Just bought my 3rd revolver!

[ZVP]

  WOW what fun B/P is!
 Good Forum here with lots of referance material and opnions to leaad a newbe!
  I bought my first revolver about a month ago (to tide me over while my Vaquero is back at the Factory...), sure glad I did!  These guns are a blast, you can taylor your loads right on site or just go for the best consistancy between cylinders. Can it get more relaxing than that?
 My first was a Uberti "London" Colt, the second a Pietta '58 Remington (A nice one!) and don't laugh, the 3rd is a Brass framed Piettia "51 Colt. Yea I know, but the price was great and I never plan on anything but minimal loads thru that one. That's myplay gun to build front sights, fit exactlly to me and generally a "Beater".
  OK now I have been thru the old #10/#11 cap prob;ems. Various brands too brittle, thick, or preformed poorly. So far Remington caps seem the best.
 I played with loads starting out light and working up to test  and experience the results (Steel frames only) of heavy loads. I tried both over the powder wads AND Crisco and have just settled on Crisco as the quickest turn around loading times. No filler experiments yet, but I will someday. I believe seating the ball closest to the orcing cone should be best for accuracy.
 I'm impressed with the 7 and 25 yard groups I've gotten two handed and rested over a sandbag! The WILL rival modern guns for groups! Our club has a nice 80-90 yard B/P range which gives ya a chance to see how these reproductions will shoot over a long range?
 Darned if they still do shoot high at 80 yards! Aimed POA at an 80 yard clay pidgeon the big Brass Colt swhot a foot high (13gr of 777). Sure suprised me.
 All in all I am really enjoying this diversion in the shooting hobby, Wish I'd have started years ago!
 Yep, I'm hooked...
 ZVP

[FourBee]

Sounds like you've been a pretty busy black powder guy this past month.     It is a fun and relaxing experience.   
The good thing about these BP forums is all the help one can get in a very short time.   Helpful info that local gun shops and other types of gun enthusiasts usually are not on top of.   That makes it very enjoyable, not only for one just starting out, but those who've been at it awhile too.

Congrats on your new hobby......

4B

[Gatofeo]

A good, quality cap and ball revolver, properly loaded, will outshoot many modern pistols out to 50 yards.
I'lls tack my Uberti-made Remington Army .44 against any stock .38, 9mm, .40 or .45 out there.
And it will give the target-grade guns a run for their money too.
Properly loaded, it will put three lead balls into a 1-1/2 inch circle at 25 yards from a benchrest. Few semi-autos will do that.
If you can shoot your cap and ball well, off-hand, you may want to take a few five or six-shot bets against the boys with their Berettas, Glocks, Kahrs and others.
They may laugh at you, but if you do your part they won't be laughing when the smoke clears!
I've been shooting cap and ball revolvers since 1971. I am still amazed at how accurate a good one can be, properly loaded.

[blhof]

My son is still amazed when we go to the range and he has his 45 auto and I've got the Ruger Old Army and I can get tighter groups with round lead than he gets with the match jacketed stuff.

[m-g Willy]

Life long S&W fan here.
But after getting a Uberti 1851 Navy and shooting groups 2" and under (if I do my part) I agree that a good cap and ball revolver will give modern guns a run for your money.(at least out to 50 yards)
I did a little work on the sights of my 51.
I used a dremel to grind the sides of the front sight flat.
When looking at the sight from the side it still looks like a cone, but from the rear it appears as a post.
The rear notch in the hammer was squared up and cut down a bit to put the ball on target with where the sights are pointing.

[longcaribiner]

I shot my Ruger Old Army in a match against a dozen guys with modern guns and came in second. Opened their eyes a bit to say the least.

[FourBee]

What  longcaribiner,  blhof, and Gatofeo said confirms what I've always believed.
These guns are a lot more that the pop-cork novelties that many think they are.

[coyotejoe]

If you think about it the C&B revolver has an accuracy advantage over breechloaders. With cartridge guns the bullet must be a free sliding fit to the chamber and has to jump some distance before engaging the rifling. The percussion revolver's ball is a very tight fit to the chamber and is normally seated to just clear the rear of the barrel, only about a ball's diameter short of the rifling. My 1860 Colt would not be my first choice for personal defense but I sure don't feel unarmed with it on my side.
 It's only fair to mention that not all C&B revolvers are so accurate. I know of several with chambers considerably smaller than the groove diameter of the bore and those tend to shoot very poorly. The chambers should match the groove diameter of the bore and the ball should be at least .001" larger and larger still is even better. I normally shoot .457" balls in my .44 revolvers for which I have reamed the chambers to .452".
 For the .36 calibers it is hard to find balls larger than .375" so I cast my own at .380"
 The .31 are troublesome. Some have groove diameters as large as .332" but chambers of only .315", once a ball has been rammed into the chamber it will come out at a size that will fall through the barrel without even touching. If you reamed the chambers to .332" you need to have a custom mold made to cast a ball of .334".

[FourBee]

The .31 are troublesome. Some have groove diameters as large as .332" but chambers of only .315", once a ball has been rammed into the chamber it will come out at a size that will fall through the barrel without even touching.

Thanks for that post coyotejoe:
I've been waiting several months for the inheritance of a 30 year old .31 Remington for sure and possibly one in a Colt style.  It will be here in a few weeks now.  It's never been fired, so I'll be finding out if it is accurate or not.
4B

[His lordship.]

A trick I learned with the Crisco is to be careful on hot days.  It gets runny and won't seal the cylinders from flash fires.  I tried the waxy felt stuff but it can work it's way loose and jam the cylinder to the barrel.  So, I keep the crisco in a container with ice to keep it solid, shoot in the shade, or mostly avoid hot weather.

The crisco is great for lubrication and keeping everything moving well.