Has Anyone Here Mastered The Art Of The Percussion Revolver?

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One Lung Wonder

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I'm just curious.

Oh sure, I can shoot mine good enough to impress the blind newbies at the bench where I can lay out my caps, powder, wads, lube, etc.

But the other day I saw Cullen Bohanon pistol whip Mr. Durant, shoot The Swede and a couple henchmen and he had that 1860 back in its holster before the the last bad guy hit the ground! If I tried that with my 1860 Army I would have a bowie knife in my gizzard and be dead in the mud before getting two shots off - more than likely with a bunged up pistol!

It just occurred to me that I have NEVER actually tried to fire and reload this thing on the fly the way our ancestors would have. Do any of you have some proper gun leather for the task? Mind if I see it...? I gotta figure out how I'm gonna pack all this junk. I see another leather project coming on!

Ya never know when they will license open carry, or when you might be set upon by a gang of filthy poxy rat bastids from the Old West!:)
 
Back in the time when 1860 Army's were being used to slay your foes they had paper cartridges that came in a box. The standard charge of 18 grains and a ball were wrapped in a paper "cartridge" which dropped into the chamber...ram it down and you are set to cap it.
 
Yes, I don't suspect anyone was spreading lard over their loaded chambers in the midst of a firefight...lol Paper cartridge, cap, and go... But really, once the gun was empty I am guessing you had better have fought your way back to your rifle or to another pistol... It would take a minute under solid cover to reload any percussion revolver

edit: I love Hell on Wheels:) The Swede is an awesome character, such an infuriating evil bugger!
 
legi0n said:
bandits of the time were known to carry up to 4 revolvers.
or so it said on the Discovery Channel :)
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That would make way more sense. I don't think many carried loaded cylinders, either...that must be mostly a movie thing.. Can you imagine a capped cylinder on your belt, just waiting to get smacked and blow your balls off?!
 
If you want to reload really fast, no problem. Get a Remington New Model Army with a couple of spare cylinders. Have all of your spare cylinders loaded and capped. Then Fire away.

Second besst way is to take a lesson from Clint in The Outlaw Josey Whales. Carry three or more loaded pistols.

Kevin
 
first, if you have all 6 cylinders capped, you set the hammer down in the safety notch between the cylinders if your smart enough to have a remington, or just between the cylinders if you have a colt (though i believe later colts added a shallow safety notch.

No one in the old west filled the top of the chambers with lard..think, if it's any temperature over 15 Celsius it's gonna melt and either run down your leg, or contaminate your powder charge, or more likely, both.

Not sure how this practice got started, all it does is make a helluva mess when you shoot, and if you look, after the first round, all the grease is blown out of the other chamber mouths anyways. If the ball is the proper size (ie shaves slightly as rammed) you'll never have a chain fire, assuming you don't leave powder stuck to the cylinder walls and ram a ball over it (creating a powder chain around the ball) If anything all that sticky lube is far more likely to hold powder grains that will cause chainfire issues then if you keep the gun clean and dry.

Personally i like wonder wads, i load between 20 and 30 gn fffg one wonder wad, then a ball. If i'm going to be shooting a while, i'll put a dollop (bout the size of a match head) of lube (40/60 beeswax to crisco) on top of the wad to keep the fouling soft. You'll know if you put too much in because the charge will fizzle or be weak since the lube gets forced past the wad and contaminates the powder. For field carry this isn't needed, or if you want to leave it loaded a while, it's better to forgo the lube. I've heard of people putting wax over the cap to seal the chamber for long term weather proofing but never tried it.

Powder charge on a 44 army revolver was actually between 30 and 40 grains depending on conical (30) or round ball (up to 40) but they did come as nitrated paper cartridges that could be rammed into the chamber as is.

As to carrying loaded remy cylinders pre-capped, if you drop one, and it lands on the cap, it will fire, and the bullet will leave at a dangerous velocity, unlike a brass case, the cylinder won't split...If you've got a tack hammer and a iron grip, you've got a really fast 6 shooter.....
 
Ganderite, in that case you need to switch the size of the caps you're using. Another option is to pinch them as you cap so the open end of the cap goes egg shaped. That'll hold 'em on.

The PROPER size caps generally need to be pushed on quite firmly to form to the taper of the nipples. For my cowboy shooting where the caps MUST go off I seat the caps onto the nipples with a firm push using a stick. My thumb simply can't push hard enough to form the copper of the caps onto the taper. The firm push also seats the lip of the nipple opening against the primer so it's ready to be pinched by the hammer and ignite. A loose cap will often need two strikes. The first finishes seating the cap and the second correctly pinches the compound between the hammer and the lip of the nipple.

One lunger, even back then there was no really good way to reload in a battle. Officers relied on multiple guns and their saber once the guns had all fired. Farmers or ranchers faced with an attack would likely have the wife or kids reloading for them. A fast "field conditions" reload back then was to dribble powder down onto the openings until heaped full. Then they'd tip the gun to one side at some angle and give the thing a rap to knock some of the powder out onto the ground or floor and create just enough of a gap to let them seat and ram a ball. No wads, no grease, no oil and no setting the sprue so it sat on top. Just dump and ram. If things worked into a standoff with a quiet moment and time permitted some oil might have been used to keep the arbor running decently smoothly.
 
Oh, the joys of black powder, and the pall of smoke that drifts across the non black powder shooters sharing the range and has them looking over at you in amazement, or annoyance, as they listen to the loud thump...... never fails to gather a crowd to watch and inquire on the process.

