Carrying Concealed Blackpowder Handguns

[Pete Gaimari]

That's what you get for living in NJ. :blah:

 

[airmansteve]

Smokin .50,
you may have missed the last sentence of my post which said "unless it was all I had"...

NOT advocating C&B concealed carry at all. Just saying that if I didn't have a CF gun to take the class, which are offered only once a year up here, I would have used the C&B if the instructor had no problem with it. Relax, I'm not a wild-eyed, long haired redneck trying to pick a fight with my BP firearms.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Smokin .50,
you may have missed the last sentence of my post which said "unless it was all I had"...

NOT advocating C&B concealed carry at all. Just saying that if I didn't have a CF gun to take the class, which are offered only once a year up here, I would have used the C&B if the instructor had no problem with it. Relax, I'm not a wild-eyed, long haired redneck trying to pick a fight with my BP firearms.

That's just it--you can't use a C&B for the Personal Protection Outside the Home Course! So you have to use a CF gun, and be used to using it, preferably with several hundred rounds through it or more!

As far as a last ditch in a bad situation: just be prepared to go to jail for using it in some states!

 

[phoenix511]

If its "all you had," I'd suggest staying home, keeping the door bolted, get a baseball bat, a CO2 fire extinguisher, and a spray can of bee/wasp repellant, as these are legal and effective short range deterents to an intruder. It is hard to continue a home intrusion with a lump on your head, a frozen groin, and a facefull of bug spray.

But this is a BP forum, so keep in mind the lethality of C&B revolvers was mainly the gunshot's uncontrolled infection which took its toll after some days, rather than instant knock-down. President Lincoln lived for perhaps a day after being shot in the head with a C&B pistol.

At best, the 44 cal ROA or 1860 Colts are about like 38 S&W (note, not even 38 Special) for kinetic engergy output. Most law enforecment agencies abandoned both years ago.

Save your money, take a pistol carry class in your state, and buy modern.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Save your money, take a pistol carry class in your state, and buy modern.

:thumbsup:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

If its "all you had," I'd suggest staying home, keeping the door bolted, get a baseball bat, a CO2 fire extinguisher, and a spray can of bee/wasp repellant, as these are legal and effective short range deterents to an intruder. It is hard to continue a home intrusion with a lump on your head, a frozen groin, and a facefull of bug spray.

But this is a BP forum, so keep in mind the lethality of C&B revolvers was mainly the gunshot's uncontrolled infection which took its toll after some days, rather than instant knock-down. President Lincoln lived for perhaps a day after being shot in the head with a C&B pistol.

At best, the 44 cal ROA or 1860 Colts are about like 38 S&W (note, not even 38 Special) for kinetic engergy output. Most law enforecment agencies abandoned both years ago.

Save your money, take a pistol carry class in your state, and buy modern.

Wild Bill killed at 75 yds with an 1851 Colt. (36 cal)

You might check with all those killed in the Civil War how effective a C&B is.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Pete:
You shoot CAS.
Tell me you've never, never had a misfire with a percussion pistol?
C'mon now, Pinnochio.......... :bull:

I've no doubt fired many less rounds than you. I've had several no-fires, one or two due to caps falling off and me not noticing. At least one due to a batch of caps that liked to shed the explosive.
I've also had my revolver jam from cap frags.
If I'm gonna carry, I want the darn thing to go off when I need it to.
Just sayin... :hmm:

 

[Homesteader]

I believe I understand what lot of these guys are asking: if they're "prohibited" to pack CF arms by a vindictive wife or a visit to a shrink or failure to pay taxes or something, how can they defend themselves..? (I may be way off base.)

That being the case, I'd rather have a cap & ball than a bow and arrow, a sword than a club, a knife than a fist, etc. etc. In many states a blackpowder weapon can legally be owned and used by those who are prohibited from the use of CF weapons.

Well, that may be all you can legally use to defend your home, and you're probably okay using them for that (good luck!), but don't think for a moment that you won't have charges brought against you that are as bad as carrying CF without permission if you're caught toting a cap & ball. They may not legally be firearms in many jurisdictions, but a prosecutor can still come up with lotsa ways to make it just as bad for you. (Ask a lawyer!)

If you aren't legally allowed to own a firearm, then don't think you can carry a pre-CF smokewagon and somehow skate around the law. It just won't work. In your own home, maybe, but definitely not on the street.

For what it's worth, I often carry a sweet little Beretta or Walther out in the world, but when I'm wandering around my land I'm often strapped with a Colt percussion. Just for fun, though. Different thing entirely.

Be smart, guys.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I read recently (and my ER nurse girlfriend agreed) that well over 80% of all gunshot wounds are not lethal. I'm pretty sure Ayoob's "Stressfire" bears that out. Whether CF, BP, arrow, or stab wounds, the usual cause of death is bleed-out, and that just doesn't happen much these days. Personally, I don't wanna get shot even a little bit. :grin:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Pete:
You shoot CAS.
Tell me you've never, never had a misfire with a percussion pistol?
C'mon now, Pinnochio.......... :bull:

I've no doubt fired many less rounds than you. I've had several no-fires, one or two due to caps falling off and me not noticing. At least one due to a batch of caps that liked to shed the explosive.
I've also had my revolver jam from cap frags.
If I'm gonna carry, I want the darn thing to go off when I need it to.
Just sayin... :hmm:

I haven't, but I have Rowdy Yates type mods to prevent it. :grin:

 

[RedFeather]

First (and I know I'm coming late to the table), the place to ask about the law where you live is the courthouse, not here. Jailhouse lawyers make for poor defense attorneys.

I was going to bring up the concealed weapons aspect but I see that's been covered. Another thing to consider is the stopping power of a CB revolver. Wild Bill might have killed a man at 75 yards with his .36 but that was before things like antibiotics and EMT's. If I'm not mistaken, he also emptied his revolvers each night and went forth with fresh loads in the morning, so be prepared to shoot daily. One last consideration is how the perp's attorney is going to argue that you were looking to use it. Same counter-argument as used with handloads. "Look at what he was carrying? Would a reasonable man use such a weapon for self defense? No, he was looking for trouble so he could play cowboy", etc, etc, etc.

And the number one reason, as Dave Letterman might say....You don't want to end up like the little lady in the original True Grit when her big hand cannon failed to dispatch the bad guy.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Wild Bill shot him in the heart. I don't think anti-biotics would have helped him. :idunno:

I've kept a C&B revolver loaded for 9 months, and it fired fine.

Wild Bill was a bit paranoid.


btw..Some hunt and kill deer with a C&B.

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

Concealed carry is not about being cool but to defend one's life or another.With that said,it is also common practice to make sure the weapon that you carry is 100% reliable and won't let you down when the chips fall.I ran 400 rounds through my weapon without a malfunction or misfire before I carried it.If you can do that with your cap and ball revolver then so be it but if you can not,you better be thinking something more modern and up to the task.It would also be a good idea to check your State carry laws to make sure a cap and ball is legal and it will not be just another handicap in a legal battle in court.

 

[John Wasmuth]

To no one inparticular on this thread....
anyone here offering sound advise ever actualy been in a gun fight? I mean a real, holy manure geezus freaking christ gun fight?

Been there, more than once, done that, more than once, and I aint carryin nothing but modern centerfire ammo and something that goes BANG with a whole lot of authority everytime I pull the trigger. Sorry but to handicap yer happy ass with anything other than a modern firearm that fires BIG assed bullets is STUPID.
End of rant. Get real.
Claude, I apologize if I spoke out of turn, however after reading some of the replies it best put that as what you quated, "Buy Modern".
Anyone that thinks its cool to smoke people or just carry to carry is foolish to say the least and fool hearted at best.

 

[CharlesZ]

Assume you live in NY. A permit is required just to handle a handgun in a store so that's out. But you can buy a BP handgun and take it home. If you buy powder and lead balls, caps,then in order to continue to own the weapon legally you must get a handgun license. Would you? Would you assemble the means to use this firearm against the law? Just hypothetical, mind you. Assume also you work somewhere where security is an issue and a long gun or shotgun would be totally impractical. Would you buy a pocket navy, aquire the means and stash the gun in a desk for a, 'just in case' moment?

 

[David W.]

The only black powder concealed carry I would consider is a SASS revolver in 44-40 and would be the Vaquero (if that caliber is available). That is as close as I would get, period. No cap and ball anything would EVER enter my mind, not even for fantasy sake.

I've been to a 'vous and played mountain man, but this is reality here. If anyone does or wants to carry cap and ball for alleged self protection, DO IT! :bow:

 

[RedFeather]

Wild Bill was in the business of personal defense (or offense, depending), therefore he had to be 100% sure his guns would go bang.

But, aside from all the reasons for and against given above, anyone consider the implications should someone actually use a percussion (or even a small flintlock muff gun) and it makes the six o'clock news - national news in this day and age? Might not be able to buy through the mail or over the counter after one or two such incidents. One reason these things are kind of under the radar is people don't take them seriously, unlike the thousands who succumbed to them during the Civil War. For most folks they are simply novelties. Demonstrate that they are just as lethal as a .38 Special and you will change that perception.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I guess when I think of a gun for personal defense I think of a gun in my home. I have a loaded 1860 .44 near me all the time. Just in case someone is foolish enough to break in.

I can't imagine walking the streets with a gun.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Say, guys....
Y'ever find yourself mumbling and carrying on a conversation when nobody else is in the room? Don'tcha feel stupid when you realize it? :youcrazy:
Well, that's what is goin' on here because the moose and squirrel guy hasn't responded...not once..and we are arguing amongst ourselves about the Emperor's New Clothes. :hmm:
I say we make like Boris and Natasha and go away from thread. Leave moose and squirrel behind. :shake:

 

[sepiatone]

The moose hasn't logged in over a year

 

[CaptainKirk]

Thanks. Now I feel even more stupid! :shocked2: