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Revolver & rifle off calibers


Kodiak Bill

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It's not odd at all but certainly a lot more trouble

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24 minutes ago, twelve mile REB said:

It's not odd at all but certainly a lot more trouble

Depends on the calibers.  Load your pistols first, there's no way you can fit a .45 in a .38 cylinder.  Now, if you were mixing .45 and 44-40 or 44 Mag, then you'd have to be a lot more careful.  

 

Lots of folks start off with mixed calibers.  I shot mixed for a lot of years. Still do sometimes.  Sometimes same caliber but different loadings for rifle and pistol.  You come up with a system (stripes on the bottom of of rim, for example).  But now with smokeless and using all the same ammo most of the time, it sure is easy to dump 20 rounds on the loading table and not have to think that much about it.  On the other hand, even doing that I'm looking at the rounds and try to load those with cannelures on the brass into the pistols as much as possible.

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My revolvers are technically 45 Colt but I've been loading 45 Cowboy in them. While I am loading 45 Colt in my rifle.

 

There is one kid (late teens or early 20's) in our group who has 2 revolvers that are different calibers. I'm sure it's just what he got a good deal on at the time.

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Do it about 90% of the time.

44-40 Rifle

44 cap guns, 38, 44, or 45 pistols

 

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when I first started shooting I borrowed guns. I had a Browning 92 and Ruger old Vaquero in 44 magnum and a 45 colt. some of the the ammo was 3-D brand lead bullet 44 magnum. you can guess what happened! I got mixed up being my first match and shot 44s in the borrowed Colt! the cases were black but the Colt survived with no damage

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Guilty of I'm thinking never having all three the same caliber. I mostly like to only have two calibers and like to have combinations that aren't easy to mix up. Stuffing a wrong similar caliber in a gun is a fairly common error, happens enough that I load in nickel cases for some loads and painted bullets for another and sometimes WC bullets for another. I don't like to pick a combo that has calibers that can get mixed up. Like someone said shooting is 50% a mental game, and the other half is in your head. In competition it is so easy to get rattled and loose concentration. It's not uncommon to see 44-40 loaded into a 45 Colt. 

 

BB

 

PS: I have my movie heroes, Rooster with his Navy sixes as back-up is a favorite. It's taken a few years but I have a 1851 Mason-Richards clone now and I think I'll pair it with my 44-40s.

 

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Logistically it is a lot easier to find and use one load that works in both pistols and the rifle. For a change try 9mm in a convertible Ruger BH, .44 Mag in the other pistol and .45c in the rifle. It is more trouble than it is worth. BUT it can be done.

 

Imis

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I cannot understand why someone would use revolvers and rifle of different calibers unless they were just starting out and it was an economic issue.  Competition isn't War, but Clausewitz covered the subject. “Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult” .  

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2 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

II know one fellow who shoots .45's in his pistols and .44-40 in his rifle.

 

I've been shooting 45 Schofields in pistols and 44-40 in rifle(s) for 19 years!

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3 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

I cannot understand why someone would use revolvers and rifle of different calibers unless they were just starting out and it was an economic issue.  Competition isn't War, but Clausewitz covered the subject. “Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult” .  

Why?  Because I have rifles in 5 calibers and pistols in 6 calibers.   And only one of the pistols is .32-20 and only one of the conversions is a .44.  As I'm shooting every weekend, I have simplified and have my "main match" guns now all using the same .38's, but I still like to shoot all the other guns on occasion.  It's not all about competition.  Some of it is enjoying the old style guns.  No, I don't have any Rugers. :)

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1 hour ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

Why?  Because I have rifles in 5 calibers and pistols in 6 calibers.   And only one of the pistols is .32-20 and only one of the conversions is a .44.  As I'm shooting every weekend, I have simplified and have my "main match" guns now all using the same .38's, but I still like to shoot all the other guns on occasion.  It's not all about competition.  Some of it is enjoying the old style guns.  No, I don't have any Rugers. :)

I'm talking about matches.  As to calibers for general shooting, you are more than a few calibers short.

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34 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

I'm talking about matches.  As to calibers for general shooting, you are more than a few calibers short.

I'm talking about matches, too.  That's all I shoot.

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Not odd at all. About ten years back, I took it to the extreme and took twelve different revolvers, six different rifles, and six different shotguns to a match, all in different dedicated chamberings. Meaning if I shot say a .44 mag Vaquero with .44 mag brass on one stage, I didn't shoot another .44 mag Vaquero with .44 Specials or Russians on another stage. If I shot .44 special, that's what the gun was chambered in. If I shot .44 Russians, that's what the gun was chambered in, and so on. I had to cheat a bit on shotguns, but with everyone's approval, I tossed in a .410 and a 28 gauge. :P The only thing that would have made it better would have been to shoot clean, but alas, I shot the dreaded "one miss match". :mellow:

 

Twice in my 31 years of this game, I've showed up with mismatched guns/ammo - once I had .45 Colt ammo and .38/.357 revolvers somehow. The other time I had a .38-40 rifle and .44-40 ammo. I was able to borrow/share guns/ammo both times and shoot the matches. :)

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7 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

Not odd at all. About ten years back, I took it to the extreme and took twelve different revolvers, six different rifles, and six different shotguns to a match, all in different dedicated chamberings.

