Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cap and Ball revolvers ?

Anyone shoot them ?

I am giving thought to buying one,not wanting to spend a lot.
Just something to play around with, occasionally plinking

I am 60 years old and have shot and hunted with Many Muzzleloaders But have only shot a few Cap and Ball pistols throughout my years.

I would appreciate some experienced input as to what might be a good model for me to get (I like shorter barrels on my handguns)so something in the 4 -5 inch barrel range would be nice, Also something historically correct would be great.

Also where are the cheapest places to buy from ?

Thanks

I shoot them and own about 2 dozen. Depending on your hand size I would look at a Colt's Navy model. The '61 being my absolute favorite. However, for ease of operation and dependability, the Remington Army(44 cal) or Navy(36 cal) are the most reliable. The problem with Colt's is caps tend to fall off after firing and jam up the cylinder. Not a big deal but it takes some time and practice to learn to quickly clear it and continue shooting. The Remington doesnt really have that problem since it is not an open top style revolver. Shorter barrel models are made as they got popular with the cowboy action shooters. 36 caliber models are sweet shooters, but even 44 cal pistols have very little recoil and they fit larger hands a little better.

Personally I would stick with Uberti. I have several different makes made in the 1960's thru the 90's and the Uberti made are the best quality. Colt's blackpowder series are great but pricey. I also shoot only real black powder. Nothing like a nice stinky smoke cloud from the holy black!!

I have some tips and tricks for initial cleaning, break in, and seasoning if you care to hear it, PM me and I'll giv you the rundown.

Also, if you want the look but not the hassell, Uberti makes some great cartridge conversion replicas of Colt's Army and Navy models as well as Remington's Army model. I own and shoot those as well, but they dont really compare to the cap and ball versions to me. It comes down to what sits well in your hand and which model suites your eye. Along with the Colt's and Remington's, you can also find some Confederate models as well as some lessor known makers replicas. Cap and ball pistols are great fun and really take you back in time when shooting them. And if you shoot at a public range be prepared to be the center of attention!!

I had three cap and ball reproduction Colt revolvers years ago. Armi San Marco reproductions of the 1851, 1860 and 3rd model Dragoon, Armi San Marco made the Colt 2nd generation Colt revolver parts which were finished in Hartford, Conn. Armi San Marco closed up years ago.

I had a local gunsmith who specialized in working on cap and ball revolvers for the crowd who shot at the muzzleloading matches held in Winchester, Virginia bore out the cylinders of the Colt 1860 and 3rd model Dragoon to .470 which matched the bore diameter. This required a custom mold to be made to drop a .475 ball. It is very common for the cylinder diameters for the round balls are sized and the bore diameters NOT to be sized correctly. I also had a dovetailed drift front sight installed on all three revolvers. The original design of the Colt factory sights was to hold the sights on the belly button for a center chest hit...hits about a foot high. Hence why I had drift sight pins installed. Place a pistol stock on a Colt 1860 Army if the revolver grip has the cuts outs for a stock and an extended frame pin the gun... will shoot dead on out to 40 yards which factory sights as originally designed. Not sure why this is the case.

Once the cylinders were bored out , each revolver was in my opinion was scary accurate. Touching holes with a cylinder was fairly common....the 1860 would shoot right along my S&W 686.. When I shared the pistol range with other shooters many were amazed such old guns could shoot so well. I did kill a deer with the 3rd model Dragoon using 40 grains of black 3F and a .475 ball, shot completely through a deer at 40 yards.

In my opinion the Colt 1860 Army grip is the best revolver grip EVER designed and placed on a six shooter. Ergonomically correct in every way.

If I ever where to buy another cap and ball revolver it would be a Remington 1858 copy in 36 caliber. I would have the cylinder bore out to 40 caliber, have a 40 caliber barrel
installed and buy .40 caliber round balls in bulk and go have some fun.

Uberti is probably the best as far as new makers. Pietta is adequate. The best will cost more. The best importer will be either Uberti or Cimarron.

Stay away from brass frames and go with all steel for longevity. The steel framed models generally cost more, apples to apples. This is unless you want a replica of a Confederate made gun. If you do and you want accuracy, read up first. There are brass framed guns out there that were never made in yesteryear and are replicas of nothing.

The cheapest and most common will be replicas of Colt's models 1851 and 1860. The 1860 has a longer grip frame whereas the 1851 (and 1861) have the exact same frame as the Colt SAA and will duplicate its handling. The '61 replicas are more scarce and thus will probably cost you a bit more. The other common and cheaper replicas will be Remington "1858" Armies. The Remington and Colt 1860's are ".44 caliber", actually nominally .451 bore size whereas the 1851/1861 "Navy" models are .36 caliber.

IME the Colt replicas are less likely to jam up due to spent caps than are the Remingtons since the Remingtons have the topstrap which tends to catch caps after they are blown to hell. Cock either make with a flourish as Phil Spangenbarger would say, and you will have less problems.

Personally, I'd get a Colt 1860 Army, steel framed replica made by Uberti and imported by them or Cimarron.

IMHO Uberti is the only way to go.

The best one I ever had function-wise was a .44 1858 Remington. My first handgun in fact after I moved to Texas from NY to go to Grad School (and therefore did not qualify for Texas residency). I found it used, it had been worked over before I got it. In particular the clumsily long front sight post they seem to come with had been filed down topoint of aim.

