pepperbelly
45 Cal.
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I thought I might share this. If it's old news I apologise.
Elmer Keith apparently thought a lot of using a round ball over a conical bullet. It's mentioned several times in the article, as well as chainfires.
Jim
Sixguns by Keith, Chapter XIV
Loading and Management of Cap and Ball Sixguns
DURING THE HEY DAY of the percussion revolver, paper cartridges were furnished in little wooden containers with a space for each. The box was milled from solid wood and split, and a paper wrapper was glued over it with a thread at the joint which could be pulled, thus separating the two halves and opening the six shot cartridge box. Conical Colt bullets were used in these paper cartridges with a rebated heel, leaving room to glue the tip of the paper cylinder to the base of the bullet. The powder charge was poured in the other end of the rolled paper cylinder which was folded over a couple times to seal it, the bullet was dipped in melted wax or tallow and the cartridge was complete. These conical pointed bullets gave more range and penetration than round balls, but never were as accurate in our guns, nor did they kill game as well as the round ball. The pointed bullets seemingly slipped through game with a very small wound channel while the blunt round ball at fairly high velocity, tore a good wound channel all the way.
One can still make paper cartridges for any caliber cap and ball sixgun today by this method, but I much prefer to load round balls and powder from a flask with a proper charger. The most accurate method of loading these guns is to use a round ball of pure lead, backed by a heavy charge of black powder and a greased felt wad between powder and the ball. I have tried many types of conical bullets but the round ball seemed to always beat them for groups. The guns were for the most part, cut with a gain twist, which certainly is right for any revolver and would, I believe, be a big improvement on modern revolvers. The bullets jump straight forward from their seat in the chamber and are going straight ahead when they take the rifling, so it is only reasonable that the rifling should also start straight and gradually increase in pitch as it nears the muzzle or steering end of the barrel. In this way the balls or bullets are perfectly engraved with the rifling without any slippage or skidding. They then make a perfect gas seal and leave the muzzle in more accurate form.
I would like to see modern revolvers cut with a gain twist. Of course, to use a gain twist, the projectile must have a short bearing surface like a round ball or have a set of narrow rotating bands to take the rifling so the pitch can change without skidding or slippage. The usual grooved modern revolver bullet with its several groove diameter rotating bands, not unlike an artillery shell, is ideal for gain twist rifling. In this respect the old percussion pistols were superior in design to modern guns but gain twists are slow and hard to cut, and for this reason went into the discard along with the old guns. Long ungrooved bullets would not work well in a gain twist barrel, since the front would be trying to turn faster than the base, and one end or the other would have to slip or skid to get the slug through the bore. Round balls with their short bearing or bullets with cannellures and several groove diameter bands will work much better in gain twist than in conventional barrels.
Caliber markings on cap and ball guns are seldom correct. The various .36 Navies run from .38 to .40 caliber. The .44's usually run a full .454 or larger. I have one Colt .28 caliber and one Colt .30 caliber in my collection.
The old guns should be thoroughly checked to see that the chambers are in good condition and not deeply pitted. I have known of some cylinders that were rusted through between the chambers and when fired all the charges would go at once. This is very dangerous. If the chambers are clean, the nipples also in good condition and the key holding the barrel and frame together tight and snug, you are all set to use the gun. Pitted barrels foul faster and are seldom as accurate as good barrels, but do not prevent use of the arm. A powder flask with a charge cup on the end of it is almost a necessity, both to carry the powder and also to dispense it in proper charges. Without a proper powder flask, a small bottle can be used with an empty pistol cartridge case for a charger.
Nipples vary in size and percussion caps from 9 to 12 will fit about any size sixgun nipples. The No. 12 I have is marked Colt, and it fits a big Dragoon revolver. One should select a cap size that is a snug push fit on the nipples, but not tight enough to prevent their seating fully down on the nipple. A couple times I have had muzzle loading rifles fire when I pressed the cap down too hard on the nipple. The caps were a bit small and I forced them down, splitting them. Each time they fired from this pressure with the ball of my thumb, they raised instantly a healthy blister. So be careful to get caps that will fit snug and tight, but which will also seat easily. Never try to use a Percussion sixgun with loose caps as recoil of one charge will jar the cap on another chamber; the flash may get into it and fire a second or third chamber at the same time. I have had it happen. Also I have had caps that were too small and did not seat fully, fire the charge of other chambers from recoil which threw them back against the frame of the gun. I once had the bottom chamber of a .36 Navy go off and drive the ball into the recess in the rammer, expanding it until it was next to impossible to remove and had to be turned down again before it would work. Multiple discharge must be avoided at all costs as it is not conducive to longevity, nor will it leave the guns in good shape for posterity.
