Cap n Ball 101?

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Is there a book, or two for learning all the different revolvers, and their replicas?

I'd like to be able to recognize them half as good as some of the revolver heads that post here.

Thanks
 
I have at least a dozen books with good info about percussion revolvers. Most are books on civil war small arms, not specifically revolvers. Out of them, these 4 are the best and cover every percussion revolver you can think of with lots of pictures and details, and the 2 on the bottom have really good color pictures. I wish I knew some good ones that were specific to revolvers, but I'll be watching this thread.

If you don't know about thriftbooks.com, check them out for any book you want before you buy anywhere else. That's where I get almost all of mine, they're used books but in good condition and I don't think I've ever spent more than $5 on one. If you order $15 or more it's free shipping.
 

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Videos are great for the basics, but it sounds like the OP is looking for more than just a passing knowledge of percussion revolvers. If all he wants to know about is the Colts, Remingtons, Spiller and Burr, etc.. then yeah, YouTube will give him all that info.

If he wants a good resource for the obscure stuff, that info won't be found on the Guns of the West YouTube channel. A good, detailed book with clear pictures and descriptions is really helpful in identifying all the different original and replica revolvers.
 
C&Rsenal videos are extremely detailed - usually an hour or more long - excellent for very in depth detail on specific firearms, focusing on that individual firearm's development, historical context, function and usage, but certainly not appropriately described as "101" intros by any means. I second @leadhoarder reccomendations as the best channels overall for intros and I'd probably add capandball and ILoveMuzzleloading for intermediate level learning.
 
If you know what your looking at, you can figure out what it's worth.


I'm always poking around in pawn shops, and gun shows , so I'd like to learn to recognize what I'm looking at.

Unscrupulous folks could really take advantage of me right now.
 
Check out Blackie Thomas on YouTube. He has great videos on specific tasks from cleaning to adjusting the sights.
 
101? Let me think...:ghostly:

Okay, the end with the hole in it points toward the bad guy.

Powder, ball, grease, cap, shoot. Always in that order.

If you want to shoot it more than just the first time, clean it good with soapy water, dry, and oil it.

Short arbors matter.

Yes, the capping relief in the recoil shield IS in fact on the wrong side for you, Sam Colt was probably left-handed.

Did I miss anything?
 
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