Original loading gear

[BatBoy]

Loose powder poured into chambers with a flask was commonly used from the 1830's to the 1850's, the Walker was loaded with a flask and a loose Pickett bullet. By the time the Dragoons came out, the non-combustible cartridges which were basically a mini musket cartridge, were being sold or issued in the military setting, and also nitrate paper cartridges were firmly in use by the 1850's.

I'm sure Civilians, no doubt, used loose powder and balls/bullets and like was said they loaded them at home and just carried the gun . If a ranch hand or someone who carried a revolver for protection against dangerous animals, or bandits, or whatever didn't have access to packs of 6 Nitrated Cartridges I'm sure he'd have a flask, balls and caps in his saddle bag. Pretty much any hardware store etc would have carried combustible cartridge packs and people didn't shoot a lot, if you were just an average guy. So you loaded your gun and a few 6-packs of cartridges likely lasted a while. I imagine carrying loose components was rare by the 1850's.

Extra Cylinders were most highly likely hardly ever used unless, you bought a cased revolver that came with a fitted and numbered extra cylinder. I have seen original Pattersons and Navies with matching spare cylinders, so a gentleman out in the field could carry a loaded cylinder in a coat pocket. But this would be a very rare exception of a gun that was likely ordered like that and thus, extra $$ that most people aren't spending.

The majority of average people didn't even bother to carry a gun, didn't want to buy one, or just maybe had a revolver at home for defense. Little knockoff .31's and .36's besides Colts were available like Manhattans and they were loaded and just dropped in a pocket. Slingin lead out of a percussion hogleg was a rare occurrence , and even documented journal entries and letters home by Officers in the Civil War detailed that reloading their revolvers in combat wasn't common. The US and CS issued combustible paper cartridges in great numbers.

Carrying more than 1 gun was uncommon, in reality unless you were a Cavalryman issued a Brace of revolvers. These guys carrying 6 or more wheelguns likely did so in preparation for a raid, assault, battle etc I just don't see Joe Average walking around with a pair of revolvers. There was just no need, you'd probably get made fun of for carrying 2 guns like you were a wannabe Bill Hickok ............and it's extra weight and $$ spent to buy and carry a 2nd revolver to work on a ranch, walk around town or go to the store for supplies.

I don't see guys walking around with a pouch on their belt with flasks and balls , the flask pictured above is cool but not many like this were likely carried around.

I try to put myself in the period and think, what would a guy like me do in 1867 or something. I'd probably load my little Colt Pocket .31 with 5 balls and keep it in my pocket for taking my family to the theater, or going out to buy stuff. I wouldn't be carrying a flask and balls, like what am I really shooting at out there that would require a reload , entailing a pocket full of crap I'll never need as John Q Average going about my day

As much as we love percussion revolvers, it is plainly apparent what a giant leap the metallic cartridge was, and why anyone with even a remote chance of needing to fire a shot in anger got their hands on a cartridge revolver or had their hogleg converted as soon as possible. Being able to just dump 5 or 6 cartridges in a pocket for a quick reload is a huge thing. I can only imagine being a guy who carried guns for a living, like a professional Soldier, and turning in my 1860 Army and receiving an 1873 Model P.....it would be cutting edge technology to me. Just like the guys who gave up a pair of single shot pistols for a pair of Dragoons in the 1840s.


Percussion revolvers were used for such a relatively short period , and by the 1850's the rimfire cartridges were out, plus Pinfires were big in Europe. If not for the Rollin White patent, Colt, Remington and others would have been out of the percussion revolver business and into cartridge guns much sooner. So by the time the peak of percussion revolver tech was developed with guns like the 60 Army, 58 Remington, Starr DA, etc this technology was largely obsolete and people just used percussion revolvers out of necessity until the 1870's and beyond.

Percussion era went on longer than the 1870s.

The USA was awash in military surplus Cap and Ball Revolvers after the civil war. A used Colt 1860 Army could be purchased for something like $41 in todays money. I can’t remember the 1860s dollar figure.

The Colt SAA was not available for civilian sales until 1876. Also, It wasn’t until the mid 1870s that commercially available centerfire ammo was available. This stunted the sales of S&W cartridge revolvers to some degree.

From 1865 to about 1890 was a big transition era as cartridge guns replaced muzzle loaders and C&B revolvers. However, they were still quite common and common into the next century.

Black powder/ Percussion firearms were quite common in the Rural USA up to WW2. Yes, It was dying out. However you could still buy BP and caps. You still had people using them for hunting, self defense and plinking. Civilian black powder and percussion cap sales all but ceased during WW2.

 

[Stantheman86]

People did and do use what they have , or what they're familiar with , out of necessity, or to save a buck or just because they don't care enough to buy new guns

I'll never forget , about 2003 or so, I was in a dusty old mom and pop gun shop near where I live and there are all kinds of old revolvers in the cases , and I'm talking to the owner about old guns. And I'm carrying an old 1980s production S&W .38 snub and I'm like, I don't need a 20 shot plastic popper I like my snubby

And this older guy, he had to be in his 80s , is like oh yeah? Check my piece out , and he pulls out a little Colt .31 Pocket. I was like Holy S-t is that a .31 Colt? He's like yup I've been carrying it my whole life. I forget the exact details , basically his Dad or Grandpa etc. gave it to him when he was a kid in I'd assume the 1920s and he just kept using it and carrying it. He's the guy who gave me the idea to use .320 0 Buck for .31 revolvers.

