Loading Percussion Revolvers

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Wrote this as something of a beginners guide on how to run black powder revolvers. Let me know what yall think.

Good, basic, sound advice.

good write-up.
might add that the importance of snug-fitting caps cannot be over-stressed. I've never had a chain-fire (yet, hope not to) but considering the number of shots I've fired I'm fortunate not to have had.

Your use of the word "gunpowder" can be misleading -- should have said "black powder or black powder substitute" otherwise OK.

You are off to a decent start, long way to go.

Lead balls are not pills.

Forget the wads and use Cream Of Wheat.

Ditch the factory nipples and call the Possible's Shop and get the correct nipples for #11 caps.

Why not wads Richard? I have used both and wads are alot easier? Have not played long enough to know if cream of wheat will help with better accuracy though? I have used corn meal years back.

azmntman said:

Why not wads Richard? I have used both and wads are alot easier? Have not played long enough to know if cream of wheat will help with better accuracy though? I have used corn meal years back.

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When I went to Phoenix the first time I took my learning's from here. After I shot for a bit with my revolver a guy came up to me and said you do not have a clue on what you are doing. He showed me how to load my pistol using Cream Of Wheat and some other things which he loaned me.

He said he was off to the trap range and to please return them when I finished. My scores went up with his help.

COW is used as a filler to move the ball as forward in the cylinder as possible and still let it rotate, then a lube is placed on top of he ball for lubrication as it jumps into the forcing cone. The lube mixture needs to be ambient related, what works in Phoenix in February does not work in Brady, TX in 100 degree heat.

Some use corn meal, the problem with corn meal is that it will compress when seating the ball, inconsistent seating depth.

My wife is a "watcher" when we go to National shoots and she watches what the winners are doing.
The folks who are the top shooters are using a filler on top of the ball.

There are matches which are called "limited time fire" you have so many minutes to shoot so many shots, time is of the essence. It is quicker to measure and pour COW than fiddle with wads.

There are different levels of shooters, after watching the top shooters they use a filler. Other folks are just happy that the gun went off each time. Not a thing "wrong" with wads, there are just better ways to improve your scores, beer cans do not care where they are hit.

Revolvers are more cranky to changes than pistols.
Hand placement is critical in revolver shooting.

I really like shooting revolvers, but I shoot flintlocks the best for some reason.

there is no substitute for real HOLY BLACK gun powder. Some of that stuff may replicate some of the characteristics of real HOLY BLACK but that is all.
That is like saying raw Tennessee moonshine is a substitute for 40 year old single barrel Scotch Whiskey.
My guns all say"black Powder only".
So I shoot that product that DuPont calls "GUN POWDER'" on the can because that was all there was for guns. The other stuff was "blasting powder".
Needless to say i am a luddite and do not use the "P" stuff or any of that other rust in a bottle.
WB

I just recently (last couple of years) been making felt wads soaked with bee's wax and trying them out against cream of wheat filler loads that I have always used for match work.
The down side of filler and over ball lubing is that each successive shot has less lube and more fouling than does it's predecessor and after the first shot most all of the lube that was spread over the the chamber mouths initially, is gone.
With lube wads and more powder to locate the ball at the same place in the cylinder mouth, this lube inconsistency is gone. I'm still testing the wads but so far it looks to me like they produce just as much accuracy as does the cream of wheat and over ball lubed loads.
I have found that 30 grain loads are usually just as accurate as are 20 grain loads and filler as the ball location near the forcing cone seems to be the thing that matters most. It is true the light loads are less fatiguing to shoot but not necessarily more accurate.
Personally I think the wads are faster than using filler for timed fire matches.
It makes sense to see what the best shots are using but never stop testing new ideas for your self as none of us knows it all.

wb78963 said:

there is no substitute for real HOLY BLACK gun powder. Some of that stuff may replicate some of the characteristics of real HOLY BLACK but that is all.
That is like saying raw Tennessee moonshine is a substitute for 40 year old single barrel Scotch Whiskey.
My guns all say"black Powder only".
So I shoot that product that DuPont calls "GUN POWDER'" on the can because that was all there was for guns. The other stuff was "blasting powder".
Needless to say i am a luddite and do not use the "P" stuff or any of that other rust in a bottle.
WB

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I only use black powder in all my muzzle loaders but there is nothing Holy about the best grade of black powder and truth be told some of the substitutes work pretty good in cap guns. Triple seven comes to mind although I have never liked Pyrodex personally.

Each to his or her own. When we lived in Berlin there was no BP at all, and Pyrodex was all there was to have. I got to use it, although I never 'loved' it.

Gentlemen and ladies,
Remember, we are trying to rediscover information that was common knowledge in that time. Also most of us shoot our handguns more in a year than a majority of those guns were shot in their lifetime. They were carried a lot and seldom shot.We use protocols for loading that no doubt would puzzle old timers.
But is it not fun to try different things.
Personally, my routine it to load an amount of real Black Gun Powder that gives me the desired accuracy, a home made (duelist1954) method) lubed felt wad and ball. I don't proclaim this is the best way it is just MY way and it works for me.
But "A man ought to do what he thinks best" Hondo lane, gunman
WB

And every firearm likes what that one likes.