[Aceman]

Saw this in a Cabelas catalog. What does it take to shoot those???

Looks cool, interesting, different, cheap!

Anyone shoot these old single action cap revolvers? How do you get into this? What's it take? Pros/cons?

 

[NW-Warlord]

I have a Colt 1851. It is fun to shoot. It takes awhile to get in the swing of things to figure out loading them in a timely fashion. Mine is fairly accurate once I got over the delay between pulling the trigger and it firing.

The only thing that I dislike about shooting it is the thorough cleaning that has to be done afterwards.

 

[nastytrigger]

I'm still learning black powder guns. Hickok45 had a Colt Dragoon cap and ball video on YouTube that got me interested in getting an Uberti.

I haven't seen a Cabela's catelog lately, but is it .36 cal? I've seen most Navy's at .36, Army's at .44 (which is actually .45?)

As far as I know, which isn't much, you'll need percussion caps, blackpowder (not sure how much it takes? How much is too little, too much? Where do I find this out?), wadding (not sure purpose), proper size balls (lol! Actually, Hickok45 had to use a patch because his balls were too small. Again, lol!).

Oh, you'll need a brass powder dispenser thing.

I'm slowly learning the old stuff.

 

[Trigger Finger]

I never got into shooting these. I do have a 1851 Navy with imitation ivory grips in my den because this was Wild Bill Hickok's gun. He carried two. 36 Cal and was extremely good at shooting them. I think they had about the same power as a 38 Special with a 100 grain solid bullet, no +P.

It always showed me that it's not necessarily the power of the guns you carry but how good of a shot you are and how much nerve you have in a gunfight! :supergrin:

 

[TN.Frank]

Cap n' Ball six guns are actually pretty easy to shoot. First off stay away from brass frame guns, stick with steel.
You'll need some .375" round balls, a flask with a 22gr spout, #11 caps and some Crisco to put over the loaded chambers to prevent chain fire.
First you clean out each chamber with a dry patch then snap a cap on each nipple to clean out the oil in them. Put the gun on half cock and place a load of powder from the flask into the chamber, place a ball over that chamber then ram it home using the loading lever. Make sure and seat it good. After you load up all the chambers(or you can leave one empty for safety if you're going to carry it loaded, new made guns don't have the little pins between the chambers to put the hammer down on for safety so you have to load like it's a Colt SAA) then you can place a small bit of Crisco over each chamber mouth, this will extinguish any sparks and help to stop chain fire(more then one chamber going off at one time) then you can place the caps on the nipples and you've got a loaded gun so be careful from this point onward.
My first handgun was a '58 Remington Cap n' Ball, 44cal, carried it quite a bit and even took it rabbit hunting in the deserts of AZ. They can be a lot of fun if you just follow a few safety rules.

 

[byf43]

Put the gun on half cock and place a load of powder from the flask into the chamber, place a ball over that chamber then ram it home using the loading lever.

I agree with everything that Frank wrote, EXCEPT what I highlighted in red boldface!!!


Never. . . Repeat. . .NEVER charge a blackpowder firearm from a flask!!!!!

Always charge a blackpowder firearm from a powder measure.

I'm quite certain that Frank's post was just a typo or the brain running at a faster speed than the fingers.

 

[TN.Frank]

I agree with everything that Frank wrote, EXCEPT what I highlighted in red boldface!!!


Never. . . Repeat. . .NEVER charge a blackpowder firearm from a flask!!!!!

Always charge a blackpowder firearm from a powder measure.

I'm quite certain that Frank's post was just a typo or the brain running at a faster speed than the fingers.

NEVER charge a long gun with a Flask, it's perfectly fine to charge a six gun with a flask since there's not enough chamber to keep a spark burning. I've been charging CnB six guns with a flask all my lifetime and even black powder manuals say to use a flask for your CnB six gun. Even the Dixie Gun Works catalog says to use a flask and the old timers used em' too when they didn't have a paper ctg.

I understand where you're coming from but that's for long guns that use a patch and may keep a spark down the bore, no problems with using a flask with a six gun.

 

[JBnTX]

NEVER charge a long gun with a Flask, it's perfectly fine to charge a six gun with a flask since there's not enough chamber to keep a spark burning. I've been charging CnB six guns with a flask all my lifetime and even black powder manuals say to use a flask for your CnB six gun. Even the Dixie Gun Works catalog says to use a flask and the old timers used em' too when they didn't have a paper ctg.

I understand where you're coming from but that's for long guns that use a patch and may keep a spark down the bore, no problems with using a flask with a six gun.

:thumbsup: I've loaded the 1860 Army and the 1851 Navy
revolvers from a flask since the 1980's with no problems.

