Black powder & replica revolver -- rifling question --

by John Meeker , United States, Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 21:13 (3625 days ago)

My first pistol was an early re-pop .36 Navy, It taught me to draw and shoot with a degree of accurcy. That under-hand heavy-bbl swing up still resides somewhere in my nervous system, as it pops up whenever fooling about with weight forward Single Actions. Very instructive. However, while it would place the first three shots in a neat joined triangle, the next two were always wide of the mark. Finally realized that it was caused by the very shallow rifling & BP fouling [no matter the lube tried out]. Still and all, I had real revolver and just didn't count on much after the rifling was fouled. It now resides as wall decorator in my BIL's rec room. Brass frame is pretty all polished and lacquered.

So, near fifty years later, at a wildfowler Fest I spied a octangle bbl, nicely cased frame, pretty walnut grips, and apparently unfired since it was imported. It isn't the very 'top of the line' one's coming in today, but pretty passable cosmetically. Got it with a 'period holster' thrown in for 70.00, Put under the workbench at home until I had time to send it to a gunny nephew.

Pulled it out and broke it down, and sure enuff, it was unfired, BUT..the dang rifling was that same shallow damn spirals as one i HAD, damn near half a century ago. That's OK, I'll coach the lad about the problem.

BUT, DID the REPO Italians ever figure out you can't just sorta etch rifling into a BP pistol bbl? I can't beleive the BP CAS guys would put up with two or three flyers out of six.. So, I figure I just don't know the whole story on this odd little niche of the pistol world. anyone out there who can enlighten me? Appreciate it, if for nothing else just to get an answer to the 'why' of it.

Thanks, and still do get a kick out my BP, but it's mostly well-barreled flinter's, where I KNOW where the fault lies after an errant shot.