A new gun I’ve been playing with.

Well, not exactly new… It was Dads. I’ve had it for almost 4.5 years now, and it hadn’t been fired for 5 or 6 befor that.  It was always fun to shoot, its just slow and tegious to load(IMO, and was Dads feeling too), so we never did a lot with it. 

Took some doing for me to find load datta for it… you’d think after 160+ years for this particular gun alone, cap and ball load data would be easy to find online… Not really..

1851 Navy, brass framed .36 cal cap and ball by Pietta.

I have powder(Pyrodex= Can’t get “real” black locally) left over, and caps, lube etc from my, and Dads .50 percussion rifles, but didn’t have any balls for it. looked at a new box for it, $10 for 100… Uhhm! NO!

So much for the “easy” way out. 😉

I had to improvise a little to cast some, since my Lee lead pot is full of a wheel weight/range lead mix.. Too hard for a cap and ball revolver.  SO I dug out a MAPP torch, a small laddle, and the double cavity Lee mold, and went to town.. 15 minutes later i had re cast some un needed 32 cal balls, and some reject/rough cast 50s into about 30 36 call balls. Less than 15 minutes later 6 of them went down range into my woodpile! 😀

And as a side EDC note, that is my Skar Hanks Explorer hank used as a ball catcher/drop cloth/hot lead holder… Hanks do make great pocket dump pic dressing, and carry bling, but mine also get dirty, used and even abused.. They’re functional carry for me.

( swore I had ball for it somewhere, and later found them… And remembered why they were elsewhere… I’d ran them through a 357 bullet sizer to make “round ball” bullets for range/target/small game loads for the 357/38. 36 cal round balls being .375 in dia, make a great short ball end cylender when rin through a .359 sizing die. 😀 )