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Another new guy question

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Dirk Pitt

32 Cal
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Don’t shoot me down in flames too hard on this one, but if you read my other thread about my new gun you will see I am quite green when it comes to BP.

I was loading my pistol
Powder, ball, wad.

But after a bit of reading I think I got that wrong. It should be
Powder, wad, ball.

Is that correct?
 
Powder, wad [if you think you need one], ball.

Never used any kind of a wad in a handgun, me, but maybe I've been doing it all wrong since 1968.
 
Just a little reassurance here. You said "loading your pistol". Pistol as in single shot. Some folks refer to a revolver as a pistol.
 
Don’t shoot me down in flames too hard on this one, but if you read my other thread about my new gun you will see I am quite green when it comes to BP.

I was loading my pistol
Powder, ball, wad.

But after a bit of reading I think I got that wrong. It should be
Powder, wad, ball.

Is that correct?
That depends on what type of pistol your shooting.

For a cap & ball revolver, if you were going to use a wad you would load, powder, wad, ball. (The wad prevents any possibility of a chain fire from the front of the cylinder and lubricates the bore on the way out.)

For a single shot smoothbore with an un-patched, bare ball you would load, powder, unpatched ball, wad. (The wad keeps the ball from moving forward off of the powder).

For a single shot smoothbore pistol shooting a patched ball you would load, powder, wad, patched ball. (The wad will protect the patch from burning thru where it meets the bore).

For a single shot rifled single shot pistol shooting a patched ball you would load, powder, wad, patched ball. (The wad will protect the patch from burning thru where it meets the bore.)

In my opinion, the only one of the above cases I think a wad is really needed is with the unpatched ball in a smoothbore.
I've shot cap & ball revolvers with and without using a wad between the powder and ball and I don't really see a difference in the guns accuracy. Add to this the fact that if the ball in the cylinders chamber was a press fit that sheared off lead when it was loaded, it by itself will seal the front of the chamber against chain firing.
 
I bet it went bang anyway. I use powder, wad, and ball, even sometimes grease in a revolver. A pistol requires powder, patch, and ball as stated above.
 
It is a revolver not a single shot pistol and I was using wonder wads it all worked it all went bang but next time I’ll try the other way thanks for all the input
 
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