Loading an 1851 Colt Navy

[IrishReb1863]

Here is a picture of an original arsenal pack of 36. Cal. Navy cartridges. I have made and fired this type cartridge. Easy to load, but hard to make.

 

[sjw83071]

Here is a picture of an original arsenal pack of 36. Cal. Navy cartridges. I have made and fired this type cartridge. Easy to load, but hard to make.

Thanks for sharing this! Great photo!

 

[sjw83071]

I can imagine they are difficult to make

 

[kevikens]

I think the skin in the skin cartridges was sometimes eel skin, thin and tough. When I tried making my own I had no access to eel skin and never really found any material that would hold together consistently.

 

[sjw83071]

@kevikens, you have made me start wondering about the manufacturing process

 

[DixieRifles]

Hollywood has done much to give us the image of protracted shootouts with huge volumes of shots exchanged requiring reloading. The gunfight at the OK corral supposedly lasted all of 30 seconds, which probably felt like an eternity if you were involved. ( and dont ask how you fire 3.5 rds!! lol)

If you slow down the video, the main actor in "Young Guns" (as I recall) fired 11 shots from his revolver. They went a little too long on that one.

I thought I was an expert on Clint Eastwood movies. Which one did he have a spare cylinder??
If my Main Man Clint did it, then you know its right.
However, the "Bad" Lee Van Cliff carried a cap & ball Remington but had cartridges on his holster belt.

 

[CowCavalry]

Here is a picture of an original arsenal pack of 36. Cal. Navy cartridges. I have made and fired this type cartridge. Easy to load, but hard to make.

View attachment 173807

I am guessing here but it looks like the powder charge area of the cartridge would rupture when you rammed it home with the rammer and that there would be no need to tear the cartridge, is this correct?
And were the bases of the conical bullets lubed so no need to grease the tops of the chambers to prevent chainfires?

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The chamber mouths were never greased in the ACW. The projectiles were oversized and sealed the chamber as they were rammed home. The vast majority of multiple discharges are caused by ill-filling caps.
J.

 

[tbuckley]

If you slow down the video, the main actor in "Young Guns" (as I recall) fired 11 shots from his revolver. They went a little too long on that one.

I thought I was an expert on Clint Eastwood movies. Which one did he have a spare cylinder??
If my Main Man Clint did it, then you know its right.
However, the "Bad" Lee Van Cliff carried a cap & ball Remington but had cartridges on his holster belt.

I believe it was in Pale Rider that Clint reloaded with a spare cylinder.

 

[Noonanda]

Here is a picture of an original arsenal pack of 36. Cal. Navy cartridges. I have made and fired this type cartridge. Easy to load, but hard to make.

View attachment 173807

Ive done that as well, made them with cigarette paper which held up until they were rammed which at that point doesnt matter. Ive also done round balls inside the cigarette paper which, while historically inaccurate, works pretty good.

 

[Mr. King]

 

[Mr. King]

This guy is an authority on older weapons, at least imo.

 

[Craig L Barry]

A few random thoughts here...another point to consider is "relativity." I think that in era where single shot muskets were the pre-dominant military arms of the day, having five or six shots at your disposal before reloading was quite an advantage. Also, spare cylinders for revolvers were shown as in use by Hollywood in some Westerns (as stated above, most famously Pale Rider in 1985), but the partial disassembly required to swap them out on horseback in a Civil War battle would have been impractical if not impossible. Multiple revolvers were the solution during the time period. I think carrying a "brace" meaning a set of two Colt revolvers, was quite common.

There is one song lyric that comes to mind from alt-country legend Steve Earle, written in 1983 and recorded later. He seems to be making the same point that we are discussing:

"My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt,
Shoots as fast as lightning but it loads a might slow,
I soon found out, it will get you into trouble,
But it can't get you out."

 

[kevikens]

A few random thoughts here...another point to consider is "relativity." I think that in era where single shot muskets were the pre-dominant military arms of the day, having five or six shots at your disposal before reloading was quite an advantage. Also, spare cylinders for revolvers were shown as in use by Hollywood in some Westerns (as stated above, most famously Pale Rider in 1985), but the partial disassembly required to swap them out on horseback in a Civil War battle would have been impractical if not impossible. Multiple revolvers were the solution during the time period. I think carrying a "brace" meaning a set of two Colt revolvers, was quite common.

There is one song lyric that comes to mind from alt-country legend Steve Earle, written in 1983 and recorded later. He seems to be making the same point that we are discussing:

"My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt,
Shoots as fast as lightning but it loads a might slow,
I soon found out, it will get you into trouble,
But it can't get you out."

It also told you to be a careful and deliberate shooter. The only time I get silly at the range is with an auto loading .22 and a pile of beer cans. Muzzle loading, trapdoor, rolling block arms, I aim small and take my time.

 

[diane]

I'm no gun expert but I do know Forrest's favorite was this revolver. He did not seem to worry about reloading. When there was fighting to be done, particularly close quarters, he usually carried four pistols in his belt and a couple more in his saddle holster. That made between 6 - 8 guns altogether. He would often discard them before reloading them. Reckoned to be a very good shot, too.

 

[CowCavalry]

The chamber mouths were never greased in the ACW. The projectiles were oversized and sealed the chamber as they were rammed home. The vast majority of multiple discharges are caused by ill-filling caps.
J.

Here's my story; the first handgun I ever purchased was an repro 1851 navy revolver. I put hundreds of rounds through it and nary a chainfire. The balls were if i recall .451 and would shave off a nice ring of lead when loaded into the cylinder. I told myself that that the chain fire thing was overblown and could not happen. So I loaded a cylinder with the same tight fitting balls, same caps, which were either Remington # 11s or my preferred CCIs, cocked the hammer and squeezed off a round and bam, at least two other cylinders went off. I greased the mouths of the rest of the cylinders and never tried that again. I have read that it was a huge problem with the Colt revolving rifles as you could lose a hand.

 

[CowCavalry]

The chamber mouths were never greased in the ACW. The projectiles were oversized and sealed the chamber as they were rammed home. The vast majority of multiple discharges are caused by ill-filling caps.
J.

Maybe it wasnt an issue with a connodial ball? Were the pistol balls like mini minis lol pun intended and the base would flare upon ignition and seal the chambers?

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The bottom line still is, the soldiers of the ACW did not apply grease over top the chambers of their revolvers. And that is irrefutable.
J.

 

[CowCavalry]

The bottom line still is, the soldiers of the ACW did not apply grease over top the chambers of their revolvers. And that is irrefutable.
J.

I would venture a guess that the factory cartridges were lubed around the base.

 

[Noonanda]

I would venture a guess that the factory cartridges were lubed around the base.

not the pistol cartridges