I shot my Dragoon for the first time a couple days ago, with a 40 grain charge at about 20 yards.  The first cylinder I shot was at a 3' x 4' steel plate, which gave me feedback every time but no clear indicator of point of impact.  

Then I switched to a paper target and got more info.
Here's the target:



I was aiming my first shot at the bottom of the circle, and when I saw splinters of wood flying out the back of the target frame, I knew I was aiming too high.  The next two shots were aimed at the very bottom of the paper; I knew the balls were going to go above point of aim but everything was *way" far to the right.  And so with the sights being essentially fixed, I am at a stand still as to what I can do.


My original intent was to use this gun for black powder season hunting, but until I can get that windage corrected I can't in good conscience shoot at game that's 50 or more yards away.  


Is there an obvious remedy for this sight deviation besides Kentucky windage?  Maybe etching a different notch on the rear/hammer sight, or something?  

I'm really surprised and disappointed to have the sights be that far off; my .36 1851 Navy and .44 1860 Army aren't going to win any precision shooting contests, but they pattern on the center of the paper at least.  


Gratuitous pics, 'cause all things considered it's still a nice gun:

So it hits high right at 20 yds with 40 gr charge.
Larger paper + masking tape to paste over holes. Reduce the charge to 30 gr move target to fifty yds.
Check for play side to side with cocked hammer.

Even with the same charge as you used it is likely that it will not be high at 50 yds. But reducing the powder charge will slow it down and lower point of impact. Once you have elevation good then try to figure out windage. That may require taking a file to the hammer sight notch or going from a V cut to a U cut or even holding Gangster on its side ( 🙄)….
Sights were an after thought on these. Rifles would be a better choice for hunting.

Spray paint the steel plate.

I'd start by cutting back 5 grains at a time.

40 is the max load.
Not beacause the gun can't handle it but 'cause that's all you can stuff into it.

Who made the gun?
It is very common for the repops to shoot high.
Also,you,mat have wobble in the hammer if you are having windage problems.
You will need to shim it to correct that.
While it's apart you might as well debur it.
That will really help with the feel of the gun when shooting.

I have fixed a few over the years both for myself and friends.

I collect the 2nd gen cased Colts and also have a 2nd gen Colt  1860 shooter.
My 2nd gen 3rd model dragoon sits in the case NIB like most of the cased 2nd gen Colts.

Pretty sure Mike Beliveau (Duelist Den) cut a 2nd V-Notch sight into one of his Colt revolver hammers. Possibly a Dragoon or Walker.
You might dig through his videos on youtube / here:
https://www.mikebeliveau.com/

I also would try 30gr.

Usually a lower powder charge will = tighter groups.

However, I too like to see how much black powder I can cram into a BP revolver chamber and stuff a deformed ball on top with no lube or wad.
For my Pietta 1860 Army, that is 38 to 40gr of FFFFg - yes you read that right 4F.
For my Pietta 1851 Navy, 30gr of FFFFg.

I would think you can stuff more than 40gr into a Dragoon but I don't own a Dragoon or Walker.

Old pic but a pretty good group with my Pietta 1860 Army:
Attached File


Group was shot with 2 hands at 21ft using a 6 o'clock hold at the bottom of the target. Powder was Graf's Schuetzen FFFg. Load was 30gr with Bore Butter lube on top of a felt wad, under the Hornady .454 round ball.

My best accuracy has always come from loading powder, felt wad, lube, and then ball. It is a tedious loading procedure.

If I'm just shooting for fun I will shoot powder, ball, lube then alternate powder, ball, and no lube.

Blackie Thomas has a pretty good series on Black powder revolvers.

Just search his name on YouTube. He explains how to file your rear sight

to adjust them.

Thanks for all of the ideas, everyone.

To answer a few questions:

During black powder season I hunt with a .50 cal CVA Optima, but I wanted a backup in case I don't make a DRT shot and need to shoot faster than the time a clumsy reload would take.

The Dragoon is an Uberti, the 1851 Navy and 1860 Army are both Pietta.  Ironic that the "better quality" Uberti is the one giving me trouble in one of the most basic areas.  When I first got it, I did the "file the barrel stud" fix so that the loading lever won't fall down during shooting- and the lever stayed in place the whole time!    


I was going to shoot more that day to better diagnose the shot placement, but I ran out of powder.  


Edit:  I have read that you can stuff 50 grains into a Dragoon- and I can see that the chamber is definitely roomy enough to handle it- but I figured that starting with 40 grains was a reasonable introduction.  My intention is to use 50 grains when actually hunting, and expecting to shoot at game between 50 and 100 yards .


It looks to me like the most direct thing to do is file the hammer v-notch into a u...but, perhaps I should do more shooting to confirm POI before I modify a $100 part.  

Original Colt sights were regulated at 75 yds in the cap and ball era. This includes the .36 and .44 cal offerings, not sure of the .31s.

I imagine I'd be getting a POI that's quite a bit closer to POA at 75 yards if I'm using 40 or 50 grains, then.  Perhaps I should get a huge sheet of paper and shoot at that distance to get a truer feel for the accuracy.

This is important to remember, the pistols were designed for cavalry to use on horseback. The sights are regulated for a service load with a conical bullet, and for a pretty great distance compared to most modern handguns. This will have a fairly different trajectory from a round ball with a varied charge. It will also impact quite high at shorter ranges than the regulated distance.

This.....^


A high POI vs the POA at 20-40 yards is quite common with most of these Colt style cap and ball revolvers. You can lower the “rear sight” slightly a bit by filing down the hammer and increasing the V notch depth - which will lower POI a little (cock the hammer, look at the sight picture and you'll see how much you metal you can remove). A better fix that has been in use by Cowboy Action Shooters and target shooter for long time is to dovetail a taller front sight on to the barrel. Start with a tall front sight and file it down to achieve your desired POI