 

A few years ago, the local Tri-State had a themed match where each stage was "dedicated" or based on a "Cowboy Ballad."

Among the songs were...

El Paso.  Since it contains the line, "I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle," I made my last rifle round on that stage black powder.  If I recall the rifle I used correctly, it was a .44-40.

 

Big Iron.  "The Stranger there among them had a big Iron on his hip."  I didn't yet have my own personal "Big Iron" so I used a converted Colt Walker and a Colt Buntline, .45 Colt and .44 Special.

Back in the Saddle Again:  "Totin' my old .44."   I used a pair of antique .44-40's.  One S&W and one Colt.

 

Ringo:  "The Deadly .44."  One of my pistols on that stage was in the deadliest of .44's, the .44 Magnum.

 

Don't recall what else I used on the other stages, but I had FUN!

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I've always had the same caliber in pistols and rifles!! Much easier! Same load in both as well.

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5 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

A few years ago, the local Tri-State had a themed match where each stage was "dedicated" or based on a "Cowboy Ballad."

Among the songs were...

El Paso.  Since it contains the line, "I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle," I made my last rifle round on that stage black powder.  If I recall the rifle I used correctly, it was a .44-40.

 

Big Iron.  "The Stranger there among them had a big Iron on his hip."  I didn't yet have my own personal "Big Iron" so I used a converted Colt Walker and a Colt Buntline, .45 Colt and .44 Special.

Back in the Saddle Again:  "Totin' my old .44."   I used a pair of antique .44-40's.  One S&W and one Colt.

 

Ringo:  "The Deadly .44."  One of my pistols on that stage was in the deadliest of .44's, the .44 Magnum.

 

Don't recall what else I used on the other stages, but I had FUN!

OUTSTANDING!! Hope you won SPIRIT OF THE GAME for the whole match!! 
 

Hugs!!

Scarlett

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9 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I've always had the same caliber in pistols and rifles!! Much easier! Same load in both as well.

me too , i only added a new caliber in recent couple years , i still have all the same caliber in that as well , i also require my loads to function the same in both and have since the start , its not all that difficult to do and keeps things simple in a match for whatever reason you shoot - competition/fun , why make it hard on yourself ? the game can present enough difficulty all by itself , 

 

i get it if someone is starting out and trying to put things together without breaking the bank , it takes time and resources , it requires a plan and sticking with it , you can always change your plan down the road as things get easier in life , you can also find good deals on what you want when your not rushed into it , if you have to shoot mismatched i get it , if you choose to shoot mismatched i get that too , but there are a number of us that would recommend shooting matched in the end if at all possible , 

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.38 and any of the 40+ calibers not a big deal as there is a large difference in ammo.  IF shooting mixed 40 + calibers such as 44 mag and 44-40 or 45 colt rounds are similare enough that you can easily mix them up in a rifle and the offending round may not chamber.  Having said that if care is taken it is not problematic unless for some reason you put the wrong round into a box of ammo and did not catch it when counting out the normal 10 rounds for a stage.

 

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On 3/11/2023 at 4:19 PM, Rip Snorter said:

I cannot understand why someone would use revolvers and rifle of different calibers unless they were just starting out and it was an economic issue.  Competition isn't War, but Clausewitz covered the subject. “Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult” .  

Because we wanted Rugers for Shootin Sharyn but she felt that NMVs were to big for her hands. That brought us to Single Sixes in 32 H&R Mag. She wanted to shoot an Uberti 1873 so that resulted in a .357 chambered rifle firing .38 special.

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3 hours ago, Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655 said:

.38 and any of the 40+ calibers not a big deal as there is a large difference in ammo.  IF shooting mixed 40 + calibers such as 44 mag and 44-40 or 45 colt rounds are similare enough that you can easily mix them up in a rifle and the offending round may not chamber.  Having said that if care is taken it is not problematic unless for some reason you put the wrong round into a box of ammo and did not catch it when counting out the normal 10 rounds for a stage.

 

 

I've only shot with Tex and Cat Ballou once, at a Comancheria Days match a few years ago.  Cat was shooting 44-40's and her rifle totally jammed up costing her a number of misses.  When it was cleared at the unloading table it was found that there was a 45 Colt round mixed in with her .44's.  Being as Tex was her reloader and in charge of ammo, he was in the doghouse big-time!  :o

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you want to shoot mixed calibers, it is much easier to keep track if you shoot significantly different calibers like .38 and 44 mag or 45 colt or even cowboy special.  44 mag or 44-40 and 45 are easy to mix up in the heat of battle.  One way to keep straight is to use nickel plated brass for either the rifle or the pistol and regular brass for the other.  Makes things really easy to differentiate 

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I usually shot 45Colt in my rifle and pistols, but with my BP loads the pistol loads are 25gr and 200gr bullets while the rifle lads are 32gr and 250gr bullets. So I  use different brand of cases to separate them.

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I started with a pair of pistols in 45 and a rifle in 44-40.  I just paid attention and never had an issue for the first year or so.  I then switched to Frontiersman (cap gun pistols) before eventually finding a pair of 44-40 pistols.  While there is nothing wrong with shooting a mix of calibers it is really convenient to just load one at matches, even more convenient to tumble and reload for just one caliber.  

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