If the nipples are in bad shape with cracked, chipped, rusted, or badly battered edges, they should be replaced before the gun is used. Sometimes they are very hard to remove, even with a nipple wrench. If Penetrate or soaking in coal oil fails to loosen them, then heat must be applied to the cylinder to break up the rust scale. E. M. Farris & Sons, Portsmouth, Ohio, and other firms usually carry supplies of pistol nipples. Any good gunsmith can make them. They should be examined to see that the hole is not too large from the cap seat down to the power chamber. Usually all that is needed is a good funnel at the rear end of nipple to carry the flash, and squirt it through a very small orifice into the powder chamber. If the center and forward portion of the nipple carries a small hole, so much the better as less powder gas comes back from the discharge. Too large a flash hole all the way through the nipples means a lot of gas to the rear; the caps are blown to pieces, and sometimes the hammer is partly raised from the pressure. Once you determine that the nipples are in good shape and find caps that fit them correctly, you are then ready to proceed with the loading of your cap and ball sixgun.
Cast the round balls of pure lead, preferably in a mould of exactly the same size as the original moulds furnished with the pistols, or with the originals. The balls should be slightly oversize to make a perfect seal and also to afford a slightly longer bearing surface for the rifling. The mouths of the chambers are chambered slightly larger than the bore and a round ball of correct size should only start in the chamber mouth with hard thumb pressure. It is best to seat them with the sprue cut forward so the base will be unmarred and true in shape.
Next take an old felt hat, a thick heavy one, or similar heavy felt material an eighth inch thick, if you can find it, and soak it in a mixture of melted tallow and beeswax. If you do not have the wax, then deer, elk, beef or mutton tallow will do. When cold and hard, take a slightly oversize wad cutter and cut wads. You can get wad cutters, also moulds, from the Lyman Gunsight Corp., Middlefield, Connecticut, for any caliber cap and ball gun. The wad should be slightly larger than the chamber bore.
The wads can be packed in empty cap boxes or typewriter ribbon cans and the bullets carried in old Civil War bullet pouches, any sack or container, or loose in the pocket.
Now we are ready to load. First see that all nipples are clear, either with a long pin or by blowing through them. Hold the muzzle up with the gun at half-cock so the cylinder will revolve freely. Pour in the powder charge (it should almost fill the chamber) leaving room only for the greased felt wad. Place a single greased wad on top the powder, start the round ball down in the cylinder mouth with the ball of the thumb, then turn it under the rammer and ram it home so the powder is tightly compressed and the ball seated just below the mouth of the chamber. The ball will be upset somewhat in the process and this helps make a certain seal at the front end of the load against flash back from the discharge of other chambers. Repeat the procedure until all six chambers are fully loaded, then latch up the rammer, turn the muzzle away from you and cap each nipple, being sure they are fully down in place on the nipples. Let the hammer down between nipples on the safety pin provided for the tiny notch in the center of the bottom tip of the hammer or, if this is gone, just let the hammer rest between nipples and your cap and ball sixgun is ready for action.
If unable to get heavy felt for the greased wads, use a double thickness of lighter felt. If you wish to play with something less than the maximum load, place a dry wad or two under the greased wads. In any event, the powder charge must be compressed. The charge should always stop the loading lever before it comes to the end of its movement.
Powder should be the best black powder in shiny black granulations, free from dust and dirt and size F.F.F.G., for the very small calibers such as .28 and .31, and F.F.G., for the .36 and .44 caliber guns. A percussion sixgun thus loaded will shoot clean all day if you blow your breath through the bore a few times after each six rounds are fired. It will also shoot very accurately if it is a good gun.
Under no circumstances should you ever load a percussion pistol with anything but black powder. Don't even think of trying bulk smokeless shotgun powder. This and the pistol and rifle smokeless powders in common use are certain to wreck the gun. These guns were made decades before smokeless powder was thought of. They will not take it. There are no exceptions to the rule. It is final.
