Black Powder Loads....?

[Kid Gonzo]

Hi Gang....

Another question....

I have started my young mare desensitizing her to gunfire by using my black powder Navy pistol. As expected of her, she was fine form the first shots.....started with just caps...then added a little Pyrodex with an Ox-Yoke Wonder Wad...she has been excepting this extremely well...we are ready to begin busting some balloons. Balloons are no biggie for her...I have desensitized her to everything imaginable since she was a weanling....I will do it from the ground first while I lead her past the balloons and firing at them...then, if all goes well (and it will) I will mount and begin walking her through some courses of fire....

I will post pics of her first rundown on my website the day we do it.

So the question is this.....

What do I use for "shot" loaded in my Navy to break the balloons? Several friends have said that I should get some corn cobs and grind them up and load them over the Pyrodex. The Wonder Wad will keep it in place and it wont hurt the rifling in my barrell....plus it will be just hard enough to pop the balloon. Here in Indiana, and especially surrounding my horse pastures, there are acres and acres of corn fields with cobs laying everywhere.

Is this acceptable? Can it be done with crushed corn cobs?

Someone also stated that I should use crushed walnut shells. I have several walnut trees near the barn.

Any suggestions, comments, ....?!

Thanks for your time and efforts.....

Kid Gonzo !!!

[Cuts Crooked]

I see absolutely no reason your idea of using crushed corn cob wouldn't for practicing on balloons! Let us know how it works out!

[litl rooster]

or Oatmeal

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[hellgate]

It is not worth the bother to crush your own walnut shells when you can go to a pet store and buy a 5 lb bag as reptile or bird cage litter for a few bucks. I'd use a half chamber of powder and half chamber of ground walnut first. Get a buncha balloons and get back 8 ft and try a chamber with all 3F, another with all 2F, another with 1/3 3f+walnut, 1/3 2F+ walnut, then 50/50 etc til you find what pops the balloons the most consistantly. The 45LC blanks that are standard ammo are pretty loud so you will want to work your way up to that level eventually with live ammo BP loads. You might find that all powder works better than the walnut but since I've not tried these things you'll be on your own voyage of discovery. Keep us posted as to what works the best. You may need to get a 44 cal and add a Kirst or R&D converter so you can use the issue ammo for mounted competition.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy, Kid Gonzo!

I'm not a mounted shooter, so I'm not 100% sure, but I think the 45 Colt loads used for mounted competition have NOTHING in them at all!  I think that the BP spits out 10-12 feet and that's what bursts the balloons.

Hopefully, some more knowledgeable folks will read and post here.  And I'd bet that either crushed corncob OR walnut would work if you need more "range."

[Lars]

Second Steel Horse Bailey's suggestion that the 45 Colt BP loads have nothing but BP and a card wad on top. I have heard several times that they are quite picky about who makes those BP blanks, from the stand point of reliability to bust ballons at some distance (15 feet?) and safety. Because there are spectators standing near the lines the mounted shooters ride and shoot, anything that flings any particulate matter very far (50 feet?) is a NO-NO.

Suggest contacting officials or active mounted shooters to get the accurate information.

IF what I wrote above is correct, I would ask how much you have to gain by practicing with BP "blanks" that have more range than those allowed in competition?

Lars

[litl rooster]

Lars your info is correct, from what I understand about Mounted shooting...Their match loads are set to break balloons at 15'... amd np further, for saftey reasons. The other maybe a fairness to the game, all shooters shooting the same and equal loads. Kid Gonzo my horse took the to shooting right off. But I have used a Drovers whip from him over the years working cattle. What you might find out is the actual bursting of the balloons may git yers to step sideways.  Good luck in yer venture.

[Lineas A. Puffbuster]

The standard required by the mounted folks is that the blank has to be capable of breaking a balloon at 10' ... but NOT at 20'.  All blanks used in mounted competition MUST be provided by a CERTIFIED supplier.