missouri today, with cloud cover and high 60's and low 70's. Decided it was a good time to try out some fiber wads that I was given a big pile of. The test gun was my straight stock Pietta .36 1851 Navy. I've had this gun for 30 years or better, and it has always been a shooter. I love the low recoil of a .36, and I shoot this particular revolver more than all my other muzzleloaders combined, and I have a lot. Unlike most Colt repros, it shoots directly to the point of aim at 25 yards. My load was 18 grains of Pyro RS (standard load, I use RS often in my revolvers because many years ago I got a year end close out, and purchased over 40 lb. at $1.00 a jug, true story!), and a .375 RB. Usually lube with Crisco, but gave the fiber wads a go today. Did not clean between cylinders, as I was testing how I liked the fiber wads. Well, the pics speak for themselves. All shots (6 cylinders) were one-handed, off hand at 25 yards. I love outshooting the "Glock Boys" at the range, even though I was in my back yard today, especially when they scoff and laugh, and ask if the bullet is "gonna reach the target". Used CCI #11 caps, also a bulk buy for $2.49 many years ago. I LOVE my Pietta 1851 Navy!

 

[Edm]

I also am a big fan. And I’d be shooting pyrodex also for that price…or sell it and buy BP…

 

[Griff093]

...pyrodex... sell it and buy BP…

This... as long as it was to someone I didn't like!

 

[TDM]

Great way to spend a nice afternoon and good shooting! Hard to beat an 1851 Colt.

 

[azmntman]

Hey, so I too was able to shoot my new 1851 .36 last sunday. Used 15 gr 3f Goex, corn meal and bore butter on ball (.375). This group w/o the flyer is about 1.5 inches, maybe two. So heres the question I have. I just rec'd my order of .36 dry lubed wads from TOW who had the best price and best shipping. Do you pisteleros like the wads better than lube? Do any of you use a wad AND lube? If so is the wad lubed under the ball or over the powder. Mine seems to shoot an excellent group with the first cylinder then groups get a bit bigger, any one else see this? May be me as the daughter shot it "dirty" at 10-15 yds OFFHAND and got a three shot group matching mine at 25 over the hood and on a Jacket. Gonna LOVE this pistol. Look forward to the advice.

 

[TDM]

Nice @azmntman !

 

[1950DAVE]

You guys have flung a craving on me for a .36. Sounds like fun.

 

[nick_1]

I have had fun outshooting the sig/AR crowd as well. Got sick of them missing 6" plates @50yards with full magazines so i poached the plate right out from under their sights with my .50 cal trapper. Dude was like OMG what is that thing... some kind of musket?

 

[Griff093]

Hey, so I too was able to shoot my new 1851 .36 last sunday. Used 15 gr 3f Goex, corn meal and bore butter on ball (.375). This group w/o the flyer is about 1.5 inches, maybe two. So heres the question I have. I just rec'd my order of .36 dry lubed wads from TOW who had the best price and best shipping. Do you pisteleros like the wads better than lube? Do any of you use a wad AND lube? If so is the wad lubed under the ball or over the powder. Mine seems to shoot an excellent group with the first cylinder then groups get a bit bigger, any one else see this? May be me as the daughter shot it "dirty" at 10-15 yds OFFHAND and got a three shot group matching mine at 25 over the hood and on a Jacket. Gonna LOVE this pistol. Look forward to the advice.

It's been over 36 years since I fired at a paper target I couldn't tell you. What I seem to recall from the day in mid 1987 is that I shot the center of the target out after about 5 or 6 cylinders full! But... I'll answer tomorrow if my plans remain unchanged. I load ~15 grains* of 3F under a lubed wad & .375 swaged ball. I don't grease over the chambers or use a filler. I'm going to do some testing of my 1851s & Patersons. I actually want to just chronograph the load I use... but might as well punch holes in paper at the same time!

* It's a 15 grain spout on my flask, but holding my thumb over it when I fill the spout, leaves a little divot in the powder... so it could be 13 or 14... who cares, they're all the same, which is what's important!

 

[AlexB]

I also like to play with the smokeless pistol people.
Get'em jawing hard enough I can even keep up on reloads.
Something about shooting steel with those lead balls is really fun.

 

[azmntman]

It's been over 36 years since I fired at a paper target I couldn't tell you. What I seem to recall from the day in mid 1987 is that I shot the center of the target out after about 5 or 6 cylinders full! But... I'll answer tomorrow if my plans remain unchanged. I load ~15 grains* of 3F under a lubed wad & .375 swaged ball. I don't grease over the chambers or use a filler. I'm going to do some testing of my 1851s & Patersons. I actually want to just chronograph the load I use... but might as well punch holes in paper at the same time!

* It's a 15 grain spout on my flask, but holding my thumb over it when I fill the spout, leaves a little divot in the powder... so it could be 13 or 14... who cares, they're all the same, which is what's important!

Look forward to your results!

 

[snakebit]

I have had fun outshooting the sig/AR crowd as well. Got sick of them missing 6" plates @50yards with full magazines so i poached the plate right out from under their sights with my .50 cal trapper. Dude was like OMG what is that thing... some kind of musket?

 

[Griff093]

* It's a 15 grain spout on my flask, but holding my thumb over it when I fill the spout, leaves a little divot in the powder... so it could be 13 or 14... who cares, they're all the same, which is what's important!

Look forward to your results!

