Definitely a pair of 1851 Colt Navies. And perhaps a Colt 1849 pocket pistol under my coat (shoulder holsters were not uncommon in the old days) in case I needed more than 12 shots.
I'd load each Navy with loose powder, FFFG grade, and a lead ball, then drip beeswax or candlewax over the seated ball and caps to keep moisture out.
The late gun writer Elmer Keith's first revolver was an 1851 Navy. He knew Civil War veterans, who told him that the conical bullet would tend to zip through an enemy trooper, whereas the ball would "take all the fight out of them."
Keith also praised that old Navy for its accuracy, in his book, "Sixguns." He said that at 20 yards (I think that was the distance, I don't have the book with me at work) it would cluster those little 80-grain balls into a silver dollar area.
Keith also notes that its lead ball killed far out of proportion to its size. That pure lead ball, of nearly .40 caliber, tends to flatten on impact.
Also, a rammed ball tends to take on a proto-shape of the modern semiwadcutter. It's best described as a half grapefruit, with a half-orange resting on top, flesh to flesh. This transfers a sizeable amount of energy.
The Navy remains one of the best-balanced and easy-pointing revolvers ever made. Even modern quick-draw artists of today praise it on these counts.
A man well-trained in gun handling tricks can spin, roll, toss and switch it from hand-to-hand with what appears to be ease. However, that "ease" is the result of thousands of hours of practice.
The Remington is a good revolver but it has lousy balance. It's heavy. I've never seen a trick gun handler spin, roll, toss or switch a Remington. The balance just isn't there.
Though the Colt has more parts than the Remington, it's also easier to clean in my experience.
The Colt 1851 Navy was used by soldiers, sailors, miners, gunmen, homesteaders, explorers, guards and others for about 40 years. Though powerful cartridge guns became available in the mid 1870s, it was not totally replaced by them.
Cap and ball sixguns were still used into the 1880s. They were cheap to feed (cartridges were expensive in remote places) but if you had a bullet mold, caps, powder and lead you could keep a cap and ball sixgun running indefinitely.
But oh, lordy! Every try to CAST bullets in one of those little brass moulds? Yeeeowwwwww! The little moulds are clumsy to operate with gloves, though you surely need them. And to do it in a campfire? Sheesh ... I tried that once ... yikes!
I suspect that many blacksmiths made money on the side by casting bullets for the local populace, who didn't want to be bothered.
