Cab-n-Ball Basics “God created all men, Samuel Colt made them equal&ldots;more or less.” Cap-n-ball revolvers are some of the funnest handguns around to shoot. Modern day handguns may pack more of a punch, but nothing feels more powerful than these old revolvers. Even if you shoot only the latest fast shooting, hard hitting semi-autos, you will get a thrill out of a big, heavy .44, bucking in your hands. Everything about these guns says they were made for power – their size, their weight, their bullets. When fired, they let out a deep-throated cannon like boom, and fill the air with a white pungent cloud of smoke. Most commonly these guns are found in .31, .36 and .44 calibers. Because of their size and weight the big .44s may be hard to handle for someone with small hands. Many cap-n-ball revolvers have quite long barrels, making them very accurate when loaded properly. Cap-n-ball revolvers will never be the first choice for personal defense weapons – they’re a bit hard to conceal, and I can only imagine what a jury would think when the prosecutor pulled out your big old “hog-leg”, and expounded on its ominous presence in today’s society. However there are some advantages to these guns – first is cost, you can pick up many cap-n-ball revolvers for around $150.00, and few cost more than $250.00. Second, they can be shipped directly to you – no FLL required (check local and state laws here). And shooting them is like stepping back in time, and you'll gain a lot of respect for the men and women whose very lives once depended on these weapons. Last but not least, no one would steal such a beast, and if they did, odds are they wouldn’t know where or how to begin to load and shoot the thing. Which brings me to the point of this article. These guns are a blast to shoot (pardon the pun), but you’ve got to know how to load it, if you want it to go BANG! Loading and shooting cap–n–ball revolvers is not nearly as complicated as it may seem. In fact, if you have ever hand-loaded a brass cartridge, loading a cap-n-ball revolver will seem very natural to you. You can think of a cap-n-ball revolvers has having the cartridges and loading press built into the gun. The cylinder is a set of cartridges, and under the barrel is the loading lever that serves the same function as a loading press and seating die. Hand-loading a brass cartridge requires a few basic steps 1) preparing the brass (clean, de-prime, resize), 2) prime, 3) charge, 4) seat and crimp the bullet. Similar steps are required to load a cap-n-ball revolver, with one change in the order. 1- Preparing the Brass (Cylinder): A cap-n-ball revolver doesn’t use brass cartridges, but the cylinder replaces the function of brass cartridges. Before shooting there is little preparation required. If you are starting with a clean, cylinder, you may want to fire a cap on each nipple; this will help clear out any unwanted oil that could cause a misfire. After firing (just caps, or fully loaded) you may need to remove from a nipple or two a remaining spent cap (often the caps fall off by themselves). This would be equivalent to popping out spent primers on a cartridge. When fired, black powder produces a lot of fouling, you may need to use pick to clean out the flash hole on the nipples. Also you may want to run a cleaning patch down the barrel and each chamber in the cylinder to get rid of some of the foulings. Otherwise if you are going to shoot again you can start loading. Note: Charging and seating the bullet should be done one chamber at a time, because when seating a ball it is possible to jar the gun causing powder in the charged chambers to toss powder out. This will at best result in loads that are not consistent, at worse you could have a chamber with too much or too little powder. 2 - Charge with Powder: With smokeless powder you carefully weigh out the correct charge and pour into the cartridge. You follow a similar process with cap-n-ball revolvers, but completely load one chamber before moving to the next. To start loading, pull the hammer back into a half-cocked position. This allows the cylinder to turn freely. Black powder and its substitutes should be measured by volume not weight. Measure the correct volume of black powder, and pour into a chamber. Never pour powder from your flask, even though many have a powder measure built in, directly into the chamber, if any hot embers from the previous load were remaining you could ignite your flask. You will need an adjustable powder measure marked in 5-grain increments when working up your load. After the load is established a fixed measure will work fine. Pour powder from your flask, into your measure. Then from your measure pour the charge into the chamber. Black powder is packaged according to the size of the individual grains. Most folks shoot a powder granule size of 3fg or the substitutes equivalent granule size. Always follow the load recommendations of the pistol's manufacturer; with loads of 20 to 25 grains of 3fg black powder, for a .44 being common. With the chamber charged, you are now ready to seat the bullet. 3- Seat the Bullet (ball): Black powder creates a lot of fouling in the gun’s barrel. To keep fouling at a minimum and to keep foulings soft, black powder loads normally include a lubricant. In revolvers the lube can be in a wad, or grease placed on top of the load. Wads are typically made of a thick felt impregnated with the lubricant and are very easy to use. Wads can be purchased pre-cut, lubed and ready to use. To use a wad press one in the chamber on top of your powder. Make sure the wad is setting flat enough that it will lie flat on the powder when the ball is seated. When shooting black powder there never should be an air gap between the charge and bullet. Among other things a pre-lubed wad helps ensure that no air gap is present. Some shooters use inert filler such as corn meal or Cream of Wheat ™ between the charge and ball. There are many opinions on fillers, and I’m not going to cover them here. Just make sure there is not an air gap between the powder and ball. With the chamber charged, and