Last edited Sun Jul 13, 2025, 11:37 PM - Edit history (1)

pistol the black powder pistol has very little recoil. I used to have 50 cal Haukins I am surprised that they can
hit 1800 feet.

with black powder you did not know where the heck the lead ball would go.
Great fun!!
m

stainless steel in 1979. I haven't shot it much because it is a pain to clean. The Hawken got fouled pretty quick but it wasn't that hard to clean. I haven't gone hunting in about 25 years
so I got rid of most of my guns.

watching a civil war documentary and one of the things that stuck in my head was that the troops with the smooth bore muskets were told to aim for the feet and knees of the opposing troops... That way they would hit SOMETHING and not just shoot over the heads of the opposing troops..
And then came the rifled bore and Minie ball... nasty stuff....
m

.69 or better. The rifle ball flattening was one reason wounds were so grievous in those days. Hitting a femur meant destroying it, leading to amputation, at best. Smoothbores were generally an 80 yard, at best, weapon. For aiming at a point target. Volley fire, a little longer. That's the "European" method, everybody line up at 100 yards or so, and shoot volleys at each other, and bayonet charge after a few volleys. The air would be pretty thick with smoke by then, making any aiming pointless.

Got about 20 shots out of my .45 rifle before I couldn't get a load down it anymore. Still corrosive.

recoil impulse than smokeless (modern) powder firearms.

A modern round with smokeless powder feels more of punch than black powder's shove.

Both black powder and its substitutes produce potassium salts which are hydrophilic and corrosive.