Henry Rifle Forums

Ok. Here we go. This target was shot at 50 yds, off hand standing. I was very impressed with the accuracy. Very impressed. I have never shot a BP rifle before. This is 50 gn of Triple 7 measured by volume, and it sounds like a cannon going off. WAY different than the 45 Colts. It's a big kaboom. And smoke. ....this is with a 30mph wind today too. I would not want to be on the receiving end of a .50 ball.

You will note there is only 1 hole in the target. That's because after the first shot I swabbed the bore with the fiberglass range rod I bought with it. A couple of passes with T/C #13 bore cleaner. Then a dry patch to soak up the stuff. Once the dry patch went in, the rod would not come out. At all. Not even budge a hair. I pulled, and pulled, and turned, and pulled. Every which way you could imagine. Now, I have arthritis in both hands, real bad in the thumbs and wrists too. So I thought, ok I'll just go home and take it out in the shed. I only live 10 minutes from the range, no big deal. Got home, put the rifle in the workmate vise table and pulled. And pulled. Foot against the table and pulled with both hands. Had to get a rubber hammer and tap over and over on the jag on the end sticking out (jags on both ends)....FINALLY it went "thunk" as the suction let go and the rod came out. I feel better knowing it was not just my arthritis...this thing was STUCK. Anyhow, my own fault as obviously the barrel is new and was not lubed enough. I spent the afternoon cleaning and lubing the barrel with bore butter. Stuff slides in and out pretty good now, but it's still a lot of suction in there. So here is my 1 shot target for today and will try again in a few days when I can get back to the range. It's pretty easy to clean though, just used some Ballistol liquid, some #13 and the little copper brush I bought fits the patent breech real good to clear it out.
So for a first outing I am pretty happy...learning curve I guess. Sure is a fun rifle to shoot and amazingly well balanced. Sights are primitive but cool. I'm hooked.






Shoot safe, RR

you need to frame the target showing your first shot .... tip that might help, after each shot, put the hammer on half cock and remove the cap .... that will open up the airway into the rear of the barrel .... hopefully, that will relieve future vacuum locks

Great first shot, RR. No one is surprised, though. I think Jim's idea of framing that target as a trophy is as accurate as your first shot. Awesome.

Told ya

Just a heads up RR you can use ballistol for patch lube lots of guys do that. Straight or mix it with some water. Spit works to do it all the time in the pistolas

One shot a day can be a real savings on powder and shot but could get a little expensive on targets.
Thanks for the story....I got a good visual picture and a good chuckle.

Thanks guys. Can't wait to shoot again. I did remove the cap but perhaps not in the right sequence to avoid the suction. The Ballistol I bought is in little bottles. Bought 4 of them, $15 each. Not cheap stuff. The rifle sounds like a 45-70 going off. Surprised me a little. I used the set trigger. Have to be REALLY careful with it as it only requires a touch to fire. It is a unique experience shooting it though. Very old timey.

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 7:13 pm

The Ballistol I bought is in little bottles. Bought 4 of them, $15 each. Not cheap stuff.

The last time I bought a sixteen ounce can it cost $17.59 US.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O2L80E/

The guy I bought the rifle from said he had more trouble getting Ballistol into Canada than the rifle from Italy. Weird country we live in here....

Not surprised at all with that first shot. I knew that both the gun and the shooter could do it. Glad you got the rod out.

Had a Uberti in 44-40 once. Bought a mould to cast some 215 gr RNFP for it as recommended by Mike Venturino in shooting Leverguns of the old west. Lubed the bullets with SPG lube which is a special lube designed for BP shooting. Loaded the 44-40 with about 38 grains of 3f if I remember correctly. Those loads would shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards off the bench. It was alot of fun. But the most fun I had was watchin other people watch me as I levered through a tube full of those rounds. The noise and the smoke was something totally different from smokeless.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:37 pm

Had a Uberti in 44-40 once. Bought a mould to cast some 215 gr RNFP for it as recommended by Mike Venturino in shooting Leverguns of the old west. Lubed the bullets with SPG lube which is a special lube designed for BP shooting. Loaded the 44-40 with about 38 grains of 3f if I remember correctly. Those loads would shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards off the bench. It was alot of fun. But the most fun I had was watchin other people watch me as I levered through a tube full of those rounds. The noise and the smoke was something totally different from smokeless.

Geez Al, that must have been a hoot! Wish I could have seen that.

Found this...
https://www.eabco.com/Muzzleloader04.htm

Noteworthy...

Our wrapped, sub caliber brush (in my case would be a .45 caliber brush) eliminates the problem of the cleaning jag getting stuck in the barrel when swabbing the bore between shots.
1. Swab bore with a "Seasoning" patch to clean.
2. Swab with a dry patch to remove excess lube.
3. Load muzzleloader powder, bullet, and prime.
4. Repeat after each shot for superb accuracy.

Problem solved.

Well that was one great shot RR ! Always something to be learned on a new weapon. Can you order Ballistol directly and have it shipped to your home? I usually get the 6oz aerosol cans plus keep the larger spray pump can on hand too.

Have not seen it much except where I bought the rifle. Will check it out.

About $30 for a 6 oz can on Amazon.ca....yikes

RR
Is it necessary to swab between shots with triple 7 powder

No idea. Maybe not?

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 11:23 pm

Have not seen it much except where I bought the rifle. Will check it out.

About $30 for a 6 oz can on Amazon.ca....yikes

Add on shipping cost must be the killer. I can get the 6 oz. spray cans for 8.95 at local farm supply store.

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:44 pm

Found this...
https://www.eabco.com/Muzzleloader04.htm

4. Repeat after each shot for superb accuracy.

Problem solved.

OK, right up front, my only knowledge in this area is based on decades old experience .... it may well have no validity today .... granted we weren't doing long range, precision shooting .... when hunting or shooting all day with our black powder club (longest shots were 75 or so yards, most 50 yards of less) we didn't clean the barrels of our 50 caliber, black powder rifles after each shot .... nor did we do so after firing each cylinder of shots in our Navy 44 .... I've never read of such cleaning practices by mountain men, buffalo hunters or any other frontier shooters .... we used FFF black powder .... for all day shoots we would run a cleaning and follow with a lube patch when we took a break for a meal .... when hunting we would load in the morning and if we didn't fire during the day, the next morning we would fire, reload and go hunting .... that was specially true when hunting in rainy weather .... if there is a black powder club in your area, it might pay you to contact them and spend some time watching or otherwise exchanging info with them

I can see some validity in seasoning the barrel of a new rifle but historically I doubt they spent much time doing so ...

I’ll get a routine down after awhile and adjust accordingly. It’s all new to me. Seems like a shooter though.