More rookie ?s about cap and ball

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Joshboyfutre

Joshboyfutre

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Taking my 1860 army out for the first time. Is there anything in particular I should do to it before first time firing? (Like lube certain parts make sure such and such is in place or lined up.)
Also I only have 18 round balls and figured I wanna shoot more, can I use rolled up pieces of toilet paper in place of a piece of lead? Have heard the cream of wheat trick but don't have any lol. Perhaps I should just shoot what I have and be happy
 
Ohio is one of the most muzzleloader-friendly states there is.
Balls should be readily available, .
Even at places like Cabelas & Gander Mountain
451 if it is a Pietta, 454 if it is a Uberti.
-Dawg
 
an 1860 is great piece but not the best choice for a bp never ever. most are prone to cap jams, you might want to bring the tools to remove the barrel/cylinder just in case. if you have the problem there are fixes you can chase.
 
You should be able to use rolled up toilet paper, but why? You aren't going to be able to hit anything with it. :)
 
Make sure the nipples are clear. Hold the cylinder up to the light, and if you can see light through them they're good to go. Some people like to shoot caps to clear the nipples, but if you can see daylight through them there's no need to.
 
You should squirt a little oil lube in the inner "guts" and a little axle grease on the cylinder pin before each outing with your Army revolver.

Snapping a cap on the nipples is a good habit to establish every time you go to shoot.

As it has been mentioned already, take a set of radius bit screwdrivers, so as not to mess up the screw head slots, in your kit box of tools and components.

You will likely have to deal with cap fragments falling down into the space between the cocked hammer and the slot of the frame that hammer sets down in. Add needle-nose pliers to remove stubborn caps from the nipples.

Do you have a revolver nipple wrench? You may forget to put powder in one chamber, but loading the wad and the ball and discovering the "Uh Oh!" moment.If you need to push a ball out of the cylinder, remove the nipple with the wrench and insert a brass or aluminum round stock drift pin, smaller in diameter than the nipple thread diameter, and tap the ball out. Replace the nipple and you're back in business.
 
Lol should have been a little more clear don't have money for more round balls or anything that's why I was asking about blank went shooting and went off without a hitch thanks for all the advice on here fellas
 
I did have some cap jams but had the tools with me because of the advice I got so it wasn't a problem. Just fired off the ammo I had been fired 50 and 36 calibers a little bit also, all in good time... and found a Mosin Nagant on the way home for 140... Woo hoo!
 
I would have gave $120 for the Mosin and got some RB for the other $20.
But " in a perfect world" they say.
Have fun , be safe....:evil:
 
Haven't paid for the mosin yet (no $ till mon.) gonna get some gear for my BP guns while I'm at it. Another ? I have is this: can I just grease my balls with a generous couting of bore butter to prevent chain fire as opposed to gooping it all over the cylinder? Aside from ruining my jeans it seems like it would work.
 
can I just grease my balls with a generous couting of bore butter
Click to expand...

Buddy you can do whatever you please with your balls, just don't ask me for help! :eek:

Just kidding, naturally. I personally would wait to grease them so you don't contaminate the powder and get a better seal.
 
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how much bore butter

just got first BP revolver for christmas, and have alredy loaded it with 23 grains in each of 5 chambers and used 454 balls. need to know how much grease to use in each now that it is loaded. thank you
 
It really doesn't take much but kind of hard to explain your best bet is to get on YouTube and enter how to grease cylinder on a cap and ball pistol they're a bunch of videos will show you how to
 
Point that weapon at the sky when you cock it. Busted caps will fall OUT of weapon.
 
Is that called a Calvary reload or calvery style? Something to that effect, anyways it does work well. For some reason my caps shred upon detonation.
 
I shoot my C&B guns in some Cowboy Action meets. There's more than one range where holding a cocked gun so it's pointed over the berms will earn me a day off from shooting. So I've sort of modified the idea over to rolling my hand strongly over to the right as I cock the hammer. It's awkward but with a bit of practice it's fairly quick to do. I try to get it tipped over to around 45 to 50 degrees which is about all my forearm will twist and not require me to lean my torso. It's pretty effective to do it this way too. I've run my 1860 pair of guns for a couple of days doing this and had no shards in the action that caused a jam of any sort.
 
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