Handguns Cap And Ball Revolvers

[1903sprfld]

how long after the introduction of the colt 1873 were the cap and ball revolvers still in general use

 

[UCVRelics]

how long after the introduction of the colt 1873 were the cap and ball revolvers still in general use

Many are still in use today . But they were still in use for many years after the 73 by civilians. If you are reffering to the US Army issue they were just like military gun swap outs today. Turn one in to get the new one.

 

[DixieRifles]

how long after the introduction of the colt 1873 were the cap and ball revolvers still in general use

Are you asking about the US Army? Or use by civilians?
Good question---I don't know the real answer.
I seem to recall reading in some novels of stories of settlers in the West still using black powder rifles and shotguns but I don't recall any cap & ball revolver.

But let's check out the movies.
Remember Mattie's Colt Dragoon pistol in "True Grit"? That story was supposed to have taken place in 1873.

Don't Forget: There were some surplus Cap & Ball pistols that were converted for metallic cartridges. The scene in "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" confused me for sometime until I was able to slow down the video and see what he was doing.
Here is My Main Man Clint, aka "The Good", shown cleaning and loading his modified Colt.

However, I really think "The Bad" was conflicted on whether he was carrying a Cap & Ball or a cartridge pistol.
Here you see his Remington with brass caps yet he has "bullets" on his belt. Why??

 

[1903sprfld]

I was referring to civilian use I figure the military got priority for the first production

 

[Stone in the wall]

In some places for a long time. Seems I remember Sergeant Alvin York and his family still using percussion arms up to WW1(and probably after)

 

[SFC Rick Higgins]

I still use C&B revolvers today. I'm sure you can understand that many former Civil War soldiers on both sides couldn't afford new Colt 1873's SA's or even S&W's. So the C&B revolvers continued to be used decades later, even some were converted to cartridge use, even Colt continued to offer Open Tops as a cheaper option.

 

[Scrubby]

I regularly carry my Remington, rec'd by the War Dept in January 1864. Perfectly useful sidearm around the ranch or when hunting.

 

[Pollaco]

Maybe not a big one but probably still a factor was the availability of ammunition. Not every village or trading post carried those "new fangled" bullets or cartridges. I would think you were more apt to find caps, powder and a bar of lead most anywhere. The Colt peacemaker came in alot of differant calibers and not every storekeeper had all of them on hand.

 

[zburkett]

I think I remember reading that Colt cataloged their cap & ball revolvers into the 70s. I have also read of hunting buffalo with Navy revolvers after the war.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

Hunting running Buffalo and shooting into the herd with a Colt 1851 Navy revolver was one of Custer's claims to fame, and yes, he shot his horse in the back of the head at full gallop killing it instantly! You can picture the rest of the story.
J.

 

[zburkett]

I looked it up and Colt did not stop production of cap and ball revolvers until 1873. I can't document it but my guess is there were many still in use at the turn of the century.

 

[sailorruss]

Hunting running Buffalo and shooting into the herd with a Colt 1851 Navy revolver was one of Custer's claims to fame, and yes, he shot his horse in the back of the head at full gallop killing it instantly! You can picture the rest of the story.
J.

Shot & killed his own horse... I never knew that. I really need to list out every dumb thing that guy did. I could write a book.

*There might have been an issue of comfort to those who kept their old firearms after the war or picked one up after. If you relied on a weapon you might be more apt to keep it as opposed to changing over. A lot of those people mad due. If it's not broke don't buy a new one.

In some places for a long time. Seems I remember Sergeant Alvin York and his family still using percussion arms up to WW1(and probably after)

My great grandmother and her parents knew the York family, including Alvin. They ended up moving before he made his conversion. She said he was a mean man. Might have been the drink. She said he loved to shoot.

And yes, I got this info first hand from her.

 

[zburkett]

Bill Hickock was one of those who held onto his Colt's Navys well into the cartridge age. I remember reading that he shot them empty every night then cleaned and reloaded them. Is firing twelve shots every day the secret to becoming an exceptional shot?

 

[sailorruss]

Bill Hickock was one of those who held onto his Colt's Navys well into the cartridge age. I remember reading that he shot them empty every night then cleaned and reloaded them. Is firing twelve shots every day the secret to becoming an exceptional shot?

I used to work at a place that manufactured weapons. I shot about 1500 to 2000 rounds a week. I'm a better shot now. Maybe 12 every night did it for him. Took me much longer. I don't think I have that sort of tallent.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

I've read of one holdup in 1901 by an escaped convict years ago with a Remington NMA (1858) that he had stolen from a Chinaman as it was written. Apparently the guy didn't know how to load it properly. I need to find that old article now, its been a decade or more since I read it.

As for general use, it wasn't uncommon to see them up till mid-1880's. The M1873 Colt didn't get released on to the open market for people till late 1876, before that it was military only. (Though I've seen references of errant cavalrymen selling their 1873 Colt's for $50 to people before that, and reporting the guns as "lost" and the Army docking them $16 of their pay.) Cartridge Conversions were made up till 1880 in several models, but they and old cap'n'ball revolvers could be had for as little a two dollars, where a new Colt was nearer to twenty. People who didn't rely on guns for a living and just had one around the house were more likely to keep older guns and use them if they had to.

But modern cartridge guns had gotten cheap enough cap'n'ball revolvers would have been a relic by 1890.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

Rusk County Avengers said: "But modern cartridge guns had gotten cheap enough cap'n'ball revolvers would have been a relic by 1890." Hence, the dawning of the "Saturday Night Special". Both my Grandfather and my wife's Grandfather said they carried one in their back pocket when they "went out"!
J.

 

[zburkett]

In the 1980s Cap and Ball revolvers were not considered pistols. I was living in D.C. With the loaded Navy .36 reproduction in the bed side table I never felt under gunned.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

Rusk County Avengers said: "But modern cartridge guns had gotten cheap enough cap'n'ball revolvers would have been a relic by 1890." Hence, the dawning of the "Saturday Night Special". Both my Grandfather and my wife's Grandfather said they carried one in their back pocket when they "went out"!
J.

I think another name for them back then was "suicide specials".

 

[DixieRifles]

I was referring to civilian use I figure the military got priority for the first production

If you believe that then explain why Custer's 7th Cavalry was using single-shot trap-door Springfield carbines and their enemy were partially armed with Winchesters---or maybe I have watched too many Hollywood movies.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Off topic, but: the Native use of Winchesters at the Little Big Horn has been overstated. No more than 5% of the combatants were armed with repeaters, and they were not used in any tactically significant way.
Cap and ball revolvers were used for decades outside North America too. The Australian Ned Kelly had a couple Navy revolvers when he was captured in the 1880s.
Bill Hickok was a showman, remember. Firing off his revolvers every night to clear them not only gave him a chance to practice - it gave other people a chance to see him practice, building his reputation and keeping the number of times he actually needed to use them to a minimum.