A smokin' blast. Second BP shoot.

[PT7]

The weather was exceptionally pleasant at the Ft. Osage Muzzleloaders range today. Mostly cloudy, the temp "stuck" at 74*, and a mild wind through the trees. Moved forward with some changes in my powder load, and different shooting stance for this range time.

At the loading bench. The new pistol loading stand I built worked perfectly! Couldn't be happier with it.

At the shooting bench. Gosh, I actually shot rounds one and two from my homemade bench rest. I'll call round one a fouler as the POI was on paper, but very low left off the target. Round two was 3-1/4" off bull, but good elevation. Quit the bench stuff, went to standing, off hand shooting.

Powder down the pipe. I increased my powder load from 20gr (Tradition's recommended minimum) to 22gr. Of the eight POIs I placed in the target, 6/8 were almost at identical elevation --- about 2" or less above the bull. Pistol seemed to shoot better all around. I don't know what I'll do next time out --- still experimenting, and need to research this powder change against my POIs a little more.

Hands on. My favorite shooting is off hand, one hand. Shot differently today, off hand using both hands. Found a really comfortable position for my non-dominant hand, and the pistol was much steadier while looking down the barrel. My POIs showed improvement. Two hands make a difference, of course. So along with the powder load change, this is one other variable.

RO training and membership vote. Did a mini safety review with the RO again, and got a "P" grade on my second range visit. After the shoot, the admin members gathered at the supply shack, and two of us newbies have been approved to become FOML members! I with pistol, the other fellow with rifle. All right! I'll be going to an upcoming large invite shoot in two weeks, and will get my range key and membership card. All right again! This will be a fun fall as I can shoot anytime, anyday on my own --- if I choose. Since most shooters in the group use primarily rifles, I don't actually get scored on my shooting. At the two shoots I've attended, I have been the solo pistol guy. Maybe as other clubs come in for the Sept and Oct larger shoots, I'll get to meet some pistol folk.

Cool P-2 target, set at 25 yards. Shots #1 and #5 are on paper, but out of the 5-ring. Just didn't include them in the photo. The 50 CAL holes showed up quite nice, I thought.

It was a great day at the range. Lots of fun shooting this BP pistol.
Thanks for taking a look-see, Henry Folk.

FOML 2nd shoot_8-24-19_3373.JPG (137.39 KiB) Viewed 3389 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Congratulations. I'm sure your shooting will improve as you practice more and more. To help improve your shooting, you can practice bringing the gun up and holding your sight picture for fifteen seconds. Do sets of five, then ten. Then increase the hold time to thirty seconds.

These drills will increase the strength in the muscles used to hold this position, muscles we don't normally use in this manner. Check with your black powder people and see if you can safely dry fire your BP pistol to develop better trigger control. If so, you can add that to the drill. If it will damage the firearm, just concentrate on a steady hold and a good sight picture.

You might be surprised at the difference it can make.

[JEBar]

well done ... well reported .... congrats on qualifying for membership ....

[BigAl52]

Nice to see you havin a good time with BP PT. Its addicting and just keep walking that powder charge up. You will find a load to likes.

[RanchRoper]

Way to go. Nice target. Sounds like a great day.

[PT7]

I'll double-check on dry firing, Marine. I don't believe it can be done.

And I'm not sure about "better trigger control." Are you meaning dry firing to lessen movement of the gun when pulling the trigger? With the double-set trigger, when I first set the rear trigger, it basically changes the front trigger from what is about a heavy D/A trigger pull to a S/A trigger pull. The result on this pistol is that is lightens the firing trigger to the point of it being a hair trigger. Almost the slightest touch fires the pistol...incredibly light and sensitive. The only thing I need to watch for is to keep my trigger finger completely away from the trigger until I have my sights on target. Otherwise it's kaboom and smoke!

Appreciate all your suggestions...thanks!
PT7

Congratulations. I'm sure your shooting will improve as you practice more and more. To help improve your shooting, you can practice bringing the gun up and holding your sight picture for fifteen seconds. Do sets of five, then ten. Then increase the hold time to thirty seconds.

These drills will increase the strength in the muscles used to hold this position, muscles we don't normally use in this manner. Check with your black powder people and see if you can safely dry fire your BP pistol to develop better trigger control. If so, you can add that to the drill. If it will damage the firearm, just concentrate on a steady hold and a good sight picture.

You might be surprised at the difference it can make.

[BrokenolMarine]

I'll double-check on dry firing, Marine. I don't believe it can be done.

And I'm not sure about "better trigger control." Are you meaning dry firing to lessen movement of the gun when pulling the trigger? With the double-set trigger, when I first set the rear trigger, it basically changes the front trigger from what is about a heavy D/A trigger pull to a S/A trigger pull. The result on this pistol is that is lightens the firing trigger to the point of it being a hair trigger. Almost the slightest touch fires the pistol...incredibly light and sensitive. The only thing I need to watch for is to keep my trigger finger completely away from the trigger until I have my sights on target. Otherwise it's kaboom and smoke!

Appreciate all your suggestions...thanks!
PT7


[

Sorry, you got me there. I forgot your BP pistol had the set trigger. That would certainly eliminate the need for practice to gain better trigger control. I had a set trigger on my mauser rifle years ago, and it was sweet.

I tip my hat.

[PT7]

That's for sure, Al. Having a very good time with BP

The fellow at the loading bench next to me said the same thing today as we chatted. For him it's also a lot of fun. And the "slowness" it takes to load/reload black powder and finally shoot are cool components of this sport. He said to him that this is most "relaxing." I agreed. I was actually a little quicker today in my reloading/shooting sequences. But to leisurely shoot only 10 rounds took me somewhere between 60-70 minutes. Of course, some chatting time was had by many of the folk, and some excitement down the firing line at a number of exceptional shots in the novelty competition. All that said, these two range visits I've had at FOML have been "a smokin' blast!"

There Is one other extra about BP that intrigues me, and is also fun. I didn't mention anything about the pistol cleaning time. I'm finding it much easier to clean my BP pistol as compared to any of my other handguns. The intriguing part is cleaning it with a squirt of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid and very hot water. I've never would have guessed this. It's neat to find new things about our hobbies, isn't it?

PT7

Nice to see you havin a good time with BP PT. Its addicting and just keep walking that powder charge up. You will find a load to likes.

[ESquared]

Glad to hear it's all meeting/exceeding your expectations, PT! Sounds like, from here on, it's all about practice, experimentation, finding what works best and just getting more and more comfortable all the time. Pretty soon you'll be a seasoned BP-er and welcoming the next new recruit!

Great report -- keep 'em coming!

[Mistered]

I'll double-check on dry firing, Marine. I don't believe it can be done.

Do NOT dry fire your gun!
The hammer smacking on the nipple without a percussion cap will start to flatten it out and the impact transferred to the drum can cause additional damage.
The actual Firing of a percussion gun actually provides a slight amount of 'cushioning' to the hammer as there is a small amount of back pressure exerted on ignition as well as the percussion cap itself between the hammer and nipple.