I had one .36 Navy Colt that had a pitted barrel, but with the above load it would cut clover leaves for its six shots, at 20 yards, all day with seated back and head rest and two hands used between the knees to further holding. It was my first good sixgun and the good Lord only knows how many grouse and rabbits and other small game I killed with the gun. Finally Maurice C. Clark, a friend from Bozeman, Montana, had to have a .36 Navy to fill an order and offered me a brand new Army Colt .38 Special for it and we swapped. I have regretted it the rest of my life. The modern Colt never did shoot as well as the old Navy.
Cap and ball guns will collect fouling in the action after repeated firing. The best way to clean them is to remove the barrel by driving out the wedge key with a hardwood drift thus removing the barrel and cylinder. Heat a pan of water until it boils and soak both barrel and cylinder in this, then scrub them out with a bristle brush and let them dry by their own heat. If the action is badly fouled it is best to remove stocks and straps and the internal parts, the hand, bolt, trigger and bolt spring and carefully clean them with hot water and dry them. Then oil and put them back together. Oil the chambers and barrel or wipe them with a rag dampened with solvent and then a dry rag inside the chambers. Coat the base pin, on which the cylinder revolves, with a heavy cup or gun grease, and replace cylinder, barrel and key. Next reload your gun and it is again ready for action. The loads may remain in the gun for years and still fire perfectly if the loading has been done as above directed.
Sut Ellis of Winston, Montana, an old buffalo hunter, once told me of having a running fight with a band of horse stealing Indians on the north side of the Missouri below Winston. He and a band of hunters lost some horses to the Indians during the night and took up their trail at daylight. During the day they caught up with the band and engaged in a running fight. They shot a horse from under one Indian and he took to the rocks. He killed one of the whites before they got him through the head with a sixgun slug. Sut said they picked up their fallen buddy and buried him but never did bother to bury the Indian or even look him over as they again hurriedly took up the trail. He said he thought he could still find the place even though many years had elapsed and that he was going back over the scene of the fight that summer.
I told him to get the Indian's gun if he could find it. A month later when I went to town for my mail, Sut gave me an Indian's skull with a .45 slug hole through it and an old Colt .36 caliber revolving rifle, with the stock in two pieces at the grip from weathering and a possible fracture when he dropped it. Three of the chambers were still fully loaded. He said the gun, the skull and most of the bones were still there wedged between some big rocks. Mother did not like that gruesome memento of the fight laying around the house so I gave both the gun and the skull to Will H. Everson of Bozeman, Montana. The old Colt revolving rifle was, as one would expect, a hopelessly rusted wreck.
For its size and weight nothing is so deadly as the round ball of pure lead when driven at fairly good velocity. Maximum loads give these slugs fairly high velocity from a 7 1/2 inch barrel gun. Both Major R. E. Stratton and Samuel H. Fletcher told me the .36 Navy with full loads was a far better man killer than any .38 Special they had ever seen used in gun fights.
The barrel must be kept tight on the frame and if the long slot in the base pin becomes worn, sometimes it is necessary to cut out the hole in the frame slightly so that the wedge key will surely pull the barrel and frame tightly together. Also at times a new key must be made to properly draw them together. Frame pins can be replaced if worn, and the holes below the rammer can be drilled out and trued up for larger pins if necessary.
The so-called .44 caliber guns were really .45's, and quite powerful weapons when fully loaded. Many a buffalo was killed from horseback with the heavy Colt Dragoons using the round ball and 50 grains of F.F.G. black powder. The big guns would drive the ball well through the lungs of a running buffalo at a few feet range. I had one old Dragoon at one time that had killed a number of the big California grizzlies. The owner used to bait them and sit up in a tree above the bait on moonlight nights and shoot down into the back of their heads.
Remington, Starr and some other percussion revolvers had a top strap and a groove for a rear sight and usually were fairly well sighted except that practically all percussion sixguns shot high. They were designed as man killing weapons and sighted high purposely so that one would have a longer effective point blank range on a man target. Nearly all of them must be resighted for game or target shooting. The Colts, Manhattans and some others had no strap over the chamber and usually carried the rear sight in the nose of the hammer. I have seen a few of them that shot just right to this sighting, but on most of them the hammer notch rear sight was off to one side or the other when they were at full cock, and the front sight was nearly always too low, and they shot too high for any practical purpose other than gun fighting.
