Walker/Colt/Dragoon

[English Phil]

Hi,
As a black powder novice and owning one Pietta NMA 44, I find this revolver very easy to use with regard to removing the cylinder for re loading.

My question is, is it as easy to remove the cylinders of Walkers/Colts and Dragoons, or do you have to tap out the wedge, or whatever it's called.

 

[RecoilRob]

Yep, the wedge must be pulled and the barrel pushed off the pin with the loading lever to remove the cylinder.

Not hard at all and just a tad more difficult than removing the cylinder from a Remington.

And, the Dragoons are massively wonderful to own and shoot!

 

[Omnivore]

...easy to use with regard to removing the cylinder for re loading.

Just so we're clear; the cylinder does not have to be removed for reloading. For cleaning, yes, you must remove the cylinder.

The standard loading method is; with hammer at half-cock so cylinder can rotate, pour measured powder charge in one chamber, insert wad or plain ball, ram ball home using loading lever, etc.. Also see the sticky at the top of this section entitled "Black Powder Essentials".

Or are you talking about keeping a spare, charged cylinder for a "quick" reload? Personally, I wouldn't bother. Even with the NMA I find I'd rather not have to clean 12 or 18 nipples at the end of the day for one gun, so I don't bring the spare to the range-- only on hikes and such.