I shot the heck out of that thing. Some years later I gifted it off to the teenage son of a friend out West who worked summers on a dude ranch. He used it in their fake shootouts and running battles. Liked it so much in turn that later on it became his pickup truck gun, left loaded in the glove compartment.

Meanwhile I had bought a NIB Colt Signiature Series .44 1860 Army. My gosh what a beautiful gun! Charcoal blued like the originals. So very pretty I could never bring myself to shoot it. That same young man out West got it as a wedding present 🙂 Said it was the best wedding present ever

The most trouble free models are the Remington 1858 models. The Colts are cool, but are more problem prone, such as spent caps falling into the works and jamming things up.

When you’re shooting a number cylinder fulls in a row and the action gets stiff because of the fouling around the cylinder, do not force it by applying more force when cocking the hammer. The weakest point of the action is the pawl (hand????) where it engages the notches on the back of the cylinder to rotate it to the next cylinder.

I Chewed the heck out of the notches on my first Remington cylinder. IIRC I got a replacement cylinder from Dixie Gun Works.

Go big. Go powerful...

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/cimarron-whitneyville-dragoon-44-cal-7-1-2.html

There’s a bunch of cheaper cap and ball revolvers, typically by “Traditions” (made by Pietta)that were never made back then, often brass framed and marketed as “Confederate”.

In particular anything marked “1851 Navy” in .44 never happened, the metallurgy of the time wouldn’t allow it. Which is why the game-changing ‘51 Navy was a .36.

The invention of “silver steel” in the 1850’s allowed Colt to squeeze a .44 cylinder into a .51 Navy-sized frame, hence the step-down on the back end of the Colt 1860 Army cylinders.

In the .51 Navy Sam Colt finally perfected the production line manufacturing system on a gun with fully-interchangeable parts. Efficiency and volume brought the price down to the point that common folks could a) find one and b) be able to afford it.

Demand for the gun was such that Colt even set up shop in London, completely rattling the hidebound British gun industry. Not merely firearms, IIRC in its day Colt’s efficiency of production and interchangeable parts set the standard for manufacturing in general.

Because of the genius of its size and proportions I think of the ‘51 Navy as the world’s first practical fighting handgun. Demand was such that IIRC the ‘51 Navy was in production clear to 1873, total production numbers over that 22 year span exceeding any other Colt revolver.

So if I was gonna get another Colt it would be a ‘51 Navy, I had one for a while, in the earlier square back trigger guard form (and correct for1850’s Texas). A great handling and historically significant gun, but I just didn’t like the primitive wedge system of holding the gun assembled. Eventually I traded it off after my interests centered upon 1830’s Texas.

I had one of those piece of shît .44 navy something remington bullshît wahoo $88 ones from gander mountain.


Haha

I started putting .429 jhp in it.

Shot a deer in the neck with it lol, pissed him off.

Dang, c&b’s have gotten spendy.

It ain’t a Uberti but the brass framed one that interests me is the .36 Spiller & Burr replica. A true Confederate gun, and the closed-top frame design combined with modest caliber apparently doesn’t stretch over time.

The reviews speak well of it.

Dixie Gun Works has it for $255, the link wont cut and paste. The is as close as I can get......

www.dixiegunworks.com

I have had quite a few cap and ball pistols over the years. I bought my first one in the hall of Chamblee High School, during class change, from a buddy of mine, in 1966. I don't think that would go over too well today. It was a Colt Navy. That was a nice pistol.

I have bought two of these in the past few years, the 1858 Remington by Pietta.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/837352151

I do have several Uberti guns and they are top quality. Pietta quality has fluctuated over the years but this is a top quality gun and just as good as my Ubertis. If you dig around some, you can find one cheaper than this one on Gunbroker.

I do prefer the Remington style over the Colt, as the Remington has the top strap and is a stronger design. When Colt came out with the classic cartridge pistol, the 1873 Colt .45, it had a top strap, so obviously Remington had a more advanced design.

Bill Hickok's choice, even years into the cartridge era. Yes, it was the first practical carrying handgun. Before that, revolvers were mainly for holstering on your horse's saddle, as they were too heavy to carry on a belt for any length of time. Pepper-boxes and derringers were for carrying on your person, before the 1851 Navy.

I like Remington's over Colt. I don't like the way the barrel wedge peens the cylinder pin.

Yes Wild Bill carried the .36 Colt and he killed a man in a gunfight at 76 yards with a single shot to the chest.
And whatever the .36 will do, the .44 will do better.
These guns are proven man killers and I have one right here for household defense, a Remington .44

Interesting.

Any particular reason, given the advent of modern handguns?

I have several guns for household defense, but here in the living room drawer I have the old time pistol.
I live in a log cabin that I built, it is new, but it looks like it was built in 1822. I hunt deer with a percussion rifle that I built and the patched round ball is a very good deer killer.

So, for old times sake I do have one of the old time pistols loaded and ready to go. I have read many reports from cavalry battles in the Civil War at what a good man-killer the old cap and ball pistols are. True it only has 5 shots but they are 5 badass shots.

Sounds like it would be fun to shoot!

IIRC soft lead RB have always performed way better than they should, including .36 and .44 at handgun velocities.

Prob’ly significant though that when Sam Colt and Samuel Walker set out to design a fighting handgun better than the .36 Patterson it was a .44, and Colt himself shoehorned a .44 cylinder into a ‘51 sized frame to creat the 1860 Army just as soon as metallurgy permitted.