Target Sports

BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART ONE: MAKING A START

Created on 14th May 2009

In the first of a series, GEORGE PRESCOTT goes back to the basics of shooting black powder

BLACK POWDER arms, as opposed to the more modern variety that fire self-contained ammunition with all components loaded into a metallic case, are as old as the history of firearms.

Although gunpowder was originally invented in China where, by the 10th century, it was used for both fireworks and military purposes, it was the Arabs who produced the first cannon. This consisted of a bamboo tube, reinforced with iron, using black powder to shoot an arrow. These cannons appeared in around 1304 - and by the end of the 14th century guns and gunpowder had found their way to Europe.

What is it?

Gunpowder, or black powder, is a mixture of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur. Potassium nitrate can be used in place of saltpetre but the powder produced using this substance is very prone to moisture absorption, with consequent deterioration in performance. Powder made with saltpetre, on the other hand, is far less prone to this fault and will last almost indefinitely, without deterioration in performance, as long as it is kept dry. There are records of muzzle loaders left with a charge in the barrel for 10 years, and more, which have fired perfectly with no more preparation than a cap on the percussion nipple.

Black powder burns by what is termed a surface phenomenon, which for shooting purposes means that the finer the powder the quicker the burn rate and the more rapid the evolution of gas. Consequently, black powder burns too quickly to be safe in a firearm and so what is used is actually mealed gunpowder. This is powder which has been processed into grains so as to slow the rate of burning and thus make it safe to use in a gun. The more uniform the grain size is, the more even the burn rate will be - which in turn means the more consistently the gun will perform. Black powder is available in varying quality and grain sizes as well as a synthetic form, Pyrodex.

Different grain sizes suit different guns, so a bigger grain powder is used for a weapon like a .577 calibre Enfield rifle (also termed a rifle musket by the Americans) than would be normally employed in a pistol or revolver.

Before leaving this discussion of powder it is as well to mention that Pyrodex is unacceptable for competition shooting because it is, to quote the Muzzle Loaders Associations International Committee (MLAIC) competition rules, ‘not in the spirit of the original'. We'll cover this later on in the series.

What next?

Having decided to give black powder shooting a try, the first problem is to find a club. Shooting a black powder pistol is a fairly noisy procedure, so ranges where it can be done have to be effectively sound-proofed or at a sufficient distance from housing so as not to cause a nuisance. Not every rifle club can meet the noise and Home Office safety criteria, so the best way to go about finding a local club with a black powder section is to look on the Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain (MLAGB) website - www.mlagb.com - and click on ‘Local Clubs' on the right. The majority of clubs that shoot black powder disciplines in the UK are listed. Some suitable links may also be found on the NSRA website (www.nsra.co.uk).

Having found a local club with a black powder section, the next thing to do is get in contact. New members are always welcome, especially if they are experienced in shooting other disciplines, so the club official responsible for membership will probably suggest a preliminary visit to view the club and its facilities and meet the members who shoot black powder.

The first visit

Those people who have never shot before will be just as welcome; for newcomers the first trip to the range can seem daunting, though, so a few suggestions might help.

Black powder shooting can be messy and smelly - there is no getting away from that - so it is best to wear old clothes and to keep them especially for visiting the range. Both the mess and the smell tend to linger, even after washing. Outdoor ranges are cold places too, especially in winter, and more so because shooting tends to involve a lot of standing around - so wear warm clothing. Flat shoes are best because good target shooting begins with a stable stance, which is difficult to achieve in shoes with any sort of heel.

Be punctual: most clubs only shoot black powder for a limited time, such as from 10am to 1pm on a Saturday. Places are usually limited, sometimes to as little as five butts, because of noise considerations. Anyone arriving late may not be able to shoot, especially on the day before competition targets have to be entered.

To begin with, no one is allowed to load and shoot a black powder weapon unless they are supervised by a club official, which makes sense; although loading is relatively straightforward, when a misfire occurs correct procedures need to be followed to deal with it safely and these are neither simple nor obvious to a beginner.

Starting to shoot

As with every shooting activity, safety is the primary concern. Every club has its own rules and whoever is supervising a beginner's initial lesson will go over them before the visitor is allowed to touch a gun. In essence, like all good rules, those for handling a gun safely are few and simple:

Never pick up or handle a gun unless it has been proven empty. This is difficult with a single-shot pistol, for example, where the charge lays at the bottom of the barrel and is thus invisible. In this case a shooter is safe enough if there is no cap on the nipple and the gun is at half-cock. If in any doubt, with the permission of the Range Officer on duty and when safe and appropriate to do so (when the range is ‘live'), point the muzzle down-range, put a cap on the nipple, take aim and fire. That will soon settle the question. Alternatively, you could just ask the gun's owner what state it's in. Most black powder shooters also mark their rammer so that they can see at a glance whether there is a charge in the barrel or not, as the inserted rod will not reach the mark made when the barrel is empty.

When loaded, a firearm should always be on half-cock with the muzzle pointing down-range until the shooter picks it up to fire. When the hammer of a pistol is set at half-cock, pulling the trigger will not fire the gun.

If the range is safe all firearms should be empty, set at half-cock, with the muzzle down-range. All shooters must be behind the red safety line. Similarly, when a shooter has finished his card the firearm is left empty, on half-cock, on the bench with the muzzle down-range. The shooter moves behind the red safety line until everyone else has finished. No one should be handling a firearm when the range is safe and there are members on it, unless the gun in question is proven empty and being cleaned.

Powder flasks containing black powder must not be left on the bench while firing is in progress.

There are a number of finer details connected with the shooting of black powder arms that will be useful and picked up as you proceed, but it's the basic principles of safe gun handling that must be learned and adhered to from the outset.

Home Office figures for shooting sports show that they have one of the best safety records around. This hasn't happened by accident. Shooters are very safety-conscious, and with a bit of common sense and obedience to a few simple rules (all of which are thoroughly explained to anyone approaching a club with a view to entering the sport of shooting) there's no reason why newcomers can't enjoy shooting a black powder firearm safely, even if they've never handled a gun in their lives before.
Next yime I'll deal with shooting and loading with black powder, along with some of the guns which might be in use on that first visit.

BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART ONE: MAKING A START

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BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART ONE: MAKING A START

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