3 Percussion revolvers

[jimb16]

Finally got out to the range with my "new" revolvers. Actually only one was really new; a .45 sheriff's model. The other two are old; a well worn Walker and an early .45 army from a kit that someone had botched up. I bought the kit for $50 because there were many small parts missing and it hadn't been properly fitted together. I already had most of the missing parts on hand so it wasn't too bad getting the missing ones. When the former owner saw it, he wanted it back. That is until I told him how much it would cost him bot the parts, rebuilding and refinishing! Funny how fast he changed his mind. My problem was that I didn't have any of the right size ball for those guns. I ended up shooting .440 round ball over a greased patch in all of them. The sheriff's model did well, but the other two only kept half of the shots on the target at 25 yards. Had a lot of fun though. This evening, I finally dug out the old .45 RB mold and cast up a couple hundred. Maybe next time I'll be able to hit something! *LOL*

[Texas by God]

I love shooting "Captain Ball" revolvers- as my 5 yr old daughter called mine after I told her what it was- so many years ago.
Best, Thomas.

[reivertom]

Finally got out to the range with my "new" revolvers. Actually only one was really new; a .45 sheriff's model. The other two are old; a well worn Walker and an early .45 army from a kit that someone had botched up. I bought the kit for $50 because there were many small parts missing and it hadn't been properly fitted together. I already had most of the missing parts on hand so it wasn't too bad getting the missing ones. When the former owner saw it, he wanted it back. That is until I told him how much it would cost him bot the parts, rebuilding and refinishing! Funny how fast he changed his mind. My problem was that I didn't have any of the right size ball for those guns. I ended up shooting .440 round ball over a greased patch in all of them. The sheriff's model did well, but the other two only kept half of the shots on the target at 25 yards. Had a lot of fun though. This evening, I finally dug out the old .45 RB mold and cast up a couple hundred. Maybe next time I'll be able to hit something! *LOL*

Some of the Italian Walker models use .451RBs and others use a .458RB. The Walker I have uses .458s. You may get better groups with larger diameter RBs. The .440s won't cut it because you need to "shave" a ring of lead off of the ball when you seat it to get a good seal. You may already know this, but always smear some lube or seat a lubed felt wad over the loaded cylinder to keep the cylinder from chain firing.

[toot]

rivertom, you say to put a felt wad over the loaded cylinder to keep from chain firing, the black powder manuals say to put the felt wad over the powder charge not on top of the ball, putting it in front of the ball could turn it sideways going into the forcing cone and act as an obstruction and ring the barrel. grease is usually applied over the ball. i may be wrong, this is how i was taught.

[jimb16]

Felt wad was over the powder. The front of the chamber was filled with Crisco. I've been shooting these thing for 40+ years and know what I'm doing. Not a newbie. And the Walker takes a 451 ball. I know perfectly well about shaving a lead ring when loading. I was just putzin' around. And I have had a chain-fire. It wasn't due to a failure to lube the chamber mouth. The flash-over had to have come from the cap nipple end. I can tell you that it is a very enlightening experience! I've been shootin' smokepoles for 50 years. Plenty of experience here. Generally I prefer rock scratchers to these new-fangled cap locks.