Sedalia Dave Posted May 13 Posted May 13 Yes it can be done. Key is to ensure you guns are only lubed with a BP compatible lube. This means a complete disassemble of your 1911 / 97, removing all the current lube and then reassembly with a BP compatible lube. It also means that mouse fart loads in either the 1911 or 97 will cause problems. 45 ACP loaded quality 3F BP or Triple 7 and 230 grain bullets. For your 97 minimum of 1 oz loads and 3.25 cc of real BP or 3F APP. You need to get the hulls to seal and prevent blowby. 10 Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted May 13 Author Posted May 13 Can't find the videos but several years ago there was a WB shooter that regularly shot BP at matches. 1 Quote
G W Wade Posted May 13 Posted May 13 Where is Kid Rich? I have enjoyed listening laughing from inside a cloud of smoke shooting his 1911 Black! GW 4 1 Quote
Blackwater 53393 Posted May 13 Posted May 13 I can’t forget when Bill Carson signed up for the Wild Bunch match at one of the big matches at The World Shooting Complex!! They asked him which category he wanted to shoot in and he replied “Frontier Cartridge!!” Yeah! He shot the whole match with Black Powder!! 1 1 Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted May 14 Author Posted May 14 I love how everyone jumps when that first round of BP goes off. 1 Quote
Old Man Graybeard Posted May 14 Posted May 14 Kid Rich used to fairly regularly shoot black powder in one of his 1911's 1 Quote
Cemetery Posted May 14 Posted May 14 Used to do this regularly with Barley Pop Bill years back, even went to some regular action pistol matches with BP loads .... they never knew what hit 'em ... LoL! 1 Quote
irish ike, SASS #43615 Posted May 14 Posted May 14 A long time ago when 1911's and Wild Bunch was starting to surface a match decided to make a side match stage. Just 1911's. One stage. Fastest wins the Cadillac. So me knowing I won't drive home in a Cadillac loaded up some BP rounds. Shooting through a window, TO snuggles up to make sure the typical mouse fart loads are heard. And timer goes off. And BOOM! The TO jumps back maybe thinking I blew the gun up. Me I kept blazing away. He was rattled and the look on his face was a XXX moment. And yes 1911's get dirty real quick with BP. 5 Quote
Cemetery Posted May 15 Posted May 15 20 hours ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said: And yes 1911's get dirty real quick with BP. BP fouling will find nooks and crannies in a 1911 that you never came across before! 1 Quote
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted May 15 Posted May 15 There was a time in my sordid past when shooting Wild Bunch with Black Powder was great FUN!! Ye Haw!! Quote
Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Posted May 15 Posted May 15 I have shot Wild Bunch matches with real BP, and it worked fine, if you did it right. For me is was use fffg to get a bit more oomph so the slide would work. I used 260 grain bullets to help this also. I used my 1913 made 1911, with original(slightly sacked) spring and looser fit slide/frame. Funny, I found the the shells expanded nicely, and pretty much only the inside of the barrel got dirty. Made a lot of smoke and noise but the recoil was relatively light. 4 Quote
mean gun mark Posted May 17 Posted May 17 does a 45acp case filled with real black powder make power factor? has anyone actually chronograph their loads? Note real black powder, not APP or 777. Quote
Constable Nelson #11784 Posted May 18 Posted May 18 16 hours ago, mean gun mark said: does a 45acp case filled with real black powder make power factor? has anyone actually chronograph their loads? Note real black powder, not APP or 777. No idea, but given how a compressed charge of FFF in a 45 acp case sounds, and how well it cycles, I think it MIGHT. As an old ex FC shooter (1st Place EOT 2001 lol) I will admit to trying BP in just about everything. 45 ACP ran fine. 9mm shot very accurately but turned the pistol into a pump action...🤣 Haven't tried it in my Steyr Hahn (9mm Steyr/9 x 23) because i cannot find any instructions on FULL disassembly. 1 Quote
Kid Rich Posted May 18 Posted May 18 23 hours ago, mean gun mark said: does a 45acp case filled with real black powder make power factor? has anyone actually chronograph their loads? Note real black powder, not APP or 777. 3F loads just make the power factor most of the time. The APP loads run 750+ fps with a 230 g bullet. That was over a chrono that Happy Jack head at the regional in Utah several years ago. Same results I had with my chrono at home before that. I only ran the APP loads at the regional as I did not feel the 3f loads were consistently high enough. kR 1 Quote
Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Posted May 18 Posted May 18 Well, I can tell you there was no competitive advantage to having all that smoke! I have a chrono so next time I shoot I will check my loads. 1 Quote
mean gun mark Posted May 19 Posted May 19 21 hours ago, Springfield Slim SASS #24733 said: Well, I can tell you there was no competitive advantage to having all that smoke! I have a chrono so next time I shoot I will check my loads. understood, while i have seen a few shooters do this I was wondering if it actually did make power factor. 1 Quote
Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Posted May 19 Posted May 19 (edited) FWIW a 45acp case holds the same as a Cowboy 45 Special case, and lots of guys use those, including me. I always figured the heavier 260 grain bullet helped get it over the line. I could be wrong, never really worried about it. Edited May 19 by Springfield Slim SASS #24733 Quote
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