Hi all,
I am a beginner to cap n ball revolver shooting and have a few questions. Bit of background first, I am new to this and haven't shot one in about 20 years when I used to shoot a friends. Currently I am in what I would call the "acqusition" stage, having dealt with our idiotic Massachusetts gun laws and aquired the following:
A pair of Cimarron 1860 Armies (.44) in original finish, slightly used.
One Pietta 1860 Army (.44)
One cased Uberti 1861 Navy (.36) with flask, mold, etc. (I am looking to trade this for another Pietta 1860 Army, it also comes with a new Dixie fake Ivory grip, not installed)
Along with all this I received a powder measure, 2 flasks, 2 cappers, half a jar full of .452 round balls, some Hornady .454 balls, some old .375? balls, assorted half full cap tins (size 10 and 11), and I bought a cleaning kit, a gunsmith screwdriver set, and some T/C Bore Butter and cleaner.
Questions:
1. Powder? I have seen Pyrodex, American Pioneer Powder, Hodgon 777, Geox, Swiss, and a few others all talked about but don't know one from another. Some I think are black powder and some are ?substitutes? What are substitutes and what do I want to start with?
2. Conicals? I have heard of them, are they better than round balls or can I use what I have?
3. Wads? Do I need them or will the bore butter give me the lubrication I need?
4. Anything else I need that is missing from the list?
Thanks
Joel
I am a beginner to cap n ball revolver shooting and have a few questions. Bit of background first, I am new to this and haven't shot one in about 20 years when I used to shoot a friends. Currently I am in what I would call the "acqusition" stage, having dealt with our idiotic Massachusetts gun laws and aquired the following:
A pair of Cimarron 1860 Armies (.44) in original finish, slightly used.
One Pietta 1860 Army (.44)
One cased Uberti 1861 Navy (.36) with flask, mold, etc. (I am looking to trade this for another Pietta 1860 Army, it also comes with a new Dixie fake Ivory grip, not installed)
Along with all this I received a powder measure, 2 flasks, 2 cappers, half a jar full of .452 round balls, some Hornady .454 balls, some old .375? balls, assorted half full cap tins (size 10 and 11), and I bought a cleaning kit, a gunsmith screwdriver set, and some T/C Bore Butter and cleaner.
Questions:
1. Powder? I have seen Pyrodex, American Pioneer Powder, Hodgon 777, Geox, Swiss, and a few others all talked about but don't know one from another. Some I think are black powder and some are ?substitutes? What are substitutes and what do I want to start with?
2. Conicals? I have heard of them, are they better than round balls or can I use what I have?
3. Wads? Do I need them or will the bore butter give me the lubrication I need?
4. Anything else I need that is missing from the list?
Thanks
Joel