Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Posts related to handguns (pistols, revolvers)
Post Reply
MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:14 pm

Well I dont know how much interest there is in the subject, but thought would give it a try.
I own a few of them, and off late these havent been getting a work out. Infact I have not shot them at all this year. Today is very windy, which makes my normal rifle shooting a pointless exercise in throwing ammo down range, so have decided to shoot cap and ball instead.

I plan on shooting the Colt Walker, and Colt 1860 both of which are replica's made by Uberti in Italy. And will take a bunch of pictures including the prep that goes into it, and post back later today or tomorrow. :cheers:
Last edited by MoA on Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

For Advertising mail webmaster
User avatar
Vikram
We post a lot
We post a lot
Posts: 5124
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:14 am
Location: Tbilisi,Georgia

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver

Post by Vikram » Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:10 pm

Will be quite interesting to see the range report,MoA. I always like the black powder revolvers being a great fan of Westerns.Thank you.

Best-
Vikram
It ain’t over ’til it’s over! "Rocky,Rocky,Rocky....."

User avatar
diskaon
One of Us (Nirvana)
One of Us (Nirvana)
Posts: 494
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:19 pm
Location: Indiranagar, Bangalore

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver

Post by diskaon » Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:11 am

One of my favorites.. just like how I like fountain pens more than ball point pens.. Alas, i dont see any way I may ever own one though.

regards,

diskaon
klick klack..... diskaon

User avatar
xl_target
Old Timer
Old Timer
Posts: 3488
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:47 am
Location: USA

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver

Post by xl_target » Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:24 am

Back when I was in college, one of the guys on my floor was into black powder and he let me shoot his Remington New Army repro and his Thompson Hawken (.50 cal) rifle. It was a lot of fun. I was amazed at how accurate those weapons were.
“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense” — Winston Churchill, Oct 29, 1941

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:01 pm

Well decided to take these to the range
Image

And before one can shoot them, one needs to remove the healthy coating of WD 40 that protects them.
Here you can see the size of the Walker's Cylinder compared to the colt 1860. The Walker is absolutely huge and weighs more than 2 Kilos.
Image

here is the basics of a BP load, powder, lube pill and ball or conical. Also a 9mm cartridge for reference. The tube on the left holds a light charge for the Walker, while the one on the right is the standard charge for the 1860.
Image

The Lube pill is a mixture of Bees Wax, Parafin and Olive Oil. It keeps the fouing down and even prevents the cylinder from gunking up and freezing.

When shooting light charges, I tend to load Powder, Couscous, Lube pill and Ball/conical. With the Walker it is Powder, Lube pIll and ball.
Image

Capped and ready to go
Image

It is difficult trying to take a picture from behind the gun as you aqueeze the trigger. Also gives a clear meaning to the term the smoky haze of war... :mrgreen:
Image

here is a friend of mine shooting it, in full recoil. The Loading lever on the Walker drops when shooting full loads. Normal for it, and this was fixed in the later Dragoon series of revolvers.
Image

Here is another shooting buddy shooting his Remmie 1858. On the table to his right is a Colt cattleman. BP shooting is popular around these parts.
Image

-- Sun Nov 15, 2009 16:08 --

Once the shooting is done, time to clean...
Image
Luckily the Swiss ffg is not as messy as Goex or Pyrodex etc.. in the sink with liberal amounts of Windex. The Cz goes in as well, since it was exposed to BP residue.
Image

A good soak and scrub with hot soapy water
Image

Dry.. completely. And coat with WD 40 liberally
Image

Its a good thing my wife is uderstanding.. shooting BP is messy
Image

I didnt get to shoot them too much, simply because I ran out of primers.. :oops: Time to order more.
I wanted to order more smokeless powder as well, but the wife pointed this out to me.
Image
Image
Last edited by MoA on Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
shooter
Old Timer
Old Timer
Posts: 2002
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 8:55 pm
Location: London

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by shooter » Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:16 pm

im coming down to shoot them asap.
Doesnt so much wd40 on the butt spoil the wood?
You want more gun control? Use both hands!

God made man and God made woman, but Samuel Colt made them equal.

One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. by Jose Gasset.

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:20 pm

Nope... doesnt do any harm.

User avatar
shooter
Old Timer
Old Timer
Posts: 2002
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 8:55 pm
Location: London

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by shooter » Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:04 pm

not even causing the wood to go weak from the inside?
You want more gun control? Use both hands!

God made man and God made woman, but Samuel Colt made them equal.

One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. by Jose Gasset.

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:06 pm

Well i have only been doing this for about 5 years with the BP guns, havent noticed anything so far.
Come on over, have a look and draw your own conclusions. :cheers:

User avatar
Vikram
We post a lot
We post a lot
Posts: 5124
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:14 am
Location: Tbilisi,Georgia

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by Vikram » Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:11 pm

MoA,

That is a great post and thank you for taking time to post all the pictorial details.Much appreciated.Very interesting though a bit of a hassle re the post-shoot cleaning. You can see the Walker Colts in action in the film, "Outlaw Josey Wales" . Of course there are scores of other movies.

Best-
Vikram
It ain’t over ’til it’s over! "Rocky,Rocky,Rocky....."

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:07 am

Cleaning is a little different.

It actually takes me longer to clean the rifles, in terms of time. Mainly beacuse I let the copper remover soak in overnight. And BP cleaning is easier than say a session with JB Paste.

User avatar
dev
Old Timer
Old Timer
Posts: 2632
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:16 pm
Location: New Delhi

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by dev » Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:39 pm

Thank you so much. I have dreamt of owning one of these replicas and was fascinated by the way they work and shoot. Your post has filled several grey areas, please keep them coming.
To ride, to speak up, to shoot straight.

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:50 pm

Dev would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

User avatar
HSharief
Shooting true
Shooting true
Posts: 568
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 6:11 pm
Location: Misriganj

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by HSharief » Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:07 pm

When I shot SASS a few friends of mine shot BP and they let me shoot those a few times. Just like you did, I had a LOT of fun too. The smell of BP is "unique" :) and that itself makes it fun. I'm sure the prep before and cleanup after is part of the fun too.

MoA
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Re: Shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver (Updated)

Post by MoA » Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:32 pm

Also BP booms, while smokeless is more of a crack, the recoil is more like a push rather than sharp recoil from smokeless. Personally I love rituals of BP.
Moreover burning smokeless in the open is a slow fizzle, it is only explosive under pressure in a confined space. BP on the other is a low grade explosive under all circumstnces.

Post Reply