Range Report 04SEP2022: .45 Colt Conversion and Remington New Model Army

Introduction
There was a lot going on today, although not as much as I'd hoped.  I shot 3 tables of fire with the .45 Colt Conversion revolver using the Kirst Konverter installed for me by Gary Barnes of Gary Barnes Cartridge Conversions for target score, plus one table of fire using the Snap Shooting process described below.  I also shot 4 tables of fire using Kerr paper cartridges from my Remington New Model Army that Gary Barnes modified for me to better accept paper cartridges.  I had intended to shoot several tables of fire with the Remington using Johnston and Dow paper cartridges, however, I found that they are so tall that despite Mr. Barnes' work my revolver still won't take them (which is not a criticism of Mr. Barnes--I sent him dummy Kerr paper cartridges for him to use to gauge his work, and those feed *perfectly*).

Colt Cartridge Conversion with replica cartridge packs.

Remington New Model Army with reproduction Eley Bros. cap tin and J&D cartridge packs.

Conditions
Location:  Lytle Creek.  Temperature: 78-86 degrees.  Clear and partly cloudy.  Wind:  ~4 m.p.h. from 8:00.  Humidity: 57%.  Range:  15 yards.  Shooting Position:  Seated unsupported for all except the snap shooting, which was done one-handed standing.  Note that the black circles I put on the targets are 3 inches in diameter.

Ammunition
.45 Colt:  35 grains of Schuetzen 3F powder and a 250-grain Lee RNFP bullet cast from pure lead and greased with lamb's tallow and beeswax.  Starline brass and CCI large pistol primers.  Packaged in replica Frankford Arsenal cartridge packages.  The average muzzle velocity was 788.1 fps, giving a muzzle energy of 345 ft.-lbs.  I need to get better at loading .45 Colt; all the cartridges passed the micrometer size test, but a few were too large at the base so they fit into the chamber but not far enough to allow the cylinder to rotate.

Kerr Cartridges:  .44-caliber Kerr bullets cast from pure lead with 25 grains of Schuetzen 3F powder in shells made from nitrated coffee filters.  For details of how I make paper cartridges, see the link HERE.

The String Test
The String Test is a method of gauging accuracy that was actually used during the Civil War and is vastly superior to simply measuring the group size since it takes both the group size and the distance from the mean center of the group to the bullseye into account in the same number, so it is a much more meaningful way to gauge your accuracy despite being incredibly easy to do.  All shooters, and certainly all historical shooters, should be using this test.  You can learn more about the String Test at the link HERE.

Snap Shooting

Given the fairly rudimentary sights on Civil War revolvers and their lack of adjustability we have to ask how important they were in actual combat, as opposed to target shooting. In Instructions in Rifle and Carbine Firing for the United States Army from 1889 Captain Stanhope Blunt said:

    "832. Owing to the unsteady support that the hand gives to the weapon the methods of aiming previously prescribed for the rifle and carbine cannot be advantageously followed; this is especially true of the practice mounted, where the motion of the horse and the very limited time available for the delivery of the fire permit neither the steadiness nor deliberation so requisite for success with the other arms.

    "833. The best results will then be obtained by following the method of snap shooting; for which the pistol should be held raised and then quickly projected at the mark and fired without pause or any effort to align it upon the object, the action being somewhat similar to that employed in throwing a missile from the hand and from the same raised position of the arm. (Blunt 1889 p. 309.)

He then gives the specifics of practicing this skill, recommending that troopers start by aiming at small black circles painted on their barracks walls (id. p. 310), and goes on to say:

    "838. The clasp of the thumb and second and third fingers should be firm, the first finger being on the trigger and the little finger underneath the end of the handle. If the clasp is too high up on the handle the muzzle will be elevated; if too low, the muzzle will be depressed. The clasp should not be so tight as to communicate tremor to the pistol, yet sufficiently firm to sustain, when firing with ball cartridges, the force of the recoil. After the discharge the position of raise pistol will be resumed.

    "839. These motions will at first be executed rather slowly, the instructor correcting the positions if necessary, and the motions quickened as the soldier acquires the habit of leveling or projecting instinctively the pistol in the same manner that the forefinger would be pointed at an object." (id. p. 311.)

When practicing snap shooting I never check the string test or consider group size.  I draw an 18 inch circle (the width of an average man) on the target and count the percentage of hits that fall within that circle--a true "minute of man" gauge.  All snap shooting is done standing with a one-handed grip.

Table One

Remington NMA with Kerr 25-grain combustible cartridges.
String Test:  10.25 in./6 rounds = 1.7 in./rd.

Table Two
Remington NMA with Kerr 25-grain combustible cartridges.
String Test:  11.0 in./6 rounds = 1.8 in./rd.

Tables One and Two.

Table Three
Colt Conversion with .45 Colt cartridges.
String Test:  17.25 in./6 rounds = 2.9 in./rd.

Table Four
Colt Conversion with .45 Colt cartridges.
String Test:  10.25 in./4 rounds = 2.6 in./rd.

Tables Three and Four.

Table Five
Remington NMA with Kerr 25-grain combustible cartridges.
String Test:  11.5 in./6 rounds = 1.9 in./rd.

Table Five.

Table Six
Colt Conversion with .45 Colt cartridges.
String Test:  20.0 in./10 rounds = 2.0 in./rd.

Table Seven
Remington NMA with Kerr 25-grain combustible cartridges.
String Test:  8.5 in./6 rounds = 1.4 in./rd.

Tables Six and Seven.

Table Eight:  Snap Shooting
Colt Conversion with .45 Colt cartridges.
Hit Rate:  9 hits/10 shots = 90%

Table Eight.

Conclusions
The Colt Conversion is, as is typical of Colts, shooting high.  I did not attempt to aim off since I wanted to get an idea of how the weapon was shooting.  Now that I know, I can aim off slightly below the target to bring my Mean Point of Impact closer to my Intended Mean Point of Impact (the Bullseye).  This will improve the string test results significantly.  However, note that the average for all tables of fire with the Colt was 2.4 in./rd.; considering that my averages with my Remington cap and ball (before it was worked on) were between 2-4 in./rd., it is clear this weapon will be extremely accurate when I finally get it dialed in.

Mr. Barnes did a lot of work on my Remington besides just modifying it to accept paper cartridges, including a trigger job, reaming the chambers, and adjusting the angle of the forcing cone.  He also changed the shape of the rammer so that it would not deform the conical bullets, which made for better accuracy.  As I wrote above, I had been averaging 2-4 in./rd. with my Remington before it was worked on with my best shooting ever being 1.8 in./rd. on a single table of fire, but today my total average for all tables of fire was 1.8 in./rd., matching my best results ever.  My best table of fire today was an amazing 1.4 in./rd., a new record for me.  The improvement in my accuracy is stunning.

As the picture of Table Eight will show, when snap shooting I anticipated on one shot and jerked the trigger before my weapon was on line--that's the high hit near the top edge of the target, and my only miss.  Note, however, that most of the hits were high:  I can't blame that on the bad Colt sights because I didn't use them at all, so clearly I am still pulling the trigger a little early.  I will need to work harder on this.  I will also have to reduce my circle size a bit as this kind of shooting is getting a bit easy; 18 inches is a good human body analog, but I think 14 might be a better test.  I also need to do it at a longer range--I had planned to shoot another table of fire using snap shooting at 25 yards but I ran out of time.

Overall, a great day of shooting, and I learned a lot.