Finally decided to get a BP revolver

B

BigPapa4147

New member
So I've decided to get into bp shooting and was wondering which revolver I should get. I was also wondering what supplies I need to get started out (nothing too fancy, I'm on a bit of a budget). I've never fired a bp revolver before, but I have fired a muzzloading rifle and loved it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
You'll get plenty of great advice here

A good place to start would be to go back and read some of the older threads on the forum. You might be looking for topics such as:

Brass Frame versus Steel frame
Molding your own bullets/roundballs versus buying them
Powder loads
The camparison of Colt style versus Remington style revolvers
Bore lube
Cleaning

Just look down through the titles of the threads until you come to something that looks interesting.

For those who are just getting