Why the ROA
Why the ROA is a "how long is a string" question.
It's easy to dismiss percussion revolvers generally, and the ROA in specific based on convenience. It's easy to dismiss percussion revolvers, even the ROA, if the goal is the most macho power. Even using spare cylinders (disclaimer, here - we make those cylinders), isn't equal to the speed and ease of the speed and ease of dropping six rounds into any cartridge revolver and the best we can do, even with our cylinders (even David's .50 cal custom ROA's) is never going to equal the monster performance of the big magnum bores.
There is one absolute that favors the ROA: accuracy. Do your ROA right (and that's not difficult or expensive) and you'll have the most accurate revolver you'll ever own, period. We have wrung the best accuracy out of the best of cartridge revolvers and they're simply not as accurate as ROA's. In fact, FWB and Hege match percussion guns which will set you back triple the price of an ROA aren't equal to the ROA's easily attained potential.
And then there are the subjective issues, and if there was ever a place where the ROA's subjective appeal gets advocacy it's in this forum. What little I can add is this.
I grew up riding motorcycles that warmed my blood in ways that weren't forthcoming from more convenient or more powerful ones. I've tried the shiny, slick, carefree ones, but I always found my way back to "classics". Frankly, kissing a knee to the pavement while heeled over to the peg on a Ducati 450 Desmo Diana is still more satisfying than blistering along on a crotch rocket. And three days in the saddle on a BSA triple instead of a two-wheeled Accura offers me a lot more enjoyment. Ducati thumpers and Brit triples take a bit more care and thought in the course of enjoyment, but they deliver so much more. You have to cross a line from vicarious to participant to find it. Not everyone will.
The ROA is the same.
My recommendation to Pripyat's quandary is this. First, do the economic calculus - get the collector ROA's cheap, re-sell them to folks who like to collect. Take the gains and buy a solid used ROA and a can each of Swiss, 777, and Remington #10's. Next, get some TRESO's and a box of good round balls. Change the nipples and shoot up the round balls. You'll know if you're cut out for this. And if you're not, by the time you re-sell the ROA, it will have appreciated to the point of covering the cost of the expendables.
But, if you find what we find in the ROA, keep coming back here and keep your eyes and mind open to a brilliant future clouded only by white smoke.
Edo.
Classicballistx