Carrying cartridges for cap and ball revolver

[kmolett]

I am learning to roll paper cartridges for my cap and ball revolver. Just wondering how they used to carry these cartridges back in the day? Did they use a little wood block in a pouch that hooked on the belt? Does anyone have any pics of how they carry these or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[ol vern]

Can't say what the old timers used but a
cigarette case works for me

 

[Rebel]

Should fit in a rectangular metal Altoids tin.

 

[Phantom Captain]

I know in the civil war those that carried revolvers (cavalry) where issued pistol cartridge boxes. I think it was exactly as you say, a wood block inside with either 6 or 12 cartridges. And yes it was looped on the back of your belt. I have a modern repro of one but it doesn't have the wood block. I use the Dixie quick load tubes and can get 18 rounds in mine stacked 9 on top of the other.

There are some good examples on this page.
[url] http://www.19thcenturyweapons.com/leather.html[/url]

 

[Phantom Captain]

I got mine from here.

They have great period authentic gear. I have a bunch of their stuff that I'm very happy with.
[url] http://www.fcsutler.com/fcleather.asp[/url]

 

[kmolett]

Does the one from Fall Creek have a wooden block in it and how many does it hold? Thanks for the link.

 

[crockett]

The Dixie Gun Works Black Powder Annual several years ago had an article on this topic. I think it was the 2005. Call and ask someone there and they will check the table of contents.
There were several makers of this type cartridge and it's use was as early as the revolver- not something thought up at a later date. Colt tried a metal case to start and you can use the thin foil found inside candy wrappers for this type case. The metal will not hold an ember- the BIG WORRY with any combustible case- but the bits of metal stay in the chamber and foul up the works after about three rounds. The next material was nitrated paper or gut that burnt up completely upon ignition- again- with the aim of eliminating any embers in the chamber. You can use heavy news print for the cartridges and the percussion cap is strong enough to blow right through it and ignite the cartridge but such paper HOLDS EMBERS and will EXPLODE any subsequent round loaded in the gun. Today the best choice is nitrated cigarette paper but wait a bit before reloading and look at the chamber for any fragments of paper.
The paper should be cut in the shape of an isoceles trapazoid with the non-parallel sides running the length of the cartridge and overlapped and held together with a glue stick. At the narow base should be a tab that gets folded over the open bottom and again- glue stick the paper in place. The top is formed around a dowel sanded down to your bullet diameter and the gummed side of the cigarette paper is on top and on the inside.
Fill the paper case with powder- 15-18 grains FFFg black powder. Next, stick in the bullet and wet the cigarette paper over the gummed area- the moisture will go through the paper and activate the glue- sticking the case to the base of the bullet.
REMEMBER THESE ARE COMBUSTIBLE!!!! There's no brass case protecting the powder. If a stray spark hits the case it will blow up. It's therefore best to make these up the day before a shoot and put them in a plastic bag that is then put in an Altoid can. Don't leave these cases lying around on a shooting bench.
Original containers. There were two styles. Colt had a two piece box held together with a paper label.All the cases were in a straight line. There was a pull string attached that ran under the paper label. You yanked on the string which ripped apart the label and exposed six rounds ready to load. A separate capper was used to charge the tubes/nipples.
Colt's biggest competitor was D. C. Sage(also of Connecticut). His box style was of one piece with six holes in a straight line and the label over the ends of the holes. Once again a pull string was used to instantly expose the cartridges. Some of the Sage boxes also had an additional hole that held caps.
Dixie Gun Works sells an orginal bullet design with a rebated base. Any conical will likely work in a Remington revolver but the opening on the Colt Navy is rather small and only the original bullets will fit. Buffalo bullet will not fit.
It's my understanding that pistol cartridge "boxes"- that is the leather ones carried on a belt- held two wood boxes of ammo- or twelve rounds. The proper term for these wood boxes is "packet", so the "packet" is wood and the box is leather. Two packets plus a loaded revolver gave 18 rounds that could be shot in a fairly short period of time.
Most of the Frontier lawmen carried combustible cartridges for back up- fast reloading but the conical bullets can twist out of line during the ramming process so the accuracy can suffer. The charges with these cartridges is also minimaland the pointy conicals didn't do as much damage as the flat sprue on a ball. The frontier lawmen tried to cram as much powder as possible in the chamber (25 grains on a Colt Navy), and load over a ball- sealed with tallow or wax.
Not many folks use these rounds and when I shoot them at a range I get a lot of comments or someone comes over wondering why I am shooting as fast as I am. There are fun to play around with but be aware of all the potential dangers.
Good luck.

 

[Phantom Captain]

For the pistol cartridge box at Fall Creek, no, it does not come with a wooden block. I can get 18 rounds in mine but it's just stacking them in on top of the other, I don't use paper cartridges or the wooden block so it's not historically accurate. I'll take a picture in a bit and show you what I mean.

The musket cartridges boxes are great too and DO come with the tins inside. I know that's a whole different subject though.

Anyway, Fall Creek is great stuff, I have a couple of their holsters and really like them. They are historically correct with the white linen thread and the correct stampings.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Ok, here's some pics to show what I mean.

This one is just to show Fall Creek's level of detail.

This is the pistol cartridge box on the back of my belt. I use the Dixie quick charge tubes, they are reusable and just much easier than paper etc. for shooting. 30 grains of powder and a ball per tube. You can see it SHOULD have a wood block or two with paper cartridges but they way I stack the quick charge tubes I can get 18 rounds in mine instead of only 6 or 12 with the block. It all depends on how historically correct you want to be. Also I carry a straight line capper on top of my cartridges right in this box. Works really well for me! Hope this helps. Oh, these are .44s you might get a few more even in there in .36. I also have a spare cylinder box on my belt too. The holster will hold either a Navy or Army and I carry both!

 

[JackAubrey]

In the old days,some manufacturers would roll them in a foil and they were packaged similar to the "arsenal packs" of the civil war era for the rifled muskets.There was a leather pouch these were carried in.I have seen documentation that non combustible cartridges were used in the western theatre of operations.These were torn open and loaded as were the .58 calibre cartridges.best regards,J.A.

 

[Imaginos]

In his book "Sixguns", Elmer Keith described wooden cylinders wrapped in paper so you pulled a thread to separate the halves of the container. Each container held 6 paper cartridges, each in a separate compartment. The cartridges had one end glued to a rebated heel conical bullet.

I have never seen one of these, but it sounds like a very inefficient way to package cartridges because so much volume would be wasted in the wood packaging.

 

[crockett]

The boxes are about the size of a pack of playing cards so the wood between the holes is paper thin. I should have mentioned that there were more manufacturers that Colt and Sage and Colt started with heavy paper rather than a wood block, probably why they were called packets. The Richmond arsenal used cardboard boxes and all the rounds were stored loose. They suffered a lot of damage and the Confederate troops didn't like them. The concept of an individual cartridge in its own chamber offered the best protection.
BTW...there was a very limited amount of combustible cartidges used in muskets. I believe these were only used by the North during the Civil War and in one incident the Southern troops were completely confused how the Yankees could be shooting so quickly. In my opinion NEVER NEVER NEVER use these combustible musket cartridges because you can't really look down the bore and check for embers. The big danger with this stuff is putting in a live round and having everything blow up in your hands.