A puzzle to me....

[Bob Wright]

Over on the Single Action Revolvers page on Facebook, a shooter there posted a photo of a Pieta !860 Army Colt. Only the barre; and loading lever is shown in the photo. The latch that is dovetailed into the underside of the barrel is gone, and the loading lever is drooping loose.

The text is that he/they were shooting .45 Colt cartridges in a conversion cylinder. Not sure if the conversion cylinder is aftermarket or the gun purchased as a conversion. But the text goes into detail that there was a 1/2 grain overcharge of smokeless powder, the brand and type of powder is not stated.

What puzzles me is why one would buy a blackpowder replica revolver, then convert it to metallic cartridges, the begin experimenting with smokeless powder charges.

Now I bought an Open Top Navy .38 Special, a non-replica of an old Nineteenth Century gun. I loaded very mild smokeless powder charges, for which the gun was intended. This for plain fun plinking only. But trying to duplicate a blackpowder load in a cartridge with smokeless seems to be walking a tightrope.

I reckon I look at it this way: If I want performance, I'm going to buy the very best gun on the market for that purpose. If I want fun and nostalgia, then blackpowder.

Am I looking through the wrong end of the telescope?

Bob Wright

 

[ned]

All the monkeys are not in the zoo. Seems an ill advised project to me

 

[protoolman]

On another site years ago a member bought an old army and had it imported into japan as they can own black powder only revolvers. He thought it would be a sneaky way of having a modern revolver in Japan. Next he snuck in a conversion cylinder. Big mistake they caught him and he served several years in prison. His wife kept us all informed and asked for help. As far as I know no one was able to help.
On another site I saw a felon bragging that he could still buy black powder revolvers. These are the only people I know of who thought they found a way to beat the system by using modern loads in black powder revolvers.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Bob,
I bought the conversion cylinders for my Old Armys which allowed me to shoot in every category that was offered in SASS. Cap and ball, black powder, and smokeless, with loads equivalent to a 45 BP Colt load, which is a pretty stout load, one handed or two handed along with fixed sights,
It also allows you to enjoy the Old Armys without the pain of the reloading of cap and ball and if you don't want the clean up go with the smokeless.

These OA have had a few Mods done to them Not your Grandfather's C&B :wink:

 

[Mobuck]

Sounds like as protoolman mentioned, someone skirting the law and a puff of wind caught their skirt.

 

[blume357]

Seems to me shooting smokeless in what was designed to be a black powder handgun is kind of cheating, even if you have the load right.. Where's the fun in having to wait for the smoke to clear to fire another round?

 

[Ale-8(1)]

The only problem I see is for those who use loads that exceed those recommended for the gun in question, but that's the case for any reloading efforts.

It's all a hobby and to each his own. :wink:

 

[powder smoke]

Seems to me shooting smokeless in what was designed to be a black powder handgun is kind of cheating, even if you have the load right.. Where's the fun in having to wait for the smoke to clear to fire another round?

Who waits for the smoke to clear? I don't ps

 

[Dan in MI]

On another site years ago a member bought an old army and had it imported into japan as they can own black powder only revolvers. He thought it would be a sneaky way of having a modern revolver in Japan. Next he snuck in a conversion cylinder. Big mistake they caught him and he served several years in prison. His wife kept us all informed and asked for help. As far as I know no one was able to help.
On another site I saw a felon bragging that he could still buy black powder revolvers. These are the only people I know of who thought they found a way to beat the system by using modern loads in black powder revolvers.

This situation could be applied to states with registration issues.