Mom, look what followed Dad and I home!

[BowStreetRunner]

The old man and I bought a cap and ball revolver at a gun auction. It is a replica 1851 colt nacy (confederate with brass fitings)
i know we need some special stuff before we can shoot this thing. What are the requirements of a complete cap and ball revolver kit?
where is the best place to buy them?
thanks all
BSR

 

[Sir Galahad]

You can buy a Cap and Ball Starter Kit from Cabela's. Or you can buy what you need a la carte. You need a powder measure, a flask, a capper, grease or wonder wads (to avoid chain-fires, you have to put a wonder wad over the powder or a dollop of grease over the the balls once you load them), a revolver nipple wrench, the appropriate size balls, percussion caps, and FFFg black powder or Pyrodex Pistol Grade. You also need to find one of the kind folks here to tell you what the amount of powder you need to park under those lead balls is. Wear safety glasses when you shoot muzzeloaders. Cap fragments are moving at a pretty decent velocity. These weapons also have to be cleaned immediately after you're done shooting. That means removing the cylinder, removing the nipples and cleaning thoroughly with a blackpowder solvent or hot soapy water. Have fun.

 

[BowStreetRunner]

thanks

 

[Alex]

If it's 36 caliber you will need .375 diameter balls, as has been stated the wonder wads make life easy, but if you don't have them just remember to smear some Crisco over the balls once the chambers are loaded, but before there capped. I would recommend using either RS or P pyrodex and the powder charge is more a matter of taste, most of the reproduction cap and ball revolvers would be incapable of being overcharged with black powder or Pyrodex, there simply isn't enough space in the chambers to accomidate and overcharge. The originals were not always this way, several of the Walker Colts suffered burst cylinders as a result of full charges being fired. A lot of times I simply fill the chambers about 2/3 full followed by seating the wonder wad and the ball. This shouldn't leave a whole lot of space left above the ball, space will cause problems with accuracy so it is to be avoided. If you want to use a reduced charge fill the rest of the space between the powder and wad and ball with cornmeal which works well for this purpose.

 

[zahc]

Do a search on 'Bore Butter' and make your life easier!

 

[Dave Markowitz]

You might be interested in this article on my website:

http://www.building-tux.com/dsmjd/tech/cap_ball.htm

 

[TaxPhd]

I wouldn't buy the starter kit from Cabellas. While most of the items are useful, the capper will not fit in a '51 Navy. My understanding is that a Ted Cash Snail Shell capper will fit. Buy the stuff individually - you will get exactly what you need that way.

Not sure about the grease over the balls to stop chain fire, even though that is common advice. I use grease, but not to stop chain fireing. It keeps the fouling soft (and if it DOES prevent a chain fire, so much the better). If proper sized balls are being used and a complete ring of lead is being shaved off upon loading, very unlikely that a spark could enter from the muzzle end. More likely cause of chain firing is improperly fitting caps that fall off exposing the open nipple of a charged cylinder.