Any of you guys into cap and ball revolvers?

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Jevverrett

Jevverrett

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I've been into them for a few years now, and magically only own two haha. One Remington and one Colt, both in army calibers.
 
Not into it but would love some pics.

(Wow that sounded creepy pervy, but you know what I meant ;) )
 




These are the two I have. The colt is a lot of fun to shoot now that I refinished the hammer. I figured more of the guys here would have been into these. A lot of intricacies involved, and easy to get started as a hobby
 
I have an 1860 Colt .44. I actually like shooting it quite a bit, even though it is messy and slow to reload. Something about it. Love how it points naturally, the relatively muffled report, soft recoil, and the smoke. The thing is pretty accurate, too, at normal handgun distances. I figure if it was good enough for John Wesley Hardin then it's good enough for me. Not mine; mine is better looking:

 
I like how the colts shoot, however I prefer the Remington. It doesn't jam up on me bc of cap fragments. The colt jammed up frequently until I saw a vid showing how to fix the issue. I used a sharpening stone to smooth out the rough edges on the hammer, so now it does not pull the spent caps off. Doesn't help with little bits though, it still jams sometimes.

I'm looking to pick up a walker in the future, but 400$ is a bit out of my range right now. It is a hobby that suits me. It not unlike pipe smoking in some ways. Time consuming and very rewarding to do properly haha.
 
I can't recall ever having a jam with mine, other than when it gets clogged up by repeated firing without cleaning. You're supposed to rock the gun back when cocking to let the cap pieces fall out, a technique that I find quite natural. Plus it looks cool, which is the important thing.

But yes, the Remington is probably a superior piece, with its top strap and stuff. I always thought it looked too modern for my gunfighter fantasies, even though I've seen hundreds of them in Civil War photos.

I want an 1873, but can't decide on barrel length, manufacturer, finish, or whether I should get, as my gun dealer insists, a Ruger Vaquero. The only solution, of course, is to buy them all. It's interesting that "Hickock 45" on YouTube, if you're familiar with him, claims that if he could only have one gun, it would be the 1873 Colt. But he's that kind of guy, apparently. ;)
 
Richard, there's some nice Rugers out at the moment. Several new-ish combos of grip frame, bbl length, caliber, finish.

I picked up a Tyler Gunworks color case hardened Ruger Bearcat, and a Lipsys Ruger Flattop 44special, 4.6inch, Bisley this week. Oh and a Belgium Browning Light Twelve. The Browning is a good shooter grade. I found out it was set up for Ky hunting when it wouldn't take the third shell in the tube. I'll probably leave the plug in, not much sense changing what she is. God only knows the squirrel and rabbit harvested with the old girl.
 
GAD, as in egads! So many guns, and so little time. Yes, Rugers make sense. But sense is overrated. My current lust is for a Beretta Jaguar, model 71 whatever. A Bobcat or Tomcat makes more sense, but I've never let sense get in the way of romantic notions. And I don't hunt, but wish I did. Sort of. Lotta work and stuff. So at least I'm spared lusting after hunting pieces.
 
Another guy, hovey smith on you tube. Is an old bp expert, and has written several books on bp hunting. Even with revolvers for larger game haha! His review of the 1873 cattleman wasn't encouraging. He said the cylinder had a bit of a gap and caused chain fires by way of other caps being activated by the force of the movement. Apparently the cartridge models are superior. I've seen other guys say they're great though.

I'm not much for cartridge pistols really. How many do you really need for self/home defense? I'd say more than two is pushing it lol.
 
I've had quite a few BP replica revolvers in .36 and .44, most from Italy and they all needed tuning up. Fortunately the gunsmith down the road would ream the forcing cone, time the cylinder and work the trigger over for a package of carbide turning inserts (available where I worked,,,wink-wink). They all had powder build up problems but I found the Remington design to be worse than the Colt copies.

The best one I owned was a Ruger Old Army which shot great out of the box. Accuracy was on par with a cartridge pistol for 12 shots,,then It needed cleaning. Never used Pyrodex, that may have eased the problem.
 
I've heard those Rutgers are great pistol. Expertly machined and over engineered for what they are. Not making them anymore, I think. Used ones are pretty pricey online.
 
Can't believe I had one in stainless and let it go. Here in New York you can own a cap and ball revolver with no hassle, but don't ever get caught with the makings (ball, powder, caps) that go with it without also having a pistol permit. I didn't at the time. Not sure how many people would rob banks with cap and ball revolvers when you can buy Glocks and stuff on the street, but then most NY gun laws are the work of nutters in the Albany insane asylum.

For self-defense, I have a Colt Commander .45 and a .38 snubby. Anything else is a fun gun. So yes, more than two does seem redundant. But so does more than, say, six pipes, if you get my drift. :lol:
 
I suppose if you use your firearms daily to such an extent that you need to rotate them to avoid damaging them, then you should move someplace safer lol. I'd say even one gunfight a year is probably too many in my book.
 
I've had a number of them over the years. A cased pair of Colt Navy, a Colt army the full sized model and a Colt 1849 Sheriffs model in 44 were my favorites. Never had any issues with jamming, or chain fires. Actually carried and used them daily for about 10 years. They stood up well to the riggers of ranch life. Quite a few rattle snakes and other undesirable critters were dispatched with them. I've actually been thinking of getting a few of them now that I live in Wyoming again.

Jim
 
I have BP firearms but never had the good fortune to find a cap and ball revolver that rang my bell, yours are beautiful.
banjo
 
The trouble is the fun part haha. Learning to prep your pistol properly and shooting it well is a lot of fun for me. Taking it apart and cleaning it, and then getting it back together so it works is very satisfying also.

Also, hufflepuff- have you ever tried using birdshot in yours for snakes and small rodents? Works wonders at short range.
 
Hey buddy, never got an update on this thread so I only just noticed your question. Yes I have used bird shot in them, usually a greased(waxed) paper card over the powder and the same over the shot. Usually I would cover that chamber in melted wax to prevent any issues with movement or loss of the load. Also always wanted to track down a good CNC machine shop that could take the Colt Walker and blow it up to handle a 58 cal minne ball load. I'm sure the cost of such a project though would be astronomical.

Jim
 
I want a walker badly these days, but with the new baby coming soon it won't be for awhile now. I think if you did upsize a walker any further, it would probably need a full stock. It would make one sweet carbine though.

You should check out Hovey Smiths video series on his "super walker" modification project. Fantastic firearm in the end. There are more than a few companies out there that do custom mods on BP revolvers, tuning them up for cowboy action shooting, functionality and sight upgrades.
 
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