 

[TN.Frank]

:thumbsup: I've loaded the 1860 Army and the 1851 Navy
revolvers from a flask since the 1980's with no problems.

The "problem" is that with a long gun you traditionally use a cloth patch. Parts of that patch can cause cinders to be left in the breach end of the long gun so that when you pour a charge of powder from a flask or horn into the gun it'll ignite and the flask/horn will basically become a grenade in your hand, not a good thing. With a cap and ball gun the chamber is exposed almost directly to the air so IF there was a spark it'd burn out instantly and since you don't use a cloth patch there's even less chance of having a cinder or spark left in a six gun chamber.
I cut my handgun teeth on a '58 Remington and I've shot black powder since the age of 16(that's 34 years) and have always used a flask to load a six gun. There's really nothing wrong with it at all. Just don't use a flask or horn to load a long gun or single shot pistol and you'll be fine.

 

[DPris]

For an infinitely less messy way to go, use Wonder Wads instead of Crisco.
I started with Crisco in 1969, and actually carried my .36 in the field in three different states before retiring it some time ago.
Crisco is messy to apply & doesn't stay put very well in hot weather.
Wonder Wads eliminate both negatives.

And, I've never loaded my percussion revolvers from anything BUT a flask.
Denis

 

[TN.Frank]

Wonder Wads are a good way to go if you don't want the mess. They'll go between the powder and ball, not on top of the ball like the crisco would have. Also, you can use cigarette paper to make paper ctgs. to speed up loading, just google it and you'll see how easy they are to make. I made up a bunch of paper ctgs for a .54cal Sharps that I use to own, way cool gun.

 

[Hamilton Burger]

After firing a round, tilt the gun up to vertical as you cock it. The expended cap will fall away rather than into the works.

 

[TN.Frank]

After firing a round, tilt the gun up to vertical as you cock it. The expended cap will fall away rather than into the works.

Yep, more good advice. That's why in the old Civil War movies you see em' flipping the gun back over their head as the cock the hammer back. That flips the cap fragments out of the action so they won't tie up the gun.

 

[NW-Warlord]

After firing a round, tilt the gun up to vertical as you cock it. The expended cap will fall away rather than into the works.

Yep, more good advice. That's why in the old Civil War movies you see em' flipping the gun back over their head as the cock the hammer back. That flips the cap fragments out of the action so they won't tie up the gun.

That solves one of my biggest issues with these guns. I was wondering how in the heck anyone ever used these things as defensive weapons, with mine jamming up on spent caps all the time...:embarassed:

 

[TN.Frank]

That solves one of my biggest issues with these guns. I was wondering how in the heck anyone ever used these things as defensive weapons, with mine jamming up on spent caps all the time...:embarassed:

You can also just flick your wrist to the side sharply as you're cocking the gun to flip out the cap fragments. OR you can get a ctg. conversion for it and not have to worry about it anymore,LOL

 

[Nutt51]

I love shooting black powder weapons. It is messy and a little time consuming, but more fun than a barrel full of drunk monkeys.
All the modern black powder pistols of the old Colt and Remington era are today made in Italy, by several companies. I personally think that Uberti makes the best quality copy. As stated earlier, do not buy a brass frame model, they wear faster and will not hold up.
A brass backstrap and trigger guard are o.k., but not the frame.
I like the 51 Navy Colt, but my favorite is the 61 Navy Colt.
It is a beautiful gun, more along the lines of the 60 Colt Army,
and can be had in an all steel version.
Check out Uberti's website to see all the different models.

 

[TN.Frank]

I went for about 6 months where I was totally pre-ctg. black powder firearms. Had a .54cal Sharps Carbine(paper ctg.) a pair of Uberti '51 Navy revolvers and a big ol' Uberti Walker replica. Never felt the least bit under armed, kept the '51's loaded all the time and it was just a matter of throwing a paper ctg. into the Sharps and putting a musket cap on the nipple and it'd be loaded too.

 

[Jbar4Ranch]

I was wondering how in the heck anyone ever used these things as defensive weapons, with mine jamming up on spent caps all the time...:embarassed:

I shoot C&B regularly in Cowboy Action, I don't pull the gun vertical when cocking, and very, very seldom have cap jam problems with my 1847's, 1851's, 1860's, and 1861's. Ruger Old Army's and 1858 designs are built a little differently and cap jams are virtually unheard of.

Mine is fairly accurate once I got over the delay between pulling the trigger and it firing.

Delay?? Are you using a substitute instead of real black powder? There shouldn't be any delay to speak of, nothing more than with a modern firearm; hammer falls, hits primer/cap, lights off powder, gun goes bang.