whatever optional wads and/or fillers added you are ready to seat the ball. Balls are nominally 0.100” larger than the chamber diameter to ensure the ball stays in place when the gun is fired. For example a .44 caliber gun will shoot .450” diameter balls. Place the ball on top of the charged chamber and turn the cylinder so that the ball is directly under the loading lever. Pull the lever down, and seat the ball. You should feel a bit of resistance as the oversized ball is “sized” to fit the chamber. If you ball is over-sized correctly a small ring of lead should be shaved off the ball when seated. Proceed with the remaining chambers. If you are using an external lube place a generous amount on top of the ball of each loaded chamber. This can be a bit messy, and a small syringe filled with your lube can help keep things clean. Some shooters use both a wad and lube on top. Which is the best method? Like most reloading questions - it’s a matter of preference, both personal and for the gun, and you won’t know until you try. 4- Priming (Capping): A cap must be place on the back of each loaded chamber. There is a nipple on the end of each chamber, place your cap on the nipple and firmly seat it. You can use you hands for this, but a capper makes the job a lot easier. The gun is now loaded and ready to go. Words of Caution: If you not planning on firing the revolver immediately, only load 5 chambers. This leaves an empty chamber for the hammer to rest on. DO NOT load the chamber and leave the cap off, this could result in a chain fire. What’s a chain fire? A chain fire is defined as more than on chamber firing at a time. Black powder is easily ignited, and creates a lot of flame at the time of ignition, if any of this flame (flashover) gets into any of the other 5 loaded chambers, that chamber can fire also. Leaving a nipple off of a loaded chamber leaves a path wide open to the charge for the flashover to find. With proper loading, chain fires are very rare, and there are several things that can be done to prevent help prevent chain fires. There are only two ways flame from a shot can get into an unfired loaded chamber, through the nipple end, and through the ball end. To keep flame out of the nipple, all loaded chambers must be capped, with caps that fit snuggly enough to stay in place when the revolver is fired. Through the bullet end of the chamber several things can be done. First use balls that are slightly oversized, an oversized ball engages all sides of the chamber creating a seal that prevents flashover from reaching the charge. A wad or filler, such as corn meal can help too. If any flashover does get past the ball the filler or wad offer one more layer of protection. Lube on top of the ball creates a very effective seal. No matter what method is used, thought must always be given to chain fires and action taken to prevent it. Shooting these guns is like shooting any other single action revolver, and just takes time and practice to become proficient. Pull the hammer back to a full cocked position, take aim, and squeeze the trigger. After the smoke clears it is usually pretty obvious if you hit or missed your target. Sometimes a spent cap will fall off the nipple and get hung up in the action between the cylinder and frame, to prevent this I’ve heard of small pieces plastic hose being placed over the caps to keep them in place–haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t comment on its effectiveness. I live with the occasional hang up and just clear the fallen cap out of the way when it happens. Black powder produces a lot of flame and fouling, often the cylinder will become hard to turn because of fouling build up and loss of lube. I normally add a bit of lube to the cylinder pin between loads to keep thing running smoothly. Care of a cap-n-ball revolvers, is the same as any other black powder gun, when you are done shooting you must do a thorough cleaning. The barrel and cylinder are critical. Black powder foulings are very corrosive and rust will start soon after firing if the foulings are not cleaned away. I like to completely disassemble the gun and clean all the components. Hot soapy water makes a great black powder solvent, run a brass bore brush in the barrel, and cylinder chambers. I normally remove the nipples and clean them separately. This lets more water flow trough cylinder chambers taking more gunk with it, plus I can clean the nipples separately. After cleaning with soap and water, I like to run a patch soaked with a good black powder solvent down the barrel and cylinder. I put a bit of breach plug grease on the nipple threads, to make removal easier the next time (just don’t use too much and plug the flash hole). Once all the fouling as been removed, oil the gun well. Developing good cleaning habits will result in a gun that will last for generations. The method and cleaners you use are not as important as getting all the fouling off the gun and oiling the gun to prevent rust. This article barely covers the basics, always read the guns manual and follow the instructions and recommendations of the manufacturer. If you can find a local club, or individual that shoots cap-n-ball revolvers talk to them. Most cap-n-ball revolver shooters are very happy to share their knowledge with anyone with an ear to listen. Good luck, be safe, and have fun -Old Guns. Click here to purchase your own Cap-n-Ball Revolver **Use the information in this article at your own risk. Always refer to, and follow your gun's manufacturer recommended loading, shooting, and cleaning information. The information here is meant only as a general guideline, and is not meant to superscede the manufacturer's recommendations. Old Guns assumes to liability for damages or injuries due the use or misuse of the information found in this article or on the Old Guns Website. Old Guns makes not warranty expressed or implied as the accuracy of the content of information in this article and on this site. The same applies to all links found on the Old Guns Website. If you choose to shoot, choose to shoot Safely.   Back Home