quote: The revolver advice was fascinating. I was considering a revolver, but I will hold off as it sounds more complicated than I want to try right now. If it sounds complicated, then I didn't describe it right. Weasel (on this board) sold me my 1860 Colt .44 at Cabela's, and told me everything I needed to know in about four minutes.
Here's a recap:
Buy your revolver from somebody knowledgable, so they can start you out with the right kit. The manual with my Colt, for instance, said to use a #11 cap, but Weasel knew that a #10 works better, so he set me up with that.
When you get the gun, also get a powder flask with the right size nozzle for the gun -- "measuring" then becomes a matter of putting a finger over the nozzle, inverting the flask, working the plunger and righting the flask: the powder in the nozzle is the correct amount to load with.
When I load, I:
1) pour powder in the chamber,
2) tap the chamber and then add enough corn meal to top the chamber off,
3) turn the cylinder until the chamber is in line with the charged chamber,
4) set a ball (.44 Colt takes a .451 lead ball) atop the charged camber,
5) work the loading lever ro seat the ball below the rim of the chamber,
6) [after all five chambers are loaded -- you leave one empty for safety so the hammer can rest on it] top off the chamber with lube (Crisco is okay in cooler weather, but I generally use Cabela's Muzzleloader Lube) to weather-proof the chamber and help prevent chain-fires, and
7) seat a percussion cap on each nipple.
That's seven steps, as opposed to the eight required to load a muzzleloader (no patch to trim with a revolver, and no need to swab a barrel).
And they are fun to shoot -- I love to show up at an outdoor range (shooting a stink-gun indoors is just rude), where everybody is crack-crack-cracking away and watch the heads turn when mine goes "B-0000-M!" and lets loose with a small cumulus cloud of smoke. And when they see the size of the gun (dwarfs most modern cordite-spitters), their eyes just get bigger.
Cleaning is super-simple. I knock the barrel wedge out with a plastic mallet, take off the barrel and cylinder, unscrew the nipples, and put all of the above in a sinkful of hot water when my wife's not looking, along with a generous squirt of whatever household soap is handy (I usually use Shaklee Basic H, as we buy it by the gallon). Scrub with a soft brush, rinse with hot water, and then dry barrel, cylinder and nipples in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes (make real sure wife is gone shopping). The only finesse required is in cleaning the action -- I use a rag dampened with water & dish soap, and clean and dry all the nooks and crannies. When I reassemble, everything but the grips gets fogged with WD-40 and then lightly wiped. Some lube their cylinder axles with lithium grease, but I find that it tends to harden -- I just use WD-40 here as well, but shake, rather than wipe.
That's about it. When you begin with revolvers, start shooting balls first, as they load more easily than conicals (conicals have to be seated square, or they'll go cock-eyed when you work the lever on them). If you shoot Pyrodex or the other modern powders, you can shoot all day and not have to do much except wipe the nipples when you reload.
When you buy, avoid brass-framed revolvers unless you are re-enacting as a Confederate and need one for authenticity, as these tend to get loose due to the softness of the frame (brass trigger guard and undergrip is common and okay). If you want a really simple-to-maintain but non-authentic revolver, get one of the 1858 Remingtons in stainless steel, and buy it with an extra cylinder, which you can preload (just don't put the caps on the nipples until the cylinder is on and the barrel is locked).
If the above was hard, I wouldn't be doing it. Find a six-shooting buddy and try his; you'll see how easy it is (although, as with all these things, hitting nothing but that black spot becomes a grail-like quest).
Tom