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Cap and ball speed loading


PowderMark

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Lead Monger, I used a 30, 35. & 40 gr spout which were all straight. The flasks were both the traditional "Remington Dog"  and round cylinder type. When I use a 20gr spout on the 36 Navies it is tapered. The 61 Navies have a bit more room for this than the 51s. I agree, with the tapered spout I don't spill as much. Others use a funnel in the cylinder which sounds like a good idea. I have just been trying to work things down to the minimum necessary. At this point, though, I have accepted that loading for a unhurried, pleasant afternoon of shooting is not the same as loading for a Cowboy match. At least for me. 

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With the cylinder staying in the gun, the chamber mouth is high enough off the table to allow placing the tip of the flask’s spout close the opening before starting to pour the powder.  Just rest the tip of the spout on the cylinder and tip it into the chamber.  When the cylinder is close to the table top, as it is when using a separate press,  it’s more difficult to get the spout close to the chamber mouth without spilling powder.  Sure you can use a funnel, but it’s one more thing to carry, hold, handle, and lose.

 

I remain unconvinced that loading with the cylinder out of the gun is better than using the built-in loading lever.

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On 4/24/2019 at 9:10 AM, Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329 said:

3-4 shooters while watching the unloading table & I am done.

With due respect, I feel need to express some disagreement here.  I'm not sure I would be comfortable sharing a posse with somebody who is distracted as an Unloading Officer.  

 

In particular, C&B loading requires careful attention due to potential for very serious errors.  So while you're loading, who is making sure others guns are being properly unloaded?  I know that when I am an Unloading Officer, it pretty much takes all of my attention to make absolutely sure that shooters guns get safely and fully unloaded, and nobody gets an SDQ, or worse yet, has a serious accident because of my inattention.  Keep in mind that a long gun left partially unloaded usually ends up in somebody's gun cart, often with its muzzle pointed directly at them when changing between stages.  I realize actions are supposed to be open, but we've all probably seen cases where actions were inadvertently closed.  I know I have. 

 

IMHO, Loading and unloading officers have serious jobs.  They have plenty to do, and usually all of the space at the tables is pretty well needed for their intended purpose.  I would discourage you from seeing  and using that as a loading opportunity.   Same is true for Loading Officers.  

 

In addition, I think I may have an issue with a Tupperware container of BP sitting open on the same table where people are ejecting hot cartridge cases, and could be smoking.   

Let's all think about safety first.  

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I stop what I am doing for the time the person is unloading, and watch them empty their guns.

I take my job as an unloading table officer seriously.

--Dawg

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7 minutes ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

With due respect, I feel need to express some disagreement here.  I'm not sure I would be comfortable sharing a posse with somebody who is distracted as an Unloading Officer.  

 

In particular, C&B loading requires careful attention due to potential for very serious errors.  So while you're loading, who is making sure others guns are being properly unloaded?  I know that when I am an Unloading Officer, it pretty much takes all of my attention to make absolutely sure that shooters guns get safely and fully unloaded, and nobody gets an SDQ, or worse yet, has a serious accident because of my inattention.  Keep in mind that a long gun left partially unloaded usually ends up in somebody's gun cart, often with its muzzle pointed directly at them when changing between stages.  I realize actions are supposed to be open, but we've all probably seen cases where actions were inadvertently closed.  I know I have. 

 

IMHO, Loading and unloading officers have serious jobs.  They have plenty to do, and usually all of the space at the tables is pretty well needed for their intended purpose.  I would discourage you from seeing  and using that as a loading opportunity.   Same is true for Loading Officers.  

 

In addition, I think I may have an issue with a Tupperware container of BP sitting open on the same table where people are ejecting hot cartridge cases, and could be smoking.   

Let's all think about safety first.  

As a self designated unloading officer at all of the ranges and posses that I shoot on I’m able to do my ULT duties quite well while doing other things. Sometimes, but not always shooters stack up at the ULT because of gun issues, squibs, etc.. but all in all there is plenty of time to load C&B revolvers while doing those duties. Prairie Dawgs been doing this for a long, long time and I’m pretty sure he takes his ULT duties just as serious as loading his C&B revolvers.

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26 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

As a self designated unloading officer at all of the ranges and posses that I shoot on I’m able to do my ULT duties quite well while doing other things. Sometimes, but not always shooters stack up at the ULT because of gun issues, squibs, etc.. but all in all there is plenty of time to load C&B revolvers while doing those duties. Prairie Dawgs been doing this for a long, long time and I’m pretty sure he takes his ULT duties just as serious as loading his C&B revolvers.

