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Old December 29, 2010, 08:33 PM   #1
5282jt
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What Black Powder Pistol Has The Greatest Accuaracy?

I'm wondering which cap & ball pistols are considered by users to be the most accurate?
This includes revolvers and single shots.
Thanks!
Chuck
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Old December 29, 2010, 08:35 PM   #2
junkman_01
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That's an easy question to answer. It's the gun they personally shoot the best!
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Old December 29, 2010, 08:42 PM   #3
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In single shots, the Pedersoli LePage and the Carleton.
In revolvers, the Ruger "Old Army"

But any custom made pistol single shot or revolver will be more accurate.
If they are made right.

I know were opening a can of worms here. Somebody has to go first. So
my neck's been stuck out-Go for it.
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Old December 29, 2010, 09:03 PM   #4
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I think the answer is simple . . .. it's the one being shot by the best marksman.
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Old December 29, 2010, 09:28 PM   #5
5282jt
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2 comments so far, make it look like all guns are equal?

"It's the gun they personally shoot the best! "
"it's the one being shot by the best marksman."
This suggests that all guns are equal in accuracy and only the shooter and his familiarity with the gun matter.
Is that possible?????????????
Now, i'm sure that individual marksmen can outperform a novice shooter and that if 2 guys have the same exact gun, the one most familiar with the gun is likely to be the better shot, but is it really that simple?
Thanks,
Chuck
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Old December 29, 2010, 09:54 PM   #6
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Quote:
...if 2 guys have the same exact gun, the one most familiar with the gun is likely to be the better shot...
That's exactly what I was getting at. You would say the gun that the marksman shot was more accurate than that of the novice. The marksman could probably out shoot the novice with one hand tied behind his back (so to speak). Does that make the machine he is using superior? Consistency, practice, and confidence are the real keys to "accuracy". Sermon over
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Old December 29, 2010, 10:25 PM   #7
arcticap
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Quote:
I'm wondering which cap & ball pistols are considered by users to be the most accurate?
This includes revolvers and single shots.
Thanks!
Chuck
Some tend to be inherently more accurate but how would it be possible to test the performance of all of the available models against each other?
Who has shot all of the different target guns or even has them available to test?
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Old December 29, 2010, 10:27 PM   #8
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For the vast majority of us, the guns will outshoot us every day and twice on Sunday. That is, the guns are all more accurate than we are capable of shooting them.

However, given that amongst us there are a few individuals capable of wringing out that last little bit of superior accuracy, it is possible to identify certain guns as being 'more accurate'. To find those, just look to the competition events and see what they're winning with. Those guns tend to be out of the range of most of us for cost reasons, so naming them is of academic interest only.

Given all that, I'd go with [email protected]'s listing. At least, that's my experience.
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Old December 29, 2010, 10:31 PM   #9
arcticap
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That's like asking a NASCAR fan what's more important to winning a race, the car or the driver?
If some cars are better, then the driver doesn't matter so much.
But if all cars are pretty much the same, then the driver makes a difference.
Because of all of the variables, then the real answer may be neither. It could be the engineers and workers who build the quality into each individual gun and load components.
There's nothing quite like the "scientific" method. Shoot a match and see how you, the gun and the load components actually perform.

Last edited by arcticap; December 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM.
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Old December 29, 2010, 10:54 PM   #10
PetahW
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Target grade guns with target grade sights & adjustable/set trigger, loaded consistantly with an optimum accuracy load.



T/C Patriot

.
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Old December 29, 2010, 11:36 PM   #11
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Here's what type of pistols win at the Nationals at Friendship In.



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Old December 30, 2010, 08:41 AM   #12
5282jt
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I must have worded my question badly? But 2 people understood what I was asking.

PetahW
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and
[email protected] Senior Member: In single shots, the Pedersoli LePage and the Carleton.
In revolvers, the Ruger "Old Army"


