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Shotput79 · August 28, 2012, 01:21 AM

Howdy Bushmaster. I've been shooting bp guns for about 30 yrds now. I've had my Walker for about two yrs and found that my pet load is 40 to 45 grs of Goex or Pyrodex P FFF or Pyrodex RS FF. The Goex bp is a little hard to get where I live and I'm not going to pay $250 to $300 dollars for 25 lbs of the stuff. Pyrodex P FFF or RS FF works just fine for bp guns of all kinds. I tried Triple 7 when it first came out and I could never get it to group my shots wroth a hoot in rifles or pistols. Yes it's easyer to clean than the Goex or the Pyrodex but bp shooting is what it is. I've had good results in all my bp pistols, and rifles using Pyro and the clean up only takes about 20 min per gun, rifles about 15 min. What I'd try if I were you is get to know your gun. The Walker is a fine hand cannon, and is a joy to shoot with .454 or .457 rd ball. Find out which rd ball yours likes. I went with the .454s because that size ball will work in all my .44 pistols.

The Dragoons are next in line and Goex or Pyro will give you some fine accuracy. Start with 30 grs and work your way up 5 grs at a time till you fine the load that gives you the best groups.

I have gone all the way to 60 grs in mine and found it to be a wast of powder.

I also use lubed wads between the powder and the ball that way you don't have to put all that. I've tried using the .44 cal bullets from a Lee mold and found the rd balls to be more accurate in all my pistols. At the same time at close range a 230 gr bullet coming out of a Walker or Dragoon will flat lay a 200 lb hog on his butt with just 30 grs of powder. 30 grs of powder is a good target load for the Walker with rd ball. The trick was for me to know where the gun was going to put the balls with the loads I wanted to use. I don't know how others do it but I always start out with a new load at close range 25 yrds befour I try it at longer ranges. Most Walkers should be good to go at 50 yrds even 100 once you know the loads your going to use. I'm not going to pick on folks that like Triple 7 I just don't understand wanting to get into the world of black powder and then having a fit because they haft to do a little cleaning afterward. The way I see it, if folks did good 150 + yrs ago with what they had it's good enough now. Have fun with that Walker and yes I have found ballistol to be pretty good stuff to use on bp guns but have only been using it for two yrs and I'm still learning from folks on the forums just how to use it the right way. Maybe some of the guys that was teaching me will see this thread and come in and talk a little more about it for the both of us. Befour I ever knew what ballistol was all I ever used was hot soapy water followed by clean water once it's dry use dry patches. Then I would coat the inside of the barrel and cylinders with boro butter then wipe all the outside of the gun with oil made for bp guns heck I've even wiped them down with bore butter. Here lately I been wiping the outside of them down with ballistol and it works just fine and on bp pistols and rifles really makes the wood look good. I never use anything on a bp gun that I use on a smokeless powder gun. None of my guns have a speck of rust on them anywhere. I hate rust. I'm a big fan of the 1858 Remington New Army pistols and the 1860 Colt Army pistols. I have two of the brass Colt 51s that are sweet shooters. I know a lot of folks don't like the brass frame guns, but with light loades they're a lot of fun. I am a bp addict and love the sport. Now you have caused me to want to get up in the morning and go out back and shoot my Walker if the rain holds up.

August 28, 2012, 01:21 AM	#7
Shotput79 Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Location: NC Posts: 186	Howdy Bushmaster. I've been shooting bp guns for about 30 yrds now. I've had my Walker for about two yrs and found that my pet load is 40 to 45 grs of Goex or Pyrodex P FFF or Pyrodex RS FF. The Goex bp is a little hard to get where I live and I'm not going to pay $250 to $300 dollars for 25 lbs of the stuff. Pyrodex P FFF or RS FF works just fine for bp guns of all kinds. I tried Triple 7 when it first came out and I could never get it to group my shots wroth a hoot in rifles or pistols. Yes it's easyer to clean than the Goex or the Pyrodex but bp shooting is what it is. I've had good results in all my bp pistols, and rifles using Pyro and the clean up only takes about 20 min per gun, rifles about 15 min. What I'd try if I were you is get to know your gun. The Walker is a fine hand cannon, and is a joy to shoot with .454 or .457 rd ball. Find out which rd ball yours likes. I went with the .454s because that size ball will work in all my .44 pistols. The Dragoons are next in line and Goex or Pyro will give you some fine accuracy. Start with 30 grs and work your way up 5 grs at a time till you fine the load that gives you the best groups. I have gone all the way to 60 grs in mine and found it to be a wast of powder. I also use lubed wads between the powder and the ball that way you don't have to put all that. I've tried using the .44 cal bullets from a Lee mold and found the rd balls to be more accurate in all my pistols. At the same time at close range a 230 gr bullet coming out of a Walker or Dragoon will flat lay a 200 lb hog on his butt with just 30 grs of powder. 30 grs of powder is a good target load for the Walker with rd ball. The trick was for me to know where the gun was going to put the balls with the loads I wanted to use. I don't know how others do it but I always start out with a new load at close range 25 yrds befour I try it at longer ranges. Most Walkers should be good to go at 50 yrds even 100 once you know the loads your going to use. I'm not going to pick on folks that like Triple 7 I just don't understand wanting to get into the world of black powder and then having a fit because they haft to do a little cleaning afterward. The way I see it, if folks did good 150 + yrs ago with what they had it's good enough now. Have fun with that Walker and yes I have found ballistol to be pretty good stuff to use on bp guns but have only been using it for two yrs and I'm still learning from folks on the forums just how to use it the right way. Maybe some of the guys that was teaching me will see this thread and come in and talk a little more about it for the both of us. Befour I ever knew what ballistol was all I ever used was hot soapy water followed by clean water once it's dry use dry patches. Then I would coat the inside of the barrel and cylinders with boro butter then wipe all the outside of the gun with oil made for bp guns heck I've even wiped them down with bore butter. Here lately I been wiping the outside of them down with ballistol and it works just fine and on bp pistols and rifles really makes the wood look good. I never use anything on a bp gun that I use on a smokeless powder gun. None of my guns have a speck of rust on them anywhere. I hate rust. I'm a big fan of the 1858 Remington New Army pistols and the 1860 Colt Army pistols. I have two of the brass Colt 51s that are sweet shooters. I know a lot of folks don't like the brass frame guns, but with light loades they're a lot of fun. I am a bp addict and love the sport. Now you have caused me to want to get up in the morning and go out back and shoot my Walker if the rain holds up.