1858 truck gun.

[Frontstuffer070]

So you are using ill fitting caps, have a misfire, then deduce that our claims of reliability are farse? I don't think a cap and ball is more reliable than a cartridge, But they are more reliable than people believe. IF you do your part. I store my revolvers in the house in the safe or pistol safe so as I sad that may be the reason I don't have an issue of them going off 100% of the time. That or it could be how I prep and load them, or it could be that I make sure the caps FIT the nipple. I will run an experiment today. I live in SC so no one can say its not humid around here. I'm gonna load up a .44 cal revolver today. I'm gonna put it out in the Man shed ( no climate control) cabinet and let it hang out there until the weather turns cold, then fire it. Lastly, I bet I burn more powder here than most. I have my own range a short walk out my back door, I shoot at least a couple times a week.

 

[AlexB]

I also walk out any door of my house and shoot whenever I want to.
I also occasionally had ftf with store bought caps especially cci.
When I first started making caps I still had a few ftf until I figured that out.
Since then out of the thoudands of rounds fired I cannot recall a single ftf.
When I tried out the 3d printed caps I had a couple ftf until I understood how they work and since then even the 1849 has been 100%.
All my "reliability issues" were self induced and able to be eliminated so far.
My biggest issue now is my trigger finger not bending correctly any longer which is pushing my shots left offhand.
Fine off a rest still not sure what the answer is there though.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

Well the test mule is loaded up and in the steel cabinet in the uninsulated, non climate controlled man shed. I'll leave her there for at least a month maybe two and touch it off and see what happens. I'll report back. I'll bet it does nothing but go bang but I could be wrong. Load is 30 grains 3F Grafs powder, 454 swaged ball, 50/50 lambs tallow and beezwax over top of the ball. #10 Remington cap (these fit the nipples the best) and a cap collar over all six caps. Yeah I said six. Revolver is in that leather holster also. We shall see.

 

[AlexB]

Well the test mule is loaded up and in the steel cabinet in the uninsulated, non climate controlled man shed. I'll leave her there for at least a month maybe two and touch it off and see what happens. I'll report back. I'll bet it does nothing but go bang but I could be wrong. Load is 30 grains 3F Grafs powder, 454 swaged ball, 50/50 lambs tallow and beezwax over top of the ball. #10 Remington cap (these fit the nipples the best) and a cap collar over all six caps. Yeah I said six. Revolver is in that leather holster also. We shall see.

That a masc holster?
I have several of their paddle holsters for the 58's and like them quite a bit.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

That a masc holster?
I have several of their paddle holsters for the 58's and like them quite a bit.

Yes Sir. It is a very nice holster. I like it alot.

 

[nick_1]

With those plastic things on the nipples and #10 Remington's you have a very good chance of perfect but not 100% I been shooting black powder on and off for 50 years and cartridge guns for 55 years.. I probably have less than a handful of misfires with cartridge guns in my life.. Over a 100 misfires from black powder guns. I have only been competing with muzzle loaders for 3 years but do so regularly. I have yet to attend a muzzel loader match that I have not seen multiple misfires. Usually at least one that they cant get to fire without pulling a nipple or some other shenanigans. When I was shooting IPSC seriously I put more than 250,000 rnds through my .45acp. Maybe 2 or 3 missfires.. never seen a missfire on the trap range.. I suspect that folks claiming 100% reliability with non cartridge black powder guns are either very talented, very lucky or possibly have embraced the modern GOP's affinity for alternative facts... possibly all of the above..

 

[AlexB]

With those plastic things on the nipples and #10 Remington's you have a very good chance of perfect but not 100% I been shooting black powder on and off for 50 years and cartridge guns for 55 years.. I probably have less than a handful of misfires with cartridge guns in my life.. Over a 100 misfires from black powder guns. I have only been competing with muzzle loaders for 3 years but do so regularly. I have yet to attend a muzzel loader match that I have not seen multiple misfires. Usually at least one that they cant get to fire without pulling a nipple or some other shenanigans. When I was shooting IPSC seriously I put more than 250,000 rnds through my .45acp. Maybe 2 or 3 missfires.. never seen a missfire on the trap range.. I suspect that folks claiming 100% reliability with non cartridge black powder guns are either very talented, very lucky or possibly have embraced the modern GOP's affinity for alternative facts... possibly all of the above..

If you need to pull the nipple it is definitely user error.
Not sure what politics have to do with any of this are you confused about the subject at hand or just trying to be a prick?
Keep using the wrong caps and nipples and keep having issues that is your choice.