Resighting hurts their value to collectors, but is necessary if you would do good shooting with them. The best way to do it is to fit a small dovetail front and rear sight to the barrel alone. Then the front sight can be filed down until it is exactly right at 20 yards, or 50 yards as you may prefer, and the rear sight notch cut out to suit the individual preference as to shape and width. So sighted, the old guns will do very fine work. For years I carried a solid ivory stocked .31 caliber 1849 Pocket Colt in a saddle pocket in order to shoot trapped bobcats, coyotes, skunks, eagles, etc. A .31 round ball driven into the front of the chest, or the butt of the ear, did not damage the skin, and when placed right, killed very quickly and saved possible escape of many animals whose toes were so nearly worn off from fighting the trap that one good pull would have freed them.
A Montana friend trapped a big golden eagle and, as he had a sale for a live eagle, he worked a gunny sack over the bird and tied him on behind the cantle of his saddle and started back to Winston with him. Several of us who were in the town that day were amazed to see Bert's old mule come pitching down the street, bucking for all it was worth, with the saddle under its belly, but with a gunny sack extending from the saddle strings up to the mule's back. There was no sign of the rider and we could not imagine what had happened. We roped the mule and threw her, then hog tied her to keep her flying feet in place while we uncinched the saddle. Then we saw one corner of the sack extending up to the mule's back and long talons were sunk in around the back bone. I put a couple .45's through the sack to sort of limber up whatever was in it. Then we slit the sack with a knife and found the big golden eagle. The claws were sunk into the mule right around the vertebrae in a death grip and we had to unjoint the leg and pull the tendons to retract those long claws from the mule. Bert was mad as the devil when he came limping into town for he had not only been thrown into a patch of cactus but also had his eagle killed in the deal. No doubt the poor mule was glad to get rid of both riders. He said the eagle must have worked one foot around until it straddled the mule's back behind the saddle skirts and then he clamped down. The mule had gone crazy and threw Bert high, and into a big patch of prickly pear. I would have enjoyed seeing that ride.
One trapper at Winston said he never used a gun on trapped bobcats but always killed them with a club. I did not like a big blood clot on the top of the scalp when I skinned mine so usually shot them through the heart from the front. One day this lad came into Winston nearly dead from loss of blood. The meat was all torn from his ribs on one side, and his face was badly chewed. His clothes were almost nonexistent. He said he had trapped a big cat down Beaver Creek and had picked up a big black birch stick for a club
Elmer Keith apparently thought a lot of using a round ball over a conical bullet. It's mentioned several times in the article, as well as chainfires.
Jim
Sixguns by Keith, Chapter XIV
Loading and Management of Cap and Ball Sixguns
DURING THE HEY DAY of the percussion revolver, paper cartridges were furnished in little wooden containers with a space for each. The box was milled from solid wood and split, and a paper wrapper was glued over it with a thread at the joint which could be pulled, thus separating the two halves and opening the six shot cartridge box. Conical Colt bullets were used in these paper cartridges with a rebated heel, leaving room to glue the tip of the paper cylinder to the base of the bullet. The powder charge was poured in the other end of the rolled paper cylinder which was folded over a couple times to seal it, the bullet was dipped in melted wax or tallow and the cartridge was complete. These conical pointed bullets gave more range and penetration than round balls, but never were as accurate in our guns, nor did they kill game as well as the round ball. The pointed bullets seemingly slipped through game with a very small wound channel while the blunt round ball at fairly high velocity, tore a good wound channel all the way.
One can still make paper cartridges for any caliber cap and ball sixgun today by this method, but I much prefer to load round balls and powder from a flask with a proper charger. The most accurate method of loading these guns is to use a round ball of pure lead, backed by a heavy charge of black powder and a greased felt wad between powder and the ball. I have tried many types of conical bullets but the round ball seemed to always beat them for groups. The guns were for the most part, cut with a gain twist, which certainly is right for any revolver and would, I believe, be a big improvement on modern revolvers. The bullets jump straight forward from their seat in the chamber and are going straight ahead when they take the rifling, so it is only reasonable that the rifling should also start straight and gradually increase in pitch as it nears the muzzle or steering end of the barrel. In this way the balls or bullets are perfectly engraved with the rifling without any slippage or skidding. They then make a perfect gas seal and leave the muzzle in more accurate form.
