Blackpowder Questions (general)

[SodiumBenzoate]

I am very new to basically anything having to do with shooting, having only fired a .22, and only on three different occasions. I think blackpowder shooting is very interesting, and thus I have several questions.

Feel free to correct anything I am mistaken on.

Revolvers
- How is the ball kept from dropping out of the chamber? I understand it is a tight fit, and that there is a wad inserted, but I also understand that it is inserted before the ball, but is this (either the tight fit or wad, depending) enough to prevent the ball from leaving the chamber?

- Does the cylinder of a BP revolver lean out the side, like a conventional revolver, or does it move some other way to facilitate loading?

General
- Is there any noticeable delay between the striking of the cap/primer/flint and the ignition of the primary charge? I believe there must be some, but it is it actually noticeable?

- Can these weapons, if made well enough, be as accurate as a conventional/modern firearm?

- Are any BP firearms double action?

Thanks.

 

[4v50 Gary]

How does the ball keep from dropping out?

Well, a properly sized ball is slightly larger in diameter than the cylinder itself. It should not "drop" in and fall to the bottom. When rammed in, the ball is swaged and a slight ring of lead is left outside the mouth of the cylinder. It shouldn't go anywhere until the gun is discharged.

Most blackpowder revolvers have a rammer and a handle directly below the barrel. There is no need to swing out the cylinder (or tip the revolver and barrel down) as one would a modern revolver. Powder is introduced into the cylinder and then a wad (or filler material if you have or use it). The ball is then placed atop and the cylinder rotated such that it is directly below the rammer. The handle is pushed down and this causes the rammer to seat the ball (leaving that ring of lead) into the cylinder. The steps are repeated until all cylinders are loaded. Afterwards, the cylinder is capped.

Are they accurate? Depends on the gun.

Are there double action blackpowder revolvers? You betcha. They were around when the Northerners & Southerners had that family feud from 1861-65. There was the DA Lefaucheux 12 mm pinfire pistol. A fellow named Rider also designed a DA revolver that appeared like the Remington revolver. The English also made and exported DA BP revolvers like the Adams revolver. I think there are others, but I don't recall the names. Age, you understand.

 

[Jim K]

Just to add a little bit of history. In the days of the percussion revolver, the military and most civilians used cartridges, rather than loose powder and ball. These were not brass case cartridges like modern ammunition, but were made of tin foil or skin (membrane, like on a sausage) rolled into a tube. A pointed bullet, called a "picket ball", was glued into one end of the tube, powder was put into the other, and the powder end sealed.

When the revolver was loaded, the cartridge was dropped into a chamber from the front, the cylinder turned to bring that chamber under the rammer, and the cartridge rammed into the chamber. The force of ramming usually split the cartridge, exposing the powder, but if it did not, the force of the explosion from the percussion cap was enough to pierce the cartridge and ignite the powder.

To further speed loading, a tool called a "capper" was used to place caps on the "cones", or "nipples" as we call them today. The capper held a number of caps in a sort of magazine, and caps were fed up by a spring as they were placed on the nipples.

Civil War cavalry troopers, especially in the C.S. Army, often carried two revolvers, and sometimes two or more capped cylinders that could be replaced easily. But carrying a capped cylinder around is a bad practice today. If it drops and lands on a cap, the chamber will fire and the bullet can cause injury or death.

HTH

Jim

 

[Josey]

www.dixiegunworks.com Get their catalog. Starr made good doubla action 44s. The North bought some but, never put them into use. If the South had more church bells to make revolvers, who knows?