Again, with due respect, I have to stick to my original comment.  I've shot on posses that had Loading  and/or Unloading Officers doing their own C&B loading, working on their own or others' guns, or doing other personal tasks at both the loading and unloading tables.  They honestly thought they were multi-tasking just fine (about like people think they are doing just fine to text and drive).  And several times, I've seen that multi-tasking attempt result in shooters getting SDQs on the next stage, simply because too much was going on at the UL Table, and a pistol didn't get completely unloaded. 

I'm sure folks will pile on here and tell me how ridiculous I am being.  And that's fine.  I am really not intending this as personal criticizm of anybody.  Rather, it is an assumed OK widespread practice that I am questioning.  

I strongly agree with the SHB  that the Loading and Unloading Officer jobs require close and undistracted attention.   

That's really all I have to say on this sidebar issue to the original topic.  

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44 minutes ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

Again, with due respect, I have to stick to my original comment.  I've shot on posses that had Loading  and/or Unloading Officers doing their own C&B loading, working on their own or others' guns, or doing other personal tasks at both the loading and unloading tables.  They honestly thought they were multi-tasking just fine (about like people think they are doing just fine to text and drive).  And several times, I've seen that multi-tasking attempt result in shooters getting SDQs on the next stage, simply because too much was going on at the UL Table, and a pistol didn't get completely unloaded. 

I'm sure folks will pile on here and tell me how ridiculous I am being.  And that's fine.  I am really not intending this as personal criticizm of anybody.  Rather, it is an assumed OK widespread practice that I am questioning.  

I strongly agree with the SHB  that the Loading and Unloading Officer jobs require close and undistracted attention.   

That's really all I have to say on this sidebar issue to the original topic.  

That’s what’s great about this here Wire, we can disagree on things and still get along. Some folks are good at multi tasking and some aren’t.

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1 hour ago, Yul Lose said:

That’s what’s great about this here Wire, we can disagree on things and still get along. Some folks are good at multi tasking and some aren’t.

Agree.  I'm definitely an "aren't", as my stage times and "P"s often show.  

It is great to be able to speak our minds among friends, with no one feeling need to be disrespectful.  

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46 minutes ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

Agree.  I'm definitely an "aren't", as my stage times and "P"s often show.  

It is great to be able to speak our minds among friends, with no one feeling need to be disrespectful.  

What little I have read so far on this subject, here tonight...This is becoming a very good learning tool...For all of us who are going Cap Guns, I think this a very good learning tool...Seeing different points of view can give us insight as to what might for each of us...Pick and choose...

 

Texas Lizard

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There are folks who take their job seriously and those who don't.

That goes for all the posse duties, Loading & Unloading table officers, spotters, and even TOs.

The shooter decides for himself how he will approach those "jobs", and is influenced by the TO, and those around him. 

We've all had good & not-so-good spotters, LT & ULT officers, and better/worse TOs.

DDD, Your point of view is noted & appreciated.  Thanks for chiming in on this topic.

--Dawg

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/27/2019 at 6:36 PM, Dusty Devil Dale said:

 +1

 

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On 5/18/2019 at 7:06 AM, PowderMark said:

Here’s what I came up with.  First attempt at paper cartridges. Monthly shoot tomorrow, here goes nuthin 

1C3DD929-A7BA-4303-92A9-FBCF0B573FAF.jpeg

How’d it go using the paper cartridges?

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When I was shootin’ regular, I usually found myself at the unloading table. That was the only task I had to focus on. 

Now that I started, and I mean just started, playing with cap guns I feel I need to concentrate on one or the other. 

Now the first time I bit off a big ole piece and was loading 4 guns. The second time I loaded 2 guns and had 2 spare cylinders loaded. Much more time to do some posse chores until I ran into some binding and misfire issues on the conversions. 

This next time out I am going to try 2 c&b and 2 different conversions, finding the reliability sweet spot. 

I took to reloading on the gun, in hand and found it pretty quick. Not sure if I can do that with the Walkers yet. 

I also plan to try setting up paper cartridges to see if that shaves time. Less steps to focus on. Just drop and ram. 

Swapping cylinders was definitely the easiest at the shoot.  

 

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Shoot went well.  All 50 cartridges went boom.  No real problems.  The guns did seem to be binding a little more than usual.  Not sure if that was the papers fault, probably caps.  When I cleaned them, some debris washed out of the chambers.  Overall, way better than handling loose powder.  Maybe I could use a jag to clean the chambers between loadings, like the worm for a cannon

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