Glad to read there is another HOW enthusiast!! They even usually try to keep true to actual period firearms and accoutrements. I have a ruger old army, a pietta navy in 36 cal and a pietta 1860 with 5.5 inch barrel in 44, and a pedersoli 2 band 577 enfield, as well as a 50 cal CVA kit gun. my holster rig is waist belt with a traditional thigh holster, and a cross draw, and lots of practice drawing and dry firing. I do load six, and as mentioned before lay the hammer on the safety notch between cylinders. I have used lard in the past, but with the oversized lead, I am comfortable that as long as it has shaved lead on being seated it is going to seal as well as any lard. I have not used paper cartridges as I haven't seen a need as I have more fun reloading for the next shoot.

As far as multiple rapid reloads, from research I understand in the civil war, along with carrying multiple revolvers, they also carried multiple reloaded cylinders that they switched out. This can be seen in the Gettysburg movie with Col Chamberlain reloading during a lull in the fighting during the battle for Little Round Top,( though his bashing the muzzle against a stone to seat the barrel and pin is a bit disconcerting), and is particularly well displayed by Clint Eastwood when he reloads his Remington in the Pale Rider and his last shootout in the street.

Bottom line, enjoy the sport and keep shooting and practicing. Cheers.

Allan
 
BCRider said:
Ganderite, in that case you need to switch the size of the caps you're using. Another option is to pinch them as you cap so the open end of the cap goes egg shaped. That'll hold 'em on.

The PROPER size caps generally need to be pushed on quite firmly to form to the taper of the nipples. For my cowboy shooting where the caps MUST go off I seat the caps onto the nipples with a firm push using a stick. My thumb simply can't push hard enough to form the copper of the caps onto the taper. The firm push also seats the lip of the nipple opening against the primer so it's ready to be pinched by the hammer and ignite. A loose cap will often need two strikes. The first finishes seating the cap and the second correctly pinches the compound between the hammer and the lip of the nipple.

One lunger, even back then there was no really good way to reload in a battle. Officers relied on multiple guns and their saber once the guns had all fired. Farmers or ranchers faced with an attack would likely have the wife or kids reloading for them. A fast "field conditions" reload back then was to dribble powder down onto the openings until heaped full. Then they'd tip the gun to one side at some angle and give the thing a rap to knock some of the powder out onto the ground or floor and create just enough of a gap to let them seat and ram a ball. No wads, no grease, no oil and no setting the sprue so it sat on top. Just dump and ram. If things worked into a standoff with a quiet moment and time permitted some oil might have been used to keep the arbor running decently smoothly.
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I have Remington #10 and #11. Which should I use?
 
I wouldn't place a whole lot of historical accuracy in many older Hollywood movies. Not many union or confederate soldiers could afford to have a spare cylinder hand fitted to their personal revolver in those days. In fact if one keeps an eye out for them, one is more likely to come across an antique revolver with a percussion and a spare rimfire cylinder instead. Battlefield pickups of another complete percussion revolver make more sense though. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think the better equipped union forces made spare cylinders available for standard issue?

The only time I've ever heard of something like this was when Capt Walker was given Texas Navy issue Colt Paterson revolvers for men under his command. IIRC, he made up his own scale of issue. But that was around 1844, and in Texas only. I think he issued two 5 shot revolvers and a spare cylinder per man. Which was tremendous close range firepower for that era and almost two decades before the bloody Civil War.
 
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Well, the rank and file in those days used what they were given. And that was almost always a basic musket of some brand or other. Early on a few of them were apparently even using left over flintlocks.

It was only the richer officers that were able to buy enough handguns to head into battle with a few "New York Reloads" stuck in their belts.

Ganderite, as leverboy said the CCI's are sort of in between. So it's an option.

If the Remington 11's are falling off try the Remington 10's. If they stick before seating correctly and you need a hammer to seat them then look into CCI primers for the in between fit of a CCI 11.

The other option is to remove your nipples and spin them in a hand drill will carefully running a file over them to narrow the taper towards the base of the cone of the nipple. Keep test fitting a Remington #10 until it just needs a nice firm but not heavy push from a helper stick to fully seat against the firing ridge of the cone. A fine jeweler's file can work this for you neatly. Or a coarse sharpening stone. You only need a couple of thou removed so don't go crazy and try anything with a power option.
 
Or do what I did and convert over to 45 colt. All the romance of an 1860 army without the fuss and muss. Shoot BP or Smokeless, your choice.

M
 
What gun have you got Gander? I know you are something of a pistolero and probably already know this - but I will throw it out there anyways: the stock nipples on Uberti are terrible. They are the first recommended mod according to that guru on Youtube. I bought proper bronze nipples for my Uberti from Track Of The Wolf and have never had a problem since.

My big deal now is fabbing up a front sight for my 1860. I think I am going to make a patridge sight from german silver and use lamp black on them on range day. Mine hits about a foot high at 25 with the factory sights...
 
BP revolvers are sooo romantic. I have a distant love affair and so want to add one or ten to my collection.

Just the right balance between fiddledy bits, bluster and old school cool. I expect to make the downgrade transition soon. Everything i love about shooting revolvers are doubled with remington BP 1858s and the like. Everything a sports shooter could want. Soooo niiiiice.
 
One Lung Wonder said:
What gun have you got Gander? I know you are something of a pistolero and probably already know this - but I will throw it out there anyways: the stock nipples on Uberti are terrible. They are the first recommended mod according to that guru on Youtube. I bought proper bronze nipples for my Uberti from Track Of The Wolf and have never had a problem since.

My big deal now is fabbing up a front sight for my 1860. I think I am going to make a patridge sight from german silver and use lamp black on them on range day. Mine hits about a foot high at 25 with the factory sights...
Click to expand...

I have a pair of Lyman 44 Remingtons. Italian made, but I don't know by whom. I will try push a stick down on rem #10s to see if that helps. I suppose the logical thing to do if they don't work is to buy new nipples.
 
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