Now for sure, those are expensive guns!
I was looking for experience with pistols that users have had, that might sort of compile a list of pistols, based on how accurate the gun itself was in comparison with other pistols that user has had?
I have 3 BP guns right now. An 1858 .44 New Army, a Jukar .45 and an Ethan Allen .36 Double barrel. Shooting all 3 from 25 yards from a homemade stand, with a large sewed up bag of rice to steady it, the 1858 is by far more accurate and consistent=all hits within a 5" circle. The Jukar 2nd, but not really what I'd call a "close" 2nd= all hits within a 12" circle, with an occasional one outside and the Ethan Allen [ smooth bore ] does not really "group" shots to speak of= but I only shot it a total of maybe 10 times and then I had misfire issues , that I hope to solve soon by using real black powder.
Now, maybe this makes what I'm looking for clearer?
I've been shooting since I was 14 and I'm 62 now-just not Black Powder style.
So, I know how to shoot and I know that I have had a dozen 22's, two 243's, two 222's many other rifles and numerous 20 ga shotguns that I hunted with for 25 years in Ithaca,NY and I bench tested all of my guns over and over-as I liked target shooting as well as hunting and there was a noticeable difference in accuracy in all cases. In Ithaca, All my target shooting was done all through the years in the same spot and on the same sandbags. I never owned a pistol before these BP ones I have now though.
I would think -but not know - that there would be an even greater variation in BP pistols? It looked like a lot of folks here may have 3 or more revolvers and others 3 or more single shot muzzleloader pistols. So, which ones do you feel are the straightest shooting guns?
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Old December 30, 2010, 10:23 AM   #13
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I will also add to the single shots the Thompson Center Patroit Pistol in
45 cal. This would be the later ones made with a 1 in 22 twist.

And yes there are some of us who can shoot better than the guns we have.
My wife started with a Pietta Rem. 44 and she wrung out all that was possible
from it. 25 yds was OK, but 50 yds was not. Most pistol matches are won or
lost at 50 yds. She is a excellcent 50 yd shooter. The old Rem with the slow
rate of twist 1-38 or so just would not spin the ball fast enough to be accurate at 50 yds. Not for National competion which was what she was doing. So I had to spend 500.00 to get her a revolver made that would shoot
at 50 yds. Happy to say that now she has a revolver that will shoot better
than she can. She has done well with it. In as much as the Ruger is the most
accurate of the revolvers, even they are not shot in National competion without some work done to them. If you were to shoot a stock Ruger you
would be under a handycap. Hope this helps.
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Old December 30, 2010, 10:36 AM   #14
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Depends;



12 rounds 25 yards standing one hand. The four rounds outside the group were "called" out. Weapon Centaur 1960 Army.

However if you want extreme accuracy;


Three round group 25 yards standing one hand. Group measures .466" center to center. I'm still working on the sights Weapon P. Bondini "LePage".
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Old December 30, 2010, 10:41 AM   #15
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Yea, Those LePages will shoot!
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Old December 30, 2010, 10:45 AM   #16
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Not too bad for a Gun Show find
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Old December 30, 2010, 11:21 AM   #17
5282jt
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HERE WE GO!

That's the kind of information I was hoping to learn from!
Keep it coming!!!
Chuck
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Old December 30, 2010, 12:06 PM   #18
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I'd say the single shot "dueling pistol" is the most accurate. On revolvers- most folks think the 1858 Remington New Army. Personally I like Colts.
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Old December 30, 2010, 12:32 PM   #19
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Out of the 6 c&b and 1 single shot bp pistols I now own, I do best with my ASM 1860 Colt revolver. For me it groups the best and shoots to my point of aim, CONSISTENTLY. Is it the 'most accurate' gun out there? No, I doubt it.
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Old December 30, 2010, 12:54 PM   #20
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My ASP .36 cal 1858 is the most accurate by a whisker out of my BP guns. I figure, though, that it's just the luck of the draw, given that most of the Italian guns are hand fitted to some degree.

This spring, once the weather gets better and the days get longer, I think that I'll get a cartridge conversion cylinder for one of my .44s and see what it'll do with 100m silhouettes. I figure that at the least the thunder and smoke ought to unnerve my opponents.
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Old December 30, 2010, 07:28 PM   #21
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One of the most popular target guns of the North/south skirmish association is the 1858 Remington (for purists: 1863 New Model Army) that has been worked over by custom gunsmiths like the late Tom Ball.
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Old December 31, 2010, 10:02 AM   #22
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For the best accuracy with a revolver you need the right size match between chambers and barrel. A high quality barrel with the right twist rate. Tight barrel to cylinder gap, smooth trigger break, it has to fit your hand well.

I would say my two Pietta "shooters" models are the most accurate followed by my ROA's. I have a Uberti revolving carbine and Pietta revolving carbine that are tack drivers. The longer sight radius is a big plus with these.
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Old December 31, 2010, 12:05 PM   #23
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FWIW, I've found that a single barrel, single-shot pistol is generally more accurate (given equal sights, loads and shooter) than a revolver, simply because the more complicated revolver mechanism has to perrfectly align different chambers each & every time/shot - and the chamber/barrel commection is nowhere near as stable as with a pistol that has an chamber area integral with the barrel.

.
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