So , this old fella had this Colt .31, it worked, he was probably attached to it for nostalgia , he grew up probably plinking with it in the woods, so he's been packing it for 70 years . Why not. He probably grew up dirt poor and his Dad kept using the old guns that were in the family.

Granted, I'm not in a high crime area, we're out in a rural area so he could absolutely be well armed with a .31 Pocket where a rabid raccoon is a more likely threat than a human. But still, it is capable in any aspect just like it was 150 years ago.

Looking back I'm not sure he ever called it a Colt, it may have been a Manhattan or another old Colt copy but it was original, and old, and definitely not a Uberti.

This was something that just stood out in my memory because it was so unexpected and cool

 

[senseisugarbear]

I don't leave home unless I'm properly dressed. and have a reload at hand. Not NOW or if were back in the DAY. 58 Rem. is just too easy to load not to. I have a palm size flask w/spout cut to 25gr. a handfull of balls & tin of caps all fit in a mediceine pouch around my neck. I don't live in a high crime area , I'm rural close to a small town, Pop. 90 souls.
the problem is you don't have to go to the City to find trouble.The Criminals have found that it's very easy to pop off the Interstate drive around a section hitting every place they can, jump back on the Interstate and have the stuff in a Pawn shop before Law Inforcement arrives..We have a loosly formed Neighborhood Watch.Neighbor is 440yds away,I shoot
M-1 A Then call him to go look at my group......I don't leave home w/o a reload now, And wouldn't have then.
Be Safe>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wally

 

[Notchy Bob]

The OP asks a very good question. I've seen multiple references to revolvers in the period literature of the pre-Civil War era and Santa Fe trade... "Six-shooters," "Colt's repeating pistol," Dragoon pistols (referring to revolvers), and Captain Marcy wrote about comparing the practicality of the Army (.44) and Navy (.36) revolvers on the frontier (he preferred the .44). I recently read an original, first-person account of a buffalo hunt with the Miami Indians in Kansas in the 1850's, and they used revolvers for that purpose. However, I can not specifically recall reading anything about reloading in the field.

I read a lot of material written in the early 19th century. I'll try to pay more attention to comments about revolvers. That was a good question, and I've thought about it myself.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

That was part of a post I submitted to this thread some time back. In the interim, I did find something of interest in Henry Inman's The Old Santa Fe Trail, first published in 1897 (page 446):


This describes a running fight with Indians in 1864. The man Booth was trying to reload his percussion revolver while in the back of a wagon rolling across the plains at pretty high speed. If you have ever ridden in a horse-drawn wagon going over rough ground, at almost any speed, you understand what it means to be "tossed around." As described in the narrative, Booth was loading from paper cartridges. However, considering that he had to bite off the end of the paper and dump in the powder, as they did with musket cartridges, it appears the paper used was not combustible.

I found a few other mentions of loading handguns, but they were apparently describing single-shot pistols. The Inman quote is clearly describing a percussion revolver.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Stantheman86]

That was part of a post I submitted to this thread some time back. In the interim, I did find something of interest in Henry Inman's The Old Santa Fe Trail, first published in 1897 (page 446):

View attachment 162480
This describes a running fight with Indians in 1864. The man Booth was trying to reload his percussion revolver while in the back of a wagon rolling across the plains at pretty high speed. If you have ever ridden in a horse-drawn wagon going over rough ground, at almost any speed, you understand what it means to be "tossed around." As described in the narrative, Booth was loading from paper cartridges. However, considering that he had to bite off the end of the paper and dump in the powder, as they did with musket cartridges, it appears the paper used was not combustible.

I found a few other mentions of loading handguns, but they were apparently describing single-shot pistols. The Inman quote is clearly describing a percussion revolver.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

There's a good article on the different types of revolver cartridges I found online, I'll have to look for it again.

Non-combustible cartridges I seem to recall from the article were more used with Dragoons in the 1850's but he could have had any kind of revolver. They were probably made before combustible paper cartridges came into use but we'll never know, maybe they were made through the 1870's or people made them themselves.

This is a neat story, these are the first hand accounts that are the only way we have to verify anything or know what was actually used in the period.

Capping that revolver must have been fun in the back of that wagon if getting powder into it was that challenging

 

[senseisugarbear]

Stan,, makes a good point, revolvers being TOP Tech of the time, Would you really venture too far from home without at least having the fixins' for a reload? I can't think of ANY time in American history when travelers haven't been potential targets for Ner-do-wells. Preditors are always on the lookout for any thing/one out of their Element. Think about it from a T-rex to a Gang banger. If your body is a Temple, Protect the Temple.....Be Safe>>>>>Wally

 

[Daveboone]

I think a point that isnt emphasized enough, is that a multi shot weapon was still relatively new thing when the percussion revolvers came out. Hot dang, five loaded shots from an 1860 (or whatever)! Considering the single shot rifles or pistols that were still so very common, probably the individual (other than a cavalryman, etc) did not feel at all underarmed with only his single cylinder of five shots. Hell, I dont feel underarmed with my Smith (oops) five shot.