 

[fireman1]

I also walk out any door of my house and shoot whenever I want to.
I also occasionally had ftf with store bought caps especially cci.
When I first started making caps I still had a few ftf until I figured that out.
Since then out of the thoudands of rounds fired I cannot recall a single ftf.
When I tried out the 3d printed caps I had a couple ftf until I understood how they work and since then even the 1849 has been 100%.
All my "reliability issues" were self induced and able to be eliminated so far.
My biggest issue now is my trigger finger not bending correctly any longer which is pushing my shots left offhand.
Fine off a rest still not sure what the answer is there though.

physical or occupational therapy may help your trigger finger. I did it for my hands last spring. A big increase in strength and flexibility.

Good luck!

 

[rodwha]

I’ve done a fair amount of shooting with my two revolvers, ROA and a Pietta NMA . When I used CCI #11 Mag or Rem #11’s I’d often get the need for a second strike. Once I moved to Rem #10s the only FTFs have been because the priming compound fell out. The only reason I can say, since using proper fitting caps, that my NMA isn’t 100% reliable is a cap jam which is very, very uncommon. You can’t seem to stop my Ruger. I’ve shot probably 500-600 shots through my Ruger and half that through my Remington.

The only chainfire I’ve ever witnessed was by my father shooting next to me with an ASM 1860 Army loading wads and balls. It certainly didn’t come from the front. I asked him about the caps not fitting well but he didn’t recall (asking years later). I don’t buy into the idea that a ball would crush a grain of powder that would dig a channel through the lead leaving a fuse in essence. Lead is much harder than a powder granule. Maybe I’m wrong but that just defies logic to me.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

A cap and ball revolver is essentially an inline ignition so it has that going for it right off the bat. I think with proper components and loading these can be very reliable. You can't really control component failure just like you can't in a cartridge. Most cap and ball misfires I believe is from ill fitting caps and contaminated powder. If you have to strike a cap a second time to get it to go off. Your caps do not fit properly. The first strike is the hammer seating the cap, the second strike is the hammer being able to drive the cap into the mandrel ( nipple). Most stock Italian repro nipples take #10's and in my experience Remington fitting the best. If you want a fire em all nipple slix shot is your friend. They will take them all. I did have an issue with some old RWS caps not fitting properly, but others have said the new produced RWS caps fit the slix shots well and perform fine.

p.s. ya'll probably already know all this. I comment like this to help others in the future who may need this info. I see these forums as a searchable wealth of info.

 

[smoothshooter]

I shot my spare cylinder today that was loaded either the day of or day after the cylinder I shot yesterday and it was perfect. was the one misfire from a bad cap yesterday? the result of oil contamination from being in the pistol? 71% humidity a bunch of days this week or just bad luck? any way you look at it these guns are not as reliable as modern cartridge guns. I suspect the folks reporting 100% reliability with cap and ball revolvers simply don't shoot enough rounds to have a reliable sample size?

I have shot my percussion revolvers 2 or 3 thousand times.
Have on occasion have had one loaded for several months with no misfires when needed. No sealing with wax or grease. Often during high humidity.

 

[nick_1]

you are certainly in the minority. I have only been competing with Muzzle loaders for 4 years so only been to 25 or so matches.. I used to shoot about 50 matches a year with modern guns. IPSC, PPC, Bowling pins, 3 gun etc. also shot some trap occasionally. seen plenty of jams that required clearing on the run but never an actual fail to fire at a match due to a bad cartridge. Of the 25 ish muzzle loader matches that I have attended I have not been to a single match that I did not witness multiple miss fires of both percussion and flint. and most matches there is at least one dry ball that requires surgery to fix..

 

[SOLANCO]

Seems from what I read that Hickok made his own schedule. He was a shootist. I have zero doubt that he shot every day or close to it. What really did he have to do? wake up and go to the caffe for breakfast and a newspaper. gather the shooting gear and go practice for a few hrs. back to the hotel room to clean his guns . get himself cleaned up and then go to the bar for a game of cards. long night of whisky cards and women. sleep in untill 10am or so and do it all over again. You do not get really good with pistols without constant practice and thousands of rounds down range. You do Not stay good without continuing to practice. By all accounts he was very good.

Call it practice. Call it range time. Either way, you will never be any good at this without it. Practice. P r a c t i c e. P r a c t i c e..
Be grateful it is not 1943 as you practice.

 

[AlexB]

Took 8 cylinders to the range today to try out a couple new pistols.
4 in the 44 4 in the 36 loaded and sitting on my desk or in a pouch on my belt for 6 months.
Zero issues every single one fired correctly first pull of the trigger.
All loaded with either pyrodex x or t7 half used cci #11 magnums half diy.
I did learn that while shooting all those cylinders may have saved me a few minutes at the range the cleanup took forever,will not do that again.

Shot all 4 in each gun standing and swapped on the fly lube over ball guns ran great.
Really liked the pietta target model shoots very nice.

 

[nick_1]

I shot my 58 this evening. Just six shots but ran flawless and rang the steel. It has been loaded about 10 days.