Colonel, you are an amazing person; and I'm in awe of your strength of character.
I've never kept either of my NMA's loaded for more than 15-20 minutes, tops. Once I've shaved those "little fingernails" off the sides of .454 round balls while sending them home in their respective chambers; the temptaion to send them downrange is just too much for my weak resolve. Boom, boom... repeat two more times. Take a deep breath of the residual smoke, aaaaahhhhhh.
Yes, it's a sickness with no cure; only waiting for the next fix.
If'n I didn't have those d*mned expensive cayuse's; I'd probably own more BP firearms than Jim in West PA! Inspected my S&W 629 the other day, the cartidges were GREEN! Can't remember the last time I shot it.
My cost to feed them critters (right now, it'll go up as the temperature drops) works out to: ONE (1) NMA on sale at Cabela's = 24 bales of alfalfa/grass mix. Divided by 3 horses, that works out to: Six (6) weeks' feed = one NMA with two bales left over.
With that kind of money burnin' a hole in my pocket, I might could even break down and try one of those 1860 Colts that's missing the top part of the frame...
Dang horses!
I
STILL can't figure out how you managed to keep a BP revolver loaded for
FOUR YEARS without shootin' it. Just boggles the mind.