Well, I checked out those threads to earlier posts.
The claim was made that Elmer Keith witnessed someone, or people, shot with a cap and ball revolver.
As far as I know, and I've been reading him for 40 years, Elmer Keith never once witnessed anyone shot with a cap and ball revolver.
He knew Civil War veterans who said the round ball was a more effective anti-human projectile, compared to the issued conical bullets, but if Elmer ever witnessed someone shot with one, darned if I can find it.
Keith's quote, misquoted in the earlier posts is, "For its size and weight nothing is so deadly as the round ball of pure lead when driven at fairly good velocity. Maximum loads give these slugs fairly high velocity from a 7-1/2 inch barrel gun. Both Major R.E. Stratton and Samuel H. Fletcher told me the .36 Navy with full loads was a far better man killer than any .38 Special they had ever seen used in gun fights."
Source: "Sixguns" by Elmer Keith, Bonanza Books, Copyright 1961, p. 211.
Now, let's examine that famous quote:
"For its size and weight ..."
Most bullets weigh more than a round ball. The .36 ball ranges from 80 to 84 grains, depending upon diameter.
Ballistically, the Navy .36 is equivalent to the .380 ACP with its 95 grain jacketed bullet at 1,000 fps (maximum handload, which I've chronographed myself).
Maximum velocity with the .36 Navy is about 1,000 feet per second, with a ball over 26 to 27 grains of Goex FFFG black powder, no felt wad under it. I've chronographed my own Colt 2nd generation 1851 Navy many times. The chamber will only hold 26 to 27 grs and leave enough room to seat the ball below flush.
Stratton and Fletcher, to which Keith refers, were Civil War veterans. I'm unsure when they died, but they likely made this statement before the advent of factory loads using the more efficient semi-wadcutter bullet, or the introduction of the .38 Special High-Speed cartridge (.38/44) that pushed a 158 gr. lead bullet at 1,000 fps.
When Stratton and Fletcher spoke, the only two loads commercially available (remember, there were few reloaders in the 1920s and 1930s) were the 158 gr. lead roundnose and the 148 or 158 gr. lead wadcutter.
From its inception in 1899, the.38 Special typically used a 158 gr. lead roundnosed bullet -- a notoriously poor manstopper against anyone who was hopped-up on dope, drunk or fueled by adrenaline (and let's face it, very few combatants are cool, calm and collected).
Today, with improved bullets, the .38 Special is undoubtedly a far better killer than it once was.
Contrary to an earlier cited post, the U.S. military did NOT use .44 cap and ball revolvers in the Philippines after their .38 Long Colt revolvers failed. Thousands of Colt Single Action Army .45s were pulled from storage and shipped to the Philippines.
Presumably, the load they used was the Army's standard load for the .45 rimmed cartridge: 230 gr. roundnose lead bullet over 28 grains of FFFG black powder, for about 700 fps.
The oft-quoted 250 to 255 gr. lead bullet over 40 grs. of black powder was a civilian load. The military load used a shorter case, so it could be used in the Smith & Wesson Schofield, which had a shorter cylinder than the Colt revolver.
Sources:
Cartridges of the World, 8th edition, p. 270.
U.S. Cartridges and Their Handguns by Charles R. Suydam, pps. 226-229.
I was interested to see that report from the 1998 issue of Handguns, that listed the relative stopping power of cap and ball sixguns.
"Stopping power" has been argued about, and formulated, for well over 100 years. A lakeful of ballistic gelatin has been shot.
Yet, it's all educated guesswork. Judging how a person will react when shot -- and creating a percentage of success -- is folly, in my estimation.
Some handguns have a pretty good track record: the .45 ACP and .357 Magnum at maximum velocity with a bullet of 150 grains or more come to mind. Yet, I don't believe you can ascribe a percentage of success to any cartridge; there are just too many variables in individuals.
Finally, I'd never carry a cap and ball revolver for self defense. They are simply too unreliable, regardless of the pains you take to ensure reliability. They were replaced by cartridge guns for a good reason.
Now, if it's all I had, and I were forced to use a cap and ball to defend my life, I'd use it. But when I go into gang-ridden Salt Lake City, my reliable Walther PPK, Kimber 1911 .45, Browning Hi-Power 9mm or Smith & Wesson .38 Special snubnose go with me.
As for people being more civil if a bunch of people started walking around wearing old sixguns, Bowie knives and the like -- I don't believe it. I believe there would be far more gunfights because of challenges to egos.
I've had a concealed weapon permit since 1979. I'd never carry in the open; you're just inviting some testosterone-fueled jackleg to challenge you with, "You think you're so tough with that gun? Bring it on!" as he whips out his own (illegally carried) gun.
If you're going to carry a sidearm, keep it hidden. Keep your mouth shut about it. Don't display it or pull it out unless you are absolutely certain that your life, or the life of someone else, is in danger.
I've been shooting cap and ball sixguns since about 1970.
Carry one for self defense? Not as long as I've got a good cartridge gun.
At the worst possible moment, the cap and ball revolver will probably fail you.
As Robert Service wrote: "The gods must have their laughter."