I would like to see modern revolvers cut with a gain twist. Of course, to use a gain twist, the projectile must have a short bearing surface like a round ball or have a set of narrow rotating bands to take the rifling so the pitch can change without skidding or slippage. The usual grooved modern revolver bullet with its several groove diameter rotating bands, not unlike an artillery shell, is ideal for gain twist rifling. In this respect the old percussion pistols were superior in design to modern guns but gain twists are slow and hard to cut, and for this reason went into the discard along with the old guns. Long ungrooved bullets would not work well in a gain twist barrel, since the front would be trying to turn faster than the base, and one end or the other would have to slip or skid to get the slug through the bore. Round balls with their short bearing or bullets with cannellures and several groove diameter bands will work much better in gain twist than in conventional barrels.
Caliber markings on cap and ball guns are seldom correct. The various .36 Navies run from .38 to .40 caliber. The .44's usually run a full .454 or larger. I have one Colt .28 caliber and one Colt .30 caliber in my collection.
The old guns should be thoroughly checked to see that the chambers are in good condition and not deeply pitted. I have known of some cylinders that were rusted through between the chambers and when fired all the charges would go at once. This is very dangerous. If the chambers are clean, the nipples also in good condition and the key holding the barrel and frame together tight and snug, you are all set to use the gun. Pitted barrels foul faster and are seldom as accurate as good barrels, but do not prevent use of the arm. A powder flask with a charge cup on the end of it is almost a necessity, both to carry the powder and also to dispense it in proper charges. Without a proper powder flask, a small bottle can be used with an empty pistol cartridge case for a charger.
Nipples vary in size and percussion caps from 9 to 12 will fit about any size sixgun nipples. The No. 12 I have is marked Colt, and it fits a big Dragoon revolver. One should select a cap size that is a snug push fit on the nipples, but not tight enough to prevent their seating fully down on the nipple. A couple times I have had muzzle loading rifles fire when I pressed the cap down too hard on the nipple. The caps were a bit small and I forced them down, splitting them. Each time they fired from this pressure with the ball of my thumb, they raised instantly a healthy blister. So be careful to get caps that will fit snug and tight, but which will also seat easily. Never try to use a Percussion sixgun with loose caps as recoil of one charge will jar the cap on another chamber; the flash may get into it and fire a second or third chamber at the same time. I have had it happen. Also I have had caps that were too small and did not seat fully, fire the charge of other chambers from recoil which threw them back against the frame of the gun. I once had the bottom chamber of a .36 Navy go off and drive the ball into the recess in the rammer, expanding it until it was next to impossible to remove and had to be turned down again before it would work. Multiple discharge must be avoided at all costs as it is not conducive to longevity, nor will it leave the guns in good shape for posterity.
If the nipples are in bad shape with cracked, chipped, rusted, or badly battered edges, they should be replaced before the gun is used. Sometimes they are very hard to remove, even with a nipple wrench. If Penetrate or soaking in coal oil fails to loosen them, then heat must be applied to the cylinder to break up the rust scale. E. M. Farris & Sons, Portsmouth, Ohio, and other firms usually carry supplies of pistol nipples. Any good gunsmith can make them. They should be examined to see that the hole is not too large from the cap seat down to the power chamber. Usually all that is needed is a good funnel at the rear end of nipple to carry the flash, and squirt it through a very small orifice into the powder chamber. If the center and forward portion of the nipple carries a small hole, so much the better as less powder gas comes back from the discharge. Too large a flash hole all the way through the nipples means a lot of gas to the rear; the caps are blown to pieces, and sometimes the hammer is partly raised from the pressure. Once you determine that the nipples are in good shape and find caps that fit them correctly, you are then ready to proceed with the loading of your cap and ball sixgun.
Cast the round balls of pure lead, preferably in a mould of exactly the same size as the original moulds furnished with the pistols, or with the originals. The balls should be slightly oversize to make a perfect seal and also to afford a slightly longer bearing surface for the rifling. The mouths of the chambers are chambered slightly larger than the bore and a round ball of correct size should only start in the chamber mouth with hard thumb pressure. It is best to seat them with the sprue cut forward so the base will be unmarred and true in shape.
Next take an old felt hat, a thick heavy one, or similar heavy felt material an eighth inch thick, if you can find it, and soak it in a mixture of melted tallow and beeswax. If you do not have the wax, then deer, elk, beef or mutton tallow will do. When cold and hard, take a slightly oversize wad cutter and cut wads. You can get wad cutters, also moulds, from the Lyman Gunsight Corp., Middlefield, Connecticut, for any caliber cap and ball gun. The wad should be slightly larger than the chamber bore.
