Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Cowboy Action Shooting Question regarding black powder gear

I just picked up a used Armi San Marco (ASM) Repro Remington 1858 New Model Army .44. I hear ASM aint that great, but I guess I'll just have to see...

Now I'm gonna be needing stuff to go with it like caps (#11?), powder, balls, nipple wrench, lube & dispenser, powder measure etc. What all do you think I'll need and what do you suggest I store/carry all this gear in? How did the old timers store/carry all this gear?

Thank you!

ASM guns ain't all that bad, the Pietta and Uberti's are the better repros though. Get teso nipples for it and use #10 Remington caps, .454 round balls, Hodgens 777 BP substitute and a powder flask with a 25 or 30 grain spout. Don't need wonder wads or bear grease if you get a ring of lead cut off the ball when you seat it in the cylinder. I Just Know somebody will chime in about chain fires but that don't happen as long as the ball is seated right with a ring cut off as it goes in the cylinder. ALWAYS cap all loaded cylinders though, that can save ya some grief.

Been shooting C&B for about 30 years and have never had a chain fire and I use em sometimes in CAS matches.

Thanks T - I knew I could count on you for an authoritative response!

T, I'm really not sure what this means - can you elaborate please?

When you ram the ball into the cylinder there should be a ring of lead shaved off the sides of the ball as it goes in. this gives a lead to steel seal over the powder with the plus of a larger bearing surface into the rifling.

Most people seal the chambers off with wonder wads or lube of some sort-Crisco used to be favored. Now there are commercially manufactured lubes for this purpose. The reason for it is the possibility of sparks jumping from chamber to chamber causing all or more than one to fire when you touch off the chamber actually under the hammer. "Chain-fire". This can be disconcerting at best and dangerous at worst. Terry is saying you don't need to do this, in his experience, as long as seating the projectile shaves a ring of lead off of it. When I fire a blackpowder/percussion revolver, I lube them up. I am not disagreeing with Terry, but merely stating what I do. When you look at photos of old-timers, you will usually see the projectiles clearly, with no lube. The lube is just another safety measure.

I prefer wonder wads between the ball and powder. But that's just my preference.
They make a carrier for the flask that will go on your belt and a small belt bag will hold extra caps, ball, etc. You may also want to look into an extra cylinder or two. I carry two extra cylinders on my belt and have the tolled holster from Cabelas. They carry a fair amount of gear for cap and ball revolvers.

Terry (or others) - it appears wonder wads are pretty cheap:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=3561

Any reason a noobie shouldn't just go ahead and use wads/grease/crisco etc.?

No reason if you want to, just a waste of time & money to me. But then I been shooting BP for a long time and don't worry about that stuff anymore. If it increases your comfort level go for it.

The Wonder Wads cost more but are a lot cleaner.

That is their redeeming feature, they make clean up of real BP & Pyrodex much easier. The substitute BP such as 777, pinnacle and APP don't need it as they clean up with plain hot water and use regular smokeless lubed bullets of lead round ball.

You can make your own a LOT cheaper like this...

(Click on pic)

Looked at some of your pics. Interesting. Looks like you have a lot of fun.