Quote:
|
Another question I had was how much do Caps and Powder usually run, I'm at my college house now so cant get to my local shop to check it out myself because its 3 hours away. Is it cheaper to shoot than center fire rounds, more expensive, about par?
|
1 lb. of powder equals 7000 grains of powder. If you load 25 grains per shot, that's about 280 shots from 1 lb. of powder.
At $20 per lb., the cost would be .07 cents per shot.
Round balls cost about $9 per 100 or .09 cents each.
Percussion caps cost about .04 -.05 cents each.
Then most people use some Bore Butter or Crisco over the loaded balls, or lube pills under the balls. Some use bore button wool wads (at .08 - .10 cents each).
There's also the cost of cleaning & loading accessories, wrench, nipples, nipple pick, flask, capper, measure etc...
You're looking at a minimum of about .20 cents a shot which isn't much different than shooting a 9mm or even a .45 ACP.
I know that some will say that powder is cheaper, but I'm talking about the average price of powder, whether it's 777, Pyrodex or real BP. BP costs well over $20 per lb. around here, and so does 777. APP is $18 - $20+. Maybe $2 can be saved by buying Pyrodex, but you need gas to drive around buying the stuff.
Sure you can cast your own round balls, but that's another investment cost too.
Don't blame the messenger for saying this, but on average BP pistols usually require more replacement parts than smokeless guns do which is another expense. Plus their resale and trade in values do go down more than a Ruger MK III's would, especially a brass frame model. The back of the brass frame gets battered due to the cylinder hitting it from the recoil of each shot and the brass shows more wear over time.
On the other hand, one round of Federal .22 bulk ammo from Walmart costs about 2.5 cents. Shooting one 10 round magazine costs .25 cents, and shooting 10 full magazines per hour costs $2.50 per hour.
That same $2.50 is equal to shooting about 2 full cylinders out of a .44 C&B revolver or about 12 shots worth.
