The Black Powder Cartridge News Summer 2026

I just joined the National Rifle Association…again. ...Read More >

Our cover this month features the excellent photography by Sheryll Garbe of our favorite 1874 Shiloh Sharps rifle, converted to the Freund’s Patent by Richard McKinney of Schuetzen Gun Works. ...Read More >

I am pleased to announce the Board of Directors of the Billings Rod and Gun Club have approved the following “Schuetzen Matches” for May 16, June 20, September 19 and October 17, 2026. The Billings Rod and Gun Club is located at 2931 Rod and Gun Club Road, Billings, Montana 59106. Registration for the matches will begin at 10:00 a.m., with a competitor meeting following registration. A detailed summary for the competition is as follows: ...Read More >

Here is a bullet and its mould that has a very interesting background. Its design, in the Accurate Molds’ catalog, is credited to John Kort. I started showing some interest in this bullet, to be shot primarily in my 44-40 rifles, and mentioned that to my friend Dick Savage. What Dick told me really added to my personal interest. ...Read More >

Those who profess themselves to be good are generally that way solely for the sake of goodness and are so inclined by the purest of motivations. ...Read More >

On Valentine’s Day, 23 shooters gathered to compete in our February monthly match. It was a fun day and I am very appreciative of all the partners at home who supported their loved ones to attend on such a day. ...Read More >

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There is a term bandied about among makers of custom vintage rifles, especially muzzleloading rifles, and it is that of “fantasy” rifles. ...Read More >

f someone claimed that the 45-70 Government was the most popular black powder cartridge, they would almost certainly be correct. This cartridge has been in use since 1873, when it was chambered in the Springfield Trapdoor. ...Read More >

This is the third and final extract taken from Autobiography of a Pioneer, written by Floyd B. Small in 1916. The book records some of his experiences on the plains in various occupations. This extract concerns the hunt for the last 18 buffalo in Arapaho County, Colorado, in 1881. ...Read More >

The Wesson carbine must definitely rank among the most esthetically challenged and ergonomically flawed weapons to emerge from the nineteenth century New England arms industry. While it was an awkward arm to behold, the historical record documents that in its own time, the ungainly breechloader was a mystifyingly popular choice for soldiers and frontiersmen. Homely as it was, this saddle gun claimed partisans from Omaha to the Great Salt Lake at the height of the nation’s westward expansion. ...Read More >

have been involved in Black Powder Cartridge competition since the late 1980s. I don’t remember what year it was when I attended the first rifle match, but I do remember my first competition was at the National Championships in Raton, New Mexico. Not long before this match, I purchased a Shiloh Sharps rifle from a friend. Wolfgang Droege, the founder of Shiloh was also present at this competition. ...Read More >

One thing about the good old 44-40 that keeps occurring to me is its big impact in history for this first repeating centerfire rifle cartridge. That is because the 44-40 was a first in more than one way; it became the standard to compare with other more powerful cartridges. ...Read More >

It is truly odd how important events somehow come together at exactly the right moment and at the right place, with very little planning or forethought. This is especially odd for someone like me who does not believe in coincidence! Coincidence, Fate, Devine Intervention or just Dumb Luck, somehow, I managed to attend the recent Inaugural 22 Rimfire Single Shot Rifle Match in Phoenix, Arizona, and was asked to write a report for The Black Powder Cartridge News magazine. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to mix it up by shooting with the competitors and was relegated to spectator status. The fact is that I was there, and I was impressed! ...Read More >