The wads can be packed in empty cap boxes or typewriter ribbon cans and the bullets carried in old Civil War bullet pouches, any sack or container, or loose in the pocket.
Now we are ready to load. First see that all nipples are clear, either with a long pin or by blowing through them. Hold the muzzle up with the gun at half-cock so the cylinder will revolve freely. Pour in the powder charge (it should almost fill the chamber) leaving room only for the greased felt wad. Place a single greased wad on top the powder, start the round ball down in the cylinder mouth with the ball of the thumb, then turn it under the rammer and ram it home so the powder is tightly compressed and the ball seated just below the mouth of the chamber. The ball will be upset somewhat in the process and this helps make a certain seal at the front end of the load against flash back from the discharge of other chambers. Repeat the procedure until all six chambers are fully loaded, then latch up the rammer, turn the muzzle away from you and cap each nipple, being sure they are fully down in place on the nipples. Let the hammer down between nipples on the safety pin provided for the tiny notch in the center of the bottom tip of the hammer or, if this is gone, just let the hammer rest between nipples and your cap and ball sixgun is ready for action.
If unable to get heavy felt for the greased wads, use a double thickness of lighter felt. If you wish to play with something less than the maximum load, place a dry wad or two under the greased wads. In any event, the powder charge must be compressed. The charge should always stop the loading lever before it comes to the end of its movement.
Powder should be the best black powder in shiny black granulations, free from dust and dirt and size F.F.F.G., for the very small calibers such as .28 and .31, and F.F.G., for the .36 and .44 caliber guns. A percussion sixgun thus loaded will shoot clean all day if you blow your breath through the bore a few times after each six rounds are fired. It will also shoot very accurately if it is a good gun.
Under no circumstances should you ever load a percussion pistol with anything but black powder. Don't even think of trying bulk smokeless shotgun powder. This and the pistol and rifle smokeless powders in common use are certain to wreck the gun. These guns were made decades before smokeless powder was thought of. They will not take it. There are no exceptions to the rule. It is final.
I had one .36 Navy Colt that had a pitted barrel, but with the above load it would cut clover leaves for its six shots, at 20 yards, all day with seated back and head rest and two hands used between the knees to further holding. It was my first good sixgun and the good Lord only knows how many grouse and rabbits and other small game I killed with the gun. Finally Maurice C. Clark, a friend from Bozeman, Montana, had to have a .36 Navy to fill an order and offered me a brand new Army Colt .38 Special for it and we swapped. I have regretted it the rest of my life. The modern Colt never did shoot as well as the old Navy.
Cap and ball guns will collect fouling in the action after repeated firing. The best way to clean them is to remove the barrel by driving out the wedge key with a hardwood drift thus removing the barrel and cylinder. Heat a pan of water until it boils and soak both barrel and cylinder in this, then scrub them out with a bristle brush and let them dry by their own heat. If the action is badly fouled it is best to remove stocks and straps and the internal parts, the hand, bolt, trigger and bolt spring and carefully clean them with hot water and dry them. Then oil and put them back together. Oil the chambers and barrel or wipe them with a rag dampened with solvent and then a dry rag inside the chambers. Coat the base pin, on which the cylinder revolves, with a heavy cup or gun grease, and replace cylinder, barrel and key. Next reload your gun and it is again ready for action. The loads may remain in the gun for years and still fire perfectly if the loading has been done as above directed.
Sut Ellis of Winston, Montana, an old buffalo hunter, once told me of having a running fight with a band of horse stealing Indians on the north side of the Missouri below Winston. He and a band of hunters lost some horses to the Indians during the night and took up their trail at daylight. During the day they caught up with the band and engaged in a running fight. They shot a horse from under one Indian and he took to the rocks. He killed one of the whites before they got him through the head with a sixgun slug. Sut said they picked up their fallen buddy and buried him but never did bother to bury the Indian or even look him over as they again hurriedly took up the trail. He said he thought he could still find the place even though many years had elapsed and that he was going back over the scene of the fight that summer.
I told him to get the Indian's gun if he could find it. A month later when I went to town for my mail, Sut gave me an Indian's skull with a .45 slug hole through it and an old Colt .36 caliber revolving rifle, with the stock in two pieces at the grip from weathering and a possible fracture when he dropped it. Three of the chambers were still fully loaded. He said the gun, the skull and most of the bones were still there wedged between some big rocks. Mother did not like that gruesome memento of the fight laying around the house so I gave both the gun and the skull to Will H. Everson of Bozeman, Montana. The old Colt revolving rifle was, as one would expect, a hopelessly rusted wreck.
