Cowboy action guns
- Thread starter Dave.S
- Start date
I take it you mean BP cap and ball guns? (Just making sure we're on the same wavelength).
I would assume that as long as there isn't a reload involved in the shooting stage you'd be ok. If there was a reload required you might be able to ask to just have a second gun or a spare cylinder instead of having to charge each chamber.
I would assume that as long as there isn't a reload involved in the shooting stage you'd be ok. If there was a reload required you might be able to ask to just have a second gun or a spare cylinder instead of having to charge each chamber.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Never used cap and ball for a match myself but have been around a lot of shooters who have used them. My experience from watching is that they very seldom go through a full match without a failure of some kind, from caps falling off, dead caps on a damp day,locking up from fouling, I even witnessed a chain fire one time at a match ( a handfull of more exitement than I would ever want to go through myself). It seems that the faster you want to go with them the more apt to have a hickup.
That being said I have shot with people who get a lot of enjoyment from using cap and ball despite the inherent problems with them.
If you want to use them for the enjoyment of it, go for it, but if you want to go fast and have less problems stick with the cartridge pistols.
That being said I have shot with people who get a lot of enjoyment from using cap and ball despite the inherent problems with them.
If you want to use them for the enjoyment of it, go for it, but if you want to go fast and have less problems stick with the cartridge pistols.
sootburner
New member
- Location
- Powell River, B.C.
Must say - have to agree w/ fingers284 - I personally have seen very few c/b revolvers get off a cylinder-full w/o some failure. I'm not saying that they fail all the time, but that it is more than a slight possibility that they can fail you. I'm pretty sure that more than once the faster gun in the gunfight lost because his c/b revolver got a tiny piece of copper cap (Or dirt. Or something.) stuck in the works. And is there EVER a good time for your weapon to quit? Having said that, they are fun to shoot. But to depend on one for competition or survival, not a chance! (Best of the bunch for my money - Ruger Old Army)
I have a pair of 5.5" stainless Ruger Old Armies that are extremely reliable. I have replaced the nipples with Treso's which seem to hold the caps a bit better, but otherwise stock. Not period correct though, and unfortunately not being made anymore.
Another consideration is that cap and ball revolvers will be very "labor intensive", especially to start with if you are unfamiliar with them .... so you'll spend a lot of your time (when not actually shooting) either cleaning and lubing them or getting them loaded for the next stage. .In a sport where everybody is expected to help with the Posse chores (counting misses, supervising loading/unloading tables, picking brass, and so on) that could tend to make you less than popular with your fellow Posse members ....
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. . . . . fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I owned an early Uberti 66 and loved it, it was my main match rifle fo 5 yrs. (until I thought i needed a short stroked 73). Because they don't have a lever released trigger lock like the 73's have , the main thing to watch out for on them is that they can and will fire the cartridge before the bolt reaches battery position if the trigger is pulled early. I've never had this happen but have seen it a couple of times-- definitly an unpleasant situation for the shooter, timer operator, and anybody else standing close by.
Provided a safe operating procedure is adhered too ( not touching the trigger until bolt closes) they are exellent cowboy guns. I've kicked my butt ever since I sold mine.
One more word of advise -- don't ,I repeat don't shoot anything stonger than medium power h.g loads in it. With stout loads you run the risk of stretching the frame or damaging the internal toggles or pins.
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And despite all the horrible things said about cap-and-ball revolvers, there remains one indisputable fact: Hickok packed a pair of them, Navy .36s, and nobody ever called Hickok slow or inaccurate and nobody ever called his guns unreliable. And he lived a long time, long enough that he had to be shot from behind.... and, quite likely, he was legally blind at that time!
If you guys are having megatroubles with C&B revolvers, you're doing something wrong. I have seen ONE only chain-fire (with an 1860 Army). Most common problem is a cap not blowing itself off the nipple completely; a shake of the gun usually clears it.
Don't want to rain on anybody's parade, but that's my experience. I shoot cartridge guns because I'm into World War One, that's all.
If you guys are having megatroubles with C&B revolvers, you're doing something wrong. I have seen ONE only chain-fire (with an 1860 Army). Most common problem is a cap not blowing itself off the nipple completely; a shake of the gun usually clears it.
Don't want to rain on anybody's parade, but that's my experience. I shoot cartridge guns because I'm into World War One, that's all.
Buffalo Creek Law Dog
Regular
I have a Navy cap and ball .36 cal that I use just for fun however, all my CAS pistols are cartridge.
