Wild Bill Hickock's pistols- .36 cap and ball?

[peacemaker45]

Most Cap & Ball revolvers can be quickly reloaded with an extra (pre-loaded) cylinder. It was a common practice with Walker Colts (big Dragoons) by Civil War Calvalry. Bill Hickock also liked the .36 because it shot a flatter trajectory than the .44 caliber selections of the day.

Yeah, you can swap cylinders fairly easily in a remington pattern C&B, but not so much in a colt. To remove a colt cylinder, one has to either drive or pull the wedge, then remove the barrel assembly, THEN remove the cylinder, replace, and reassemble. Not something I care to attempt on horseback, or in the middle of a firefight.

Also, the Walker far outstripped the Navy model as far as FPS, trajectory, etc, but wasn't exactly widely available. But, the navy was a heck of a lot easier to tote around than the big walker.

~~~Mat

 

[barman]

Yeah, you can swap cylinders fairly easily in a remington pattern C&B, but not so much in a colt. To remove a colt cylinder, one has to either drive or pull the wedge, then remove the barrel assembly, THEN remove the cylinder, replace, and reassemble. Not something I care to attempt on horseback, or in the middle of a firefight.

Yeah, I'm also kind of dubious wether Colt C&Bs were reloaded during gunfights or not. To remove the wedge you need to hammer it out (except when the gun is old and the wedge is worn).

Remingtons were so much easier.

That being said, I'm rather a Colt kind of guy.

 

[Jamie C.]

I'm also kind of dubious wether Colt C&Bs were reloaded during gunfights or not.

Well, since Wild Bill carried 2 guns, and apparently wasn't the kind to waste many shots, I doubt reloading was much of an issue for him, most of the time.
Unless he was fighting a bunch of wild indians, I can't imagine much of a need for more than 10-12 rounds before his adversaries were either dead or had run off to find healthier pass-times.

I certainly couldn't see trying to reload while marching across an open field, while under fire, during the Civil War though... although I suppose there were some that either did or at least tried to.



J.C.

 

[mec]

Maybe he had his hands somewhere where the gonorrhea got on them and then he rubbed his eyes. Or maybe he just stayed out in the sun too long and developed catarrachs. Or maybe he had the major stds that had been invented by that time. Probably did unless he was a fan of french letters.

 

[barman]

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