For its size and weight nothing is so deadly as the round ball of pure lead when driven at fairly good velocity. Maximum loads give these slugs fairly high velocity from a 7 1/2 inch barrel gun. Both Major R. E. Stratton and Samuel H. Fletcher told me the .36 Navy with full loads was a far better man killer than any .38 Special they had ever seen used in gun fights.
The barrel must be kept tight on the frame and if the long slot in the base pin becomes worn, sometimes it is necessary to cut out the hole in the frame slightly so that the wedge key will surely pull the barrel and frame tightly together. Also at times a new key must be made to properly draw them together. Frame pins can be replaced if worn, and the holes below the rammer can be drilled out and trued up for larger pins if necessary.
The so-called .44 caliber guns were really .45's, and quite powerful weapons when fully loaded. Many a buffalo was killed from horseback with the heavy Colt Dragoons using the round ball and 50 grains of F.F.G. black powder. The big guns would drive the ball well through the lungs of a running buffalo at a few feet range. I had one old Dragoon at one time that had killed a number of the big California grizzlies. The owner used to bait them and sit up in a tree above the bait on moonlight nights and shoot down into the back of their heads.
Remington, Starr and some other percussion revolvers had a top strap and a groove for a rear sight and usually were fairly well sighted except that practically all percussion sixguns shot high. They were designed as man killing weapons and sighted high purposely so that one would have a longer effective point blank range on a man target. Nearly all of them must be resighted for game or target shooting. The Colts, Manhattans and some others had no strap over the chamber and usually carried the rear sight in the nose of the hammer. I have seen a few of them that shot just right to this sighting, but on most of them the hammer notch rear sight was off to one side or the other when they were at full cock, and the front sight was nearly always too low, and they shot too high for any practical purpose other than gun fighting.
Resighting hurts their value to collectors, but is necessary if you would do good shooting with them. The best way to do it is to fit a small dovetail front and rear sight to the barrel alone. Then the front sight can be filed down until it is exactly right at 20 yards, or 50 yards as you may prefer, and the rear sight notch cut out to suit the individual preference as to shape and width. So sighted, the old guns will do very fine work. For years I carried a solid ivory stocked .31 caliber 1849 Pocket Colt in a saddle pocket in order to shoot trapped bobcats, coyotes, skunks, eagles, etc. A .31 round ball driven into the front of the chest, or the butt of the ear, did not damage the skin, and when placed right, killed very quickly and saved possible escape of many animals whose toes were so nearly worn off from fighting the trap that one good pull would have freed them.
A Montana friend trapped a big golden eagle and, as he had a sale for a live eagle, he worked a gunny sack over the bird and tied him on behind the cantle of his saddle and started back to Winston with him. Several of us who were in the town that day were amazed to see Bert's old mule come pitching down the street, bucking for all it was worth, with the saddle under its belly, but with a gunny sack extending from the saddle strings up to the mule's back. There was no sign of the rider and we could not imagine what had happened. We roped the mule and threw her, then hog tied her to keep her flying feet in place while we uncinched the saddle. Then we saw one corner of the sack extending up to the mule's back and long talons were sunk in around the back bone. I put a couple .45's through the sack to sort of limber up whatever was in it. Then we slit the sack with a knife and found the big golden eagle. The claws were sunk into the mule right around the vertebrae in a death grip and we had to unjoint the leg and pull the tendons to retract those long claws from the mule. Bert was mad as the devil when he came limping into town for he had not only been thrown into a patch of cactus but also had his eagle killed in the deal. No doubt the poor mule was glad to get rid of both riders. He said the eagle must have worked one foot around until it straddled the mule's back behind the saddle skirts and then he clamped down. The mule had gone crazy and threw Bert high, and into a big patch of prickly pear. I would have enjoyed seeing that ride.
One trapper at Winston said he never used a gun on trapped bobcats but always killed them with a club. I did not like a big blood clot on the top of the scalp when I skinned mine so usually shot them through the heart from the front. One day this lad came into Winston nearly dead from loss of blood. The meat was all torn from his ribs on one side, and his face was badly chewed. His clothes were almost nonexistent. He said he had trapped a big cat down Beaver Creek and had picked up a big black birch stick for a club
