BP and Rimfire at the range

[CT_Shooter]

Some of you may remember that a good friend gave me an 1861 Springfield rifle made in 1864 (sometimes called an 1863 Springfield). I had it inspected and cleaned by an antiques gunsmith and in May of 2019, we fired it for the first time.

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 864#p99222

Yesterday, we fired it again. I had nine 58 cal minie balls left over from last year, so we decided to send them down range before the weather turned. Before I left home, I pre-measured and filled nine plastic, capped test tubes with 5 CCs each of Pyrodex RS; roughly 60 grains.

We felt a profound and sober appreciation as we held and shot this 156 year old firearm, imagining it in the hands of its first owner, possibly a soldier in the Civil War. We noted how heavy it is and how much time we had to load it, carefully aim, and shoot. We even took the time to run a patch down down the barrel between shots. We thought about what we were doing and wondered about who he was and what that gun meant to him.

We also shot 120 rounds of 22LRs with my H001. We used the same target for both guns and alternated shooting. The range insisted on a minimum distance of 50 yards, so that's where we set the target. No photos... but that target was a sorry mess when we finished with it.

Since I'm basically a hermit these days, it was a real treat for me in a lot of ways. I spent time with an old friend, enjoyed some lively conversation, shot some cool guns, and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, New England autumn day. Pretty good.

Springfield 1863.jpg (90.58 KiB) Viewed 1547 times

[JEBar]

well written report .... other than weight and the reloading process, do you have any other impressions .... recoil .... trigger pull .... ease of using its sights .... accuracy .... post shooting cleaning

[Sir Henry]

What a great report! I love the smell of BP.

[North Country Gal]

CT, just so nice to hear you went shooting and with a pal, to boot. Wonderful report. Enjoyed it very much.

Been a long time, now, since I've shot BP. I do miss it, sometimes, and think about getting back into it. Have to wonder, though, if BP components are seeing the same kind of shortages as smokeless powder, right now.

[CT_Shooter]

well written report .... other than weight and the reloading process, do you have any other impressions .... recoil .... trigger pull .... ease of using its sights .... accuracy .... post shooting cleaning

The recoil is similar to that of my Henry Brass Big Boy .357 with a full magnum 158 grain cartridge; not severe, but noticeable.

The trigger is smooth, dropping the hammer with an easy squeeze; pretty nice, actually.

It has what is called a "leaf rear sight"; that is two leaves of different lengths that flip up, one for 300 yards and the other for 500 yards. With both leaves down, the sight is set for one hundred yards. We shot with both leaves down each time we were at the range. The rear sight is notched and easy to position the front sight. Neither one of us is a skilled marksman, but we both hit the paper close to the six inch target while sitting and shooting offhand; neither of us actually hit it, though. We were both happy with that. Our expectations were pretty low to begin with.

I cleaned it just like I did last year. I used boiling water with a drop of Dawn that I poured down the barrel through a funnel. When it was filled and dripping out of the nipple, I ran a brush up and down the barrel until the water was completely drained. I did this six times, then flushed it with clear, boiling water and, again, let it drain. After I ran about twenty dry patches through it, I ran a patch soaked with Ballistol up and down, followed by another twenty-five dry patches. I did that twice. The last patch out was mostly white, faintly grayish brown. I used a straightened paper clip to poke around in the nipple (it can't be removed because it's original and basically fused to the action). And, finally, gave the entire rifle a rubdown with Ballistol.

It should be good to go for the next time.

[BigAl52]

Nothing like BP shooting. Im going tomorrow with my buddies from Denver. Glad you got out Stan maybe you need another BP rifle.

[JEBar]

thanks for the info CT .... I found the recoil comparison with a 357 to be very interesting

[fortyshooter]

Interesting combination to shoot...biggest to smallest. I wonder if there is a .22 cal BP rifle?

[RanchRoper]

Nice rifle. Can't wait to shoot my BP rifle soon.

[Sir Henry]

Interesting combination to shoot...biggest to smallest. I wonder if there is a .22 cal BP rifle?

Check this out.
http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 1e58331522