BPCR rifles

[drcook]

Any of you here on the forum shoot BPCR (Black Powder Cartridge Rifles), you know, like the Sharps in Quigley Down Under ?

That is one of my other hobbies, but haven't shot in a couple years since I had a shoulder operation. I should start again.

Don't let the black powder fool you. They are very accurate and the furthest I have shot with mine is 1000 yards.

Here are a couple of my rifles, cartridges and a 5 shot, 200 yard target shot with iron sights. Soule sights to be exact. They are aperture sights, adjustable for windage and elevation. The front is a hooded, spirit level aperture sight.

By the way, I came in 2nd place with that group.

The 2 in the middle aren't done yet. I do my own wood finishing. They come roughed in from the shaper and inletted. It saves $500.00 per gun to do the finishing. Some of mine are take down, with interchangeable barrels.

The top gun in the first picture is the one that I should the group with. Prone of cross sticks. Just like the old timers did it !

 

[Grumpy]

Ive got several muzzle loading rifles in 54,58, and 62 caliber
I always wanted a 50/140 sharps,
but a quality reproductions out of my financial range

 

[drcook]

50-140's are brutes to shoot. A friend has one. I shoot a 45-110 but would not even consider shooting the 50. The muzzle blast is horrendous. So is the amount of lead and powder required to feed them. Even a 110 has gotten pretty expensive to shoot. Another friend also shoots a 110. He shot the 50-140 one time, that was it.

The bullets are good sized and you usually cast your own. I usually shoot 540 gr bullets in the 45's. That equals 1.24 ounces. The 50's use 650 gr bullets. (typically 600 to 700). Add in the weight of the powder, and you have a big plug to get moving. Just as with cars, physics apply. That old equal and opposite reaction phrase turns into a hurting shoulder.

In the BPCR world, in order to get repeatable precision, you stay with the same lot of powder. IN order to do this, you buy powder in 25 lb lots. HOWEVER, I looked at prices and 25lbs of powder delivered is $450.00'sh.

Depending on how much you shoot, it is easy to go through a case or 2 of powder a year. The guy with the 140 was going through 3.

Add on top of that the cost of lead, and the cost has gotten out of hand lately.

In order to be safe, black powder or a black powder substitute needs to be used in these big cases. While the rifles themselves are built stronger than back in the day, they still are an old design. You can get away with a little smokeless (10 grains maybe) under the black to help the gun shoot clean. Almost every year at some of the competitions, you hear of a rifle blowing up because someone was pushing the boundaries with smokeless. The last blowup almost cost a woman her hand. Took lots of surgeries to fix it.

I was fortunate when I bought my rifles, I solved a really bad problem at work that was costing them big money. The boss lady gave me a bonus that allowed me to buy some rifles I ordinarily wouldn't have been able to afford.

These are cartridges for my rifles.

Left to right. 42-100. This is a recreation I designed based on the old 42-100 Wesson cartridge from the later 1800's. It is based on a 45-100 case. Then a 45-100, a 45-90, a 40-82. then a 40-65 case, a 38-72 case and a 38-55 case.

 

[Grumpy]

I have a buddy that owns a 50/140 , its rather heavy and it has about a 30" barrel and real nice quality adjustable tang site,
ive shot it hundreds of times, keep in mind if you hand load ammo like both of us do,
you can load the projectile weight and powder charge to what ever level you prefer,
I know he has never loaded it to its max potential, but its very accurate.

 

[drcook]

I am very, shall we say, particular about loading. Almost on the verge of OCD. I weigh each and every charge on a beam scale. Each bullet is weighed on a precision electric scale. I pour the powder in through a 24" drop tube. I compress my powder and use a depth mic to determine powder height so I can set the bullets right on top the over powder wad within a .001 or .002 (I was a tool maker when I was in my 20's before I started writing commercial software), the habits of precision have stayed with me.

To be able to achieve repeatable accuracy at 1000 yards (even at 200) the folks that I know cram as much powder in as possible and then start going up or down (usually down) a grain or 2 until optimal accuracy is obtained. There is as much science behind them as there is with cars.

In the 110, I punch out cigarette disks and put them over the flash hole so no powder gets in. Then 10 gr of 3F, then a cig paper wad to keep the powder separate, then 97 gr of 1F and compress the powder with a compression plug. It is so compressed, to remove it manually, you have to dig it out with a sharp probe.

I use the cig paper wads in every caliber I load for over the flash hole, and over powder wads also. The bullet lubes are a snake oil formulation. What works here in Ohio doesn't work out West. The lube that shot great here, fouled out in Alliance Neb. the last time I went out to the competition there.

For the long range shooting with these, shot to shot repeatability is a must. Once you get it there, it will stay until you go through that lot of powder, then you start all over again. Not like smokeless, which is easier to shoot with.

Believe it or not, I have NEVER loaded a smokeless round. That is something I have learn.

I keep threatening to try and get into using paper patched bullets. I have a friend that is a college professor (not all college profs are liberal loons) that only shoots PP. He wins a lot of competitions with them. The folks that shoot PP clean between each shot. They make up contraptions that are part bore brush, part sponge and part wiper. They are soaked in water soluble cutting oil, or, as I use, RV antifreeze (non-toxic) to breakup, soften the BP fouling and push it out, then the built in wipers remove excess moisture from the bore, leaving just enough to lube the next shot a bit.

RV antifreeze is good for wiping between shots, regardless if you are using a one of the enhanced contraptions. A couple wet patches followed by a dry one or 2 will prep the bore for the next shot. I am moving towards this instead of using a blow tube to moisten the powder fouling. Once again, what works in Ohio doesn't work so well out west due to the differences in humidity.

Just like having to account for altitude / air density changes when racing at different venues, you have to account for the different environments. What I thought was a great lube, caused a miserable performance for me the last time I was able to go. Add in the start of cataracts and I really lived up to my native American name, you know, the great warrior, Can't Hit Sh*t.

 

[drcook]

And just for the record, I didn't develop these techniques, except for the cigarette paper wad usage. What I am good at is reading and research and applying what I have learned. I spend lots of time looking for what works for people and then taking a little from one person, a little from another and assembling them into a greater whole.

I use information from all of you in learning about the C4 Vettes and LT1 motors. I am doing the same. Studying what each of you have done and using it for my car. No use reinventing the wheel when it already has been done.

And of course, I give credit where credit is due. When a person is late to the game (such as me, in BPCR as well as C4 Vettes) there is so much accumulated knowledge, all you have to do is look for it.