M: what I meant by overthinking is this: as a reloader myself I do the whole bit, weighing each powder charge, bullets, miking oal, etc. etc. so I figured on a muzzle loader or cap and ball revolver I would get better accuracy doing the same thing. I did make 100 little paper tubes with caps and I do weigh black powder charges and keep the loads in these paper tubes. That way I don't get into the "loading from a flask" issue at a range and I am confident all the powder charges are the same.
In any event about 2 years ago Muzzle Blasts magazine ran a series of monthly articles on how the top winners at Friednship loaded and shot. I was doing more than they were! Most just used a measure with a cut off top, etc. So, I figured I was overdoing things if the best shooters out there were not as precise as I was trying to be.
I know the 1911, in accurized form is one of the most accurate of all handguns but IMHO a percussion revolver with a long barrel is highly accurate, as good as 90% of most of the modern guns. Try the heavier charges, see how they work.
If the gun still seems inaccurate then I guess you could look at the gun, if it is spitting lead, etc. but that would be an unusual situation. Before doing that I think I'd see if I could find a local who shoots percussion revolvers well and have him shoot the gun- just in case your hand isn't suitable for the grip or there is something about the revolver that just doesn't suit you. On the "improvements" I think some guys lengthen the forcing cone a little and on some revolvers it improves things and on others it makes no difference. In any event, at 25 yards, my personal experience is that percussion guns are equal to modern guns. Once you try longer ranges the round ball starts to drop in velocity and then things change but up to 25 yards percussion ought to equal modern guns in accuracy.
In thinking over my own journey in percussion revolvers. Started with small charges and filler and ball seated deep and Crisco over the end. Some guy asked my why I was shooting "pip squeak" charges. Upped the powder, forgot about the filler and things improved. A little later someone told me about seating the balls as little into the chambers as possible, maybe 1/16" to 1/8". You can't have air voids so at that point I either had to use more powder, a filler, or a thick wad. I went with the thick wad, prelubed. Once again, things improved. I've thought about the forcing cone job but right now if I use a rest I'm getting the mentioned 2 1/2" groups at 25 yards which is about as good as most of my modern (DA revolvers, semi-autos) pistols so I am more or less satisfied. I'm pretty certain the competitive percussion shooters get far better accuracy than I'm currently getting.
