Putting the right amount of filler in your revolver makes a HUGE difference!

[Maillemaker]

Yesterday I took my Pietta P1858 New Army Remington to the range.

I was disappointed with my results at the last skirmish. At that skirmish, I was putting in 20 grains of 3F Sheutzen followed by a 9mm case of cream of wheat. I had terrible groups, even at 25 yards.

Yesterday I first shot it with 20 grains of 3F Shuetzen with no filler at all. It shot to the left and about 7" low, and not a very good group.

Next I put in the 20 grains of powder and two 9mm cases of COW. That was a bit much - I could not seat the ball completely in the cylinder. So I backed off a bit until I found just the right amount to make the ball seat flush with the top of the cylinder.

What a huge difference that made! I think at the skirmish essentially I was dilluting my powder charge with loose cream of wheat. No wonder there was no consistency!

But when you put enough in there to make the ball pack it down firmly, it made a big difference at 25 yards shooting off of a bench:

http://i.imgur.com/qro1Zgch.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8g5CDuQh.jpg

It's still shooting to the left and low and definitely needs a dovetail front sight, but I'm pleased to see that the groups are much, much better.

I don't know whether it's packing the charge better or putting the ball closer to the rifling, but it worked!

Steve

[FirinFlatTop]

I don't have a pistol to shoot in the N-SSA but I do have a Ruger Old Army that I shoot some, I use a felt wad soaked in lube then let hardened. I have never used any filler, just the wad and then the ball. JUST A THOUGHT.

[xring2245]

Try using a wonder wad on top of the cream of wheat so that when the ball is seated, it is flush with the top of the cylinder. Wonder wads are lubricated and will completely seal the chamber to prevent multiple firings. It should give you a big boost in the accuracy department. James

[kowdok]

Sorry it took you so long to find out about the proper use of filler, it's a technic the top revolver teams in the assn. have known for a long time. My team is the Iredell Blues and we finish in the top 5 nearly every Nats. 2nd last fall behind the 17 Va. We all use cream-of-wheat filled by volume to within 1/4 to 1/8 in. from the top of the cylinder and try to pack down the ball with the same pressure each time. Most of us just use the loading lever of the gun to do this. There are some cylinder loaders with stops that will pack and stop the ball the same every time. My opinion is that the depth of the ball is the most impt. factor, needs to be as close to the top of the cylinder as possible w/out hitting. This is not that hard to do. Most of us shoot R&S revolvers tuned by HP Gregory, and that has a great deal to do with it also. Good Shooting!