See my sticky above this section, "Proper use of a cap and ball revolver" for details on its use.
Now, as to first-time buyers:
1. Get a revolver with a steel frame. Not only is it stronger, which gives you the option of using full charges if you wish, but steel-framed revolvers tend to be much better made. Brass-framed revolvers are, most of the time, of lesser quality (fit, finish and materials).
2. Your preference depends upon how it fits in your hand. The Colt is much better-balanced than the Remington. I like the Colt, but I also like my Remington. With properly assembled loads, either can be more accurate than you can hold.
3. For the beginner, I suggest the Remington 1858 in stainless steel and .44-caliber. Actually, that's a nonsensical statement of a sort, since I know of no one making a Remington stainless steel in .36 caliber. Nor do I know of anyone making the Colt design in stainless steel, though a few were made in the early 1980s.
4. Why I suggest stainless steel: Newcomers to black powder shooting tend to delay cleaning their gun, especially cap and ball revolvers. Such revolvers have more and smaller parts than rifles or single-shot pistols, so they are more laborious to clean. Consquently, new shooters tend to put off cleaning. Depending upon where you live, and its humidity, this can mean rust appears in hours or a few days. I live in the remote Utah desert, where humidity is low, so my revolvers will go a week or more without exhibiting rust -- but I clean them within days of shooting. None of them show pitting or rust damage of any kind.
5. The finest cap and ball revolver is the Ruger Old Army, though it's not a copy of any 19th century revolver. It's no longer produced, but was made in stainless steel. A stainless steel Ruger Old Army, with modern adjustable sights, is the epitome of cap and ball revolver design -- but not historically authentic. Myself, I like history so I gravitate to revolvers that have historical panache.
6. I suggest .44 caliber because balls of .454 and .457 diameter are readily available from Speer and Hornady on the counter, and others. I have long urged the use of .380" diameter balls in the .36-caliber, but neither Speer or Hornady make them (despite my long urging). I like the .36 because it's as accurate as the .44, but uses less powder.
Beginners need to find all components readily, so the .44 is best unless you have a ready source of .380" balls for the .36 caliber.
