Black Powder Revolvers

I'm thinking of buying a .44 cal blackpowder revolver as a sidearm when hunting hogs. After the hunt, how do you pistoleros deal with the loads in the chambers? Do you just take the caps off the nipples, and store the pistol in a dry place until the next hunt? That seems the best way to me. Also, do you have to use round balls, or can you use a conical lead bullet as in a rifle?

Tet I leave mine loaded and sometimes carry it as my carry piece until I feel like shooting it. You can use conicals if you happen to find the correct size. I have been looking for some cast of pure lead but they are a bit difficult to find. One of the guys here sent me some he had bought and some he cast from wheel weights but I have yet to try them out. Just so happens at the moment I am watching a youtube video on the making of paper cartridges...



I intend to give this a try after hunting season if I don't mess around and do it before then.

I unload mine after the hunt. The fun way.

tv_racin_fan said:

Tet I leave mine loaded and sometimes carry it as my carry piece until I feel like shooting it. You can use conicals if you happen to find the correct size. I have been looking for some cast of pure lead but they are a bit difficult to find. One of the guys here sent me some he had bought and some he cast from wheel weights but I have yet to try them out. Just so happens at the moment I am watching a youtube video on the making of paper cartridges...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f_PrH1D_Hk

I intend to give this a try after hunting season if I don't mess around and do it before then.

Click to expand...

When I first started shooting my black powder revolver, I used some wheel weights to cast round balls. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to load them. Had to remove the cylinder and smack them in with a wooden mallet. Pure lead is a must.

I watched one video on making the paper pistol cartridges and the method differs from what a book I have tells you to do. My book has you take your paper and soak it in water and salt peter and let it dry. Then you roll your cartridges out of that. The paper actually burns like a fuse. I made a hundred some time back. Took quite a while to. They worked great. One thing you have to worry about even more with paper cartridges, is live sparks left in the cylinders possibly igniting your next cartridge as you load. For paper I used the thin stuff the wife puts in gift bags.

You can leave most blackpowder revolvers loaded for a long time. Never went through taking the caps off. A loaded and capped blackpowder revolver is no different than any other loaded reveolver you might carry. If really concerned I would remove the cylinder and put it in a pouch.

Several of my friends and myself have purposely let loaded blackpowder revolvers sit for months to over a year. They fired fine.

Never used a cap and ball revolver on hogs. Not sure it would be a really good idea, but for sure I would look into conicals. Problem is you almost have to have pure lead conicals or round balls to load correctly but I would have some concern about penetration.

You might consider looking into a Kirst or similar conversion cylinder that will let you shoot 45 colt cartridges.

Most 44 cal reproductions use a .451 or 452 lead conical. These are found at most gun stores which sell bp supplies and are called Buffalo Ballets. Ben shooting them in my 1858 new army for 20+ years with no problems. Recently aquired a Lee Conical mold and am pleased with the results. Also, be sure to ALWAYS use pure soft lead due to soft metal barrels are made of and the shallow lands. Wheel weights are a hard alloy with a lot of antimony and will ruin a bp barrel in short order.

Thanks for the replies and info. My idea was during blackpowder season using a revolver for followup shots on hogs if only wounded.

In answer to the origional question. I usually leave my BP guns loaded after hunting with them. I then go to the range and fire them when convienient. Of course if one is lucky enough to fire the weapon at game even just one round the gun should be emptied and cleaned.

I cast some 457 conicals for my Ruger Old Army. I cast em out of wheel weights and had no problem loading them in my gun. The problem I had was I used 40 grains of powder and the projectiles keep wanting to push out of the cylinders. I would not use any Black powder revolver to hunt deer or hogs unless it was a Ruger Old Army or a Walker replica. The rest do not have room enough in the cylinders for enough powder to push the projectile out of the muzzle with enough energy to do a good job. It is said that most folks shot with the old revolvers did not die from the initial wound but from infection.

The Ruger Old Army would be my choice. You can have the chambers cut deeper for more powder space. Lee makes a mold for a nice conical. Soft lead bullets will penetrate OK, even the round ball. I would leave the gun loaded until the hunt was over. Unless it got wet.

I found a place to find molds for conicals for BP revolvers. I also found a place to get bullets from these molds.

http://www.biglube.com/Default.aspx

http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/

tetgunner said:

Do you just take the caps off the nipples, and store the pistol in a dry place until the next hunt? That seems the best way to me.

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I've revolvers here that's been loaded for a few years...I have faith they'll do what they're supposed too.