Sorry to disappoint, but, I have to take those words back. I just had the worst afternoon ever at the range. If it could go wrong, it did. 1st the Chronograph didn't want to turn on... So I figured I'd just forgo that bit... Then I realized that I didn't pack my tool box, which carries supplies, spare parts, tools, etc. All I brought was my range box, a 45Cal GI can. My flask was a back up flask, that I have only occasionally used... and it's either not quite as easy to use as my favorite, (which split open on my last outing, age is creeping up on everything)... So my shot to shot variance was atrocious. In looking at what supplies I did bring, I only had about a 1/3 a box of balls. I guess I wouldn't be testing all four different caps on each of the 4 guns I had along. Well, that then got cut down to 3 guns, as the nipples for one of them was in that missing tool box! Along with my plastic mallet needed to separate barrel from frame of the Patersons. Not being one to give up, I did get one Paterson apart, not the one works well, the other, that seems like it has 12 steps in both the cocking and firing phase... sometimes it seems like it takes both index fingers to pull the trigger.

Anyway, I charge both revolvers, the Paterson with five shots, the 1851 with six. So there I sit with bright sun all around, but I'm in the shade, trying to watch my loading... and can't seem to see that well... surely it'll be ok! Not... Oh look, the chronograph is sitting there patiently waiting for the 1st shot! Okay, the 1851 is still in hand, I'll cap it first and fire a string using the CCI #11Magnum caps, I bought some time before I started using Remington #10 religiously... like maybe in the 1990s? Or earlier? Anyway, I don't want to dump out my snail capper full of Remington #10s so I attempt to load an in-line capper keep in the range box for percussion revolvers. Since they're shorter than Remington #10s, they seem to tilt and sit sideways in the capper more than #10s... It's been so long since I've used CCIs, I must have forgotten this quirk! So, anyway... finally get the capper loaded, surely it will be easier to cap than just ol' fat fingered Fred... NOT! It might have been easier if I just hand capped. Finally, done with that and five shots fire off... five shots are recorded on the chronograph.... WHAT? An average of 480.4 fps? I know I saw a 630 something in the string. On review... the low ball was shot #5, 228.4 fps. Ended up with an ES of 403.6... Oh well, maybe I did better loading the Paterson? Foolish old men! Okay, maybe marginally better. It's definitely a tighter chamber and bore than my Signature Series 1851. It's 5 shot average was 787.6 fps with a high of 899.0fps and a low of 642.4. Definitely not consistent.

So I figure I'll go back to the 1851 and pay more attention... Oh... did I mention it was nearly 95ºF at the range? And this time the chronograph didn't want to cooperate. 1st it decided to add a shot 2 in between shot # 1 and my next one, which it recorded as #3! That's okay, I have a calculator and can figure the actual results. So I fire shot #3, which the chronograph doesn't record. Okay, I can live with four shot string... and fire the next shot #4. Ah... not so good, a cap only fire. S'alright, I can recap... nope, gun's locked up tight. I hold the gun in position for several minutes hoping it's not a delay fire, but finally realize that nothing further is going to happen. Taking the barrel off, the first thing I see is a ball nearly all the way in the forcing cone. Look at the chamber and there sits my wad, sideways... and looking thru the nipple, I can see daylight out the front of the cylinder. Okay, I'm not perfect... a dry hole! Not my first, probably not my last, but with years in the interim, it's still demoralizing. So the day just ended, my squib rod is on my gun cart back home. My short pistol squib stick is in that tool box, also sitting in the living room to picked up on the way out!

Yes, the worst day at the range is still better than the best day at work! And there's always tomorrow, a cowboy match to go to. But, I'd better take some unmentionables with me as sometimes in the heat of the summer the land owner declares the range BP free. But, now I'd better go outside and fire off the last two chambers from the 1851 Signature Series. Hope y'all get a chuckle outta my day... I'll probably see the humor in about a month!

 

[windini]

Just want to confirm my laugh is with you, not at you!

I've had those days... and yes, still better'n a workday.

 

[Pete453]

Do you pisteleros like the wads better than lube? Do any of you use a wad AND lube? If so is the wad lubed under the ball or over the powder.

Wads better than lube? Yes.
Wad and lube over ball? No.
Wad lubed under ball or over powder? Yes, both. I put the wads( a small handful, maybe 50 or so) in a small frying pan with a chunk of lube that is about the size of a pigeon egg, on LOW heat. Stir around so all wads look JUST wet. You don't need them packed full, only wetted. Add a little more lube if necessary. That's all I do, works great. Adjust as needed for your use.

 

[CaptainVane]

I love outshooting the "Glock Boys" at the range, even though I was in my back yard today, especially when they scoff and laugh, and ask if the bullet is "gonna reach the target".

I can relate and love it. I set my target at 60 yards, max for our pistol range. The Glocksters are shooting at 20 Feet.
They are amazed how accurate my Uberti .36 Navy is.

 

[Whitworth]

Yup, Sam's best handling and most pleasant pistol to shoot. BTW it's .36 killing power on paper targets seems more than adequate It's the model I choose to shoot most of the time and is always on open display in a cased set within eyeshot

 

[dickydalton]

Wads better than lube? Yes.
Wad and lube over ball? No.
Wad lubed under ball or over powder? Yes, both. I put the wads( a small handful, maybe 50 or so) in a small frying pan with a chunk of lube that is about the size of a pigeon egg, on LOW heat. Stir around so all wads look JUST wet. You don't need them packed full, only wetted. Add a little more lube if necessary. That's all I do, works great. Adjust as needed for your use.

I use Gatefoe #1 for lube on the wads and when done right it doesn't affect the powder a bit. Even when loaded and left over a year.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Yup, Sam's best handling and most pleasant pistol to shoot. BTW it's .36 killing power on paper targets seems more than adequate It's the model I choose to shoot most of the time and is always on open display in a cased set within eyeshot

Tutt must have realized [for a few seconds] .36 was pretty good on flesh and blood as well. Polecat