Newb with questions

[CK3]

Hi everyone.. My name is Carl & I'm from Illinois.
Yesterday I went to Cabelas & bought an 1858 New Army .44 Revolver.

I'm new to muzzleloading & have a few questions. First thing.. It came with 2 books in the box.. Manufactures book & the Cabelas book. The info on ball size, grain load & powder type don't seem to match up. I asked the salesman & he said to follow the cabelas book. (??) So here's what I bought. FFFG powder, .44 (454) balls & 0.05 lubed shooting patches. What do you suggest? It's only going to be a target gun.

Thanks for the help..

-Carl

 

[mykeal]

Hi everyone.. My name is Carl & I'm from Illinois.
Yesterday I went to Cabelas & bought an 1858 New Army .44 Revolver.

I'm new to muzzleloading & have a few questions. First thing.. It came with 2 books in the box.. Manufactures book & the Cabelas book. The info on ball size, grain load & powder type don't seem to match up. I asked the salesman & he said to follow the cabelas book. (??) So here's what I bought. FFFG powder, .44 (454) balls & 0.05 lubed shooting patches. What do you suggest? It's only going to be a target gun.

Thanks for the help..

-Carl

You bought the right stuff, except that I'm not sure what you mean by '.05 lubed patches'. Revolvers don't shoot patched balls; the balls are intentionally oversize and loaded on top of the powder without a patch. They will require some force to press them into the chambers and should shave off a little ring of lead from each as they are pressed home.

You should have a powder measure also. Use about 25 grains by volume of powder at first, until you're ready to experiment with other amounts to improve accuracy or make more noise/smoke.

Some folks use grease over the ball to keep fouling soft and prevent chamber-to-chamber crossfires. Others use a 1/8" thick lubed felt wad between the powder and ball to achieve the same thing; the wads are less messy but more expensive. If the patches you bought are more like little felt buttons that are the same size as the chambers, then that's how they are used. Otherwise, you don't need them.

Here's a link to some posts on just about everything you'll need to know:
Black Powder Essentials on THR

 

[Poor Private]

Also you can buy a book on black powder. There is a nice tomb put out by CVA called "An Introduction to Black Powder Revolvers" by Phil Spangenberger that guy you see on the History Channel who does alot of the old west stuff. It may be tuff to find. The copy that I bought years ago was copywrited in 1988 and cost me a whole 6 bucks. I bet you can find it online on Ebay or such. It has cleaning procedures, charges to shoot, how to fire at targets, and lots of saftey tips. Also Several different types of revolvers, and a brief explanation. It's an easy read. Black Powder revolvers are like Jays' Potato Chips-you can't stop at one.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

you don't need the 'patches', but don't toss 'em some PRB shooter can use 'em. get some Crisco to smear atop the balls after you press 'em atop the powder charge. get a .357 mag case to use for a 'target load' powder measure. always spray the pistol down with warm soapy water or windsheild washer fluid to clean after you finish shooting and wipe/scrub it GOOD. then dry and oil. :thumbsup: Welcome to the Forum.

 

[CK3]

Thank you for all the info guys.. :thumbsup:

One last question.. What powder do you recommend? I bought Jim Shockey's Gold Powder (FFFG).

Thanks again.. :hatsoff:

 

[renovato]

Hi Carl, welcome to the group!

The Cabelas revolvers are made by Pietta. Generally, the proper ball size for the .44 Pietta revolvers is .451. The larger .454 balls will work, but it's a lot of effort to get them to load. This is hard on the loading lever too.

You won't need to patch the ball. Just load it in the chamber on top of the powder. As you load it, a ring of lead should shave off around the ball. This means it's sealing the chamber against hot gasses igniting the charges in the adjacent chambers.

If you're going to use target loads (20-25 grain), you might try putting some corn meal, cream of wheat, grits or other dry filler between the powder and ball, or use felt wads. This lets you load less powder and still have the ball flush to the chamber mouth. Without filler, the ball will sit too deep in the chamber and that isn't good for accuracy.

That's a beauty of a gun! I hope you have a lot of fun with it!

As for powder, revolvers don't seem to be too picky. I prefer real black powder because it is usually a bit more accurate and easier to clean. Also, some of the substitutes don't have much shelf life. As the powder ages, it changes burn rates. That can't be good for accuracy. Black powder pretty much lasts forever if you keep it dry.

As a final tip, be sure the caps fit tightly on the nipples. I press mine on tightly. If you can't get them to fit tightly, try squeezing them closed a bit. A tight fit is important to prevent hot gasses from entering from the rear and setting off charges in other chambers. Cross fires aren't fun!

 

[mazo kid]

Hi everyone.. My name is Carl & I'm from Illinois.
Yesterday I went to Cabelas & bought an 1858 New Army .44 Revolver.

I'm new to muzzleloading & have a few questions. First thing.. It came with 2 books in the box.. Manufactures book & the Cabelas book. The info on ball size, grain load & powder type don't seem to match up. I asked the salesman & he said to follow the cabelas book. (??) So here's what I bought. FFFG powder, .44 (454) balls & 0.05 lubed shooting patches. What do you suggest? It's only going to be a target gun.

Thanks for the help..

-Carl

You bought the right stuff, except that I'm not sure what you mean by '.05 lubed patches'. Revolvers don't shoot patched balls; the balls are intentionally oversize and loaded on top of the powder without a patch. They will require some force to press them into the chambers and should shave off a little ring of lead from each as they are pressed home.

You should have a powder measure also. Use about 25 grains by volume of powder at first, until you're ready to experiment with other amounts to improve accuracy or make more noise/smoke.

Some folks use grease over the ball to keep fouling soft and prevent chamber-to-chamber crossfires. Others use a 1/8" thick lubed felt wad between the powder and ball to achieve the same thing; the wads are less messy but more expensive. If the patches you bought are more like little felt buttons that are the same size as the chambers, then that's how they are used. Otherwise, you don't need them.

Here's a link to some posts on just about everything you'll need to know:
Black Powder Essentials on THR

Right on!!
:thumbsup:

 

[mazo kid]

You bought the right stuff, except that I'm not sure what you mean by '.05 lubed patches'. Revolvers don't shoot patched balls; the balls are intentionally oversize and loaded on top of the powder without a patch. They will require some force to press them into the chambers and should shave off a little ring of lead from each as they are pressed home.

You should have a powder measure also. Use about 25 grains by volume of powder at first, until you're ready to experiment with other amounts to improve accuracy or make more noise/smoke.

Some folks use grease over the ball to keep fouling soft and prevent chamber-to-chamber crossfires. Others use a 1/8" thick lubed felt wad between the powder and ball to achieve the same thing; the wads are less messy but more expensive. If the patches you bought are more like little felt buttons that are the same size as the chambers, then that's how they are used. Otherwise, you don't need them.

Here's a link to some posts on just about everything you'll need to know:
Black Powder Essentials on THR [/quote]
Right on, Mykeal!
:thumbsup:
And welcome to the forum Carl.