Hello, 30-30remchester hit it on the head with what he said. I remember reading of John Westly Hardins life..he was punching cattle, when some Mexicans tried to rustle some cows, he drew an old cap & ball revolver..& had to hold the cyl. back against the frame for the hammer to hit the caps...it was worn so loose! He seemed to like the old percussion guns though, when he was captured in Florida, he was carrying one..long after the "better" ctg. guns were in common use. One thing we must remember..money was tight those days. There were many 'Panics" (depressions), as no gov.regulations existed..(no wellfare either!) one didn't just discard a good percussion firearm just because some new fangled 'Catridge gun" came out on the market. Even when the New Haven Arms Co. came out with their "Henry" rifle, it is said it was looked upon in it's day as we look upon a high capacity 9mm...kind of nice in a fire fight, but does the average joe need one? Even more important was the fact it couldn't be reloaded...not a small consideration if traveling the west with it's far flung outposts. A far more practical weapon would have been an early Ballard with it's dual firing system..it was chambered for .44 rimfire..however, the breech block also had a percussion nipple mounted on it. If the rimfires gave out, a small hole was punched in the center of the head of the soft thin copper case. ctg. was charged with powder & bullet seated. A pivoting nose on hammer was turned down to strike cap on breech-block nipple. Modern shooters report it works quite well.
Another thing, the "Cowboy" was one of the lowest paid workers there were
at $13.00 for a Colt, that was a months wage. Hollywood likes to arm all it's western actors with Colt peacemakers & 92' Win. It just ain't so!
