My rifle, by default, is a defensive gun too. It has to earn its keep! It's sitting there right now with 70gns under a cotton ball under a PRB.
Gotta wonder though... has anyone actually touched one of these things off inside a house??? Would seem that it would be more effective than a flashbang.
That said, I really, really like the way the 1851 Colt Navy feels. Heck, I love the 1847 Walkers and 1848 Dragoons, but they're slower.
Did some testing once of a .380, and calculating things out, the 1851 Navy gives about the same
raw power as a modern .380 or .38spl target wadcutter load. The article was meant to disprove the "stopping power" theory as it applies to handguns, instead relying on an expanding bullet as a mechanism for damage.
Been thinking about what might be the best load for a cap'n'ball revolver.
I wouldn't want to use Crisco to top things off. I've had Crisco run on me when was playing with lube for smokeless loads, and it contaminated the powder.
I use a proprietary hard "J.S. Lube" which actually looks a lot like a baked on finish, though it's not:
I just don't know how well it would translate into a cap'n'ball revolver, and even if it kept the bore from leading, wouldn't do much to protect the powder from chainfires.
Perhaps a wad of cotton like I use in the smoke pole, combined with the bullet's seal, would keep stray sparks out.
I just don't like to keep anything wet in a firearm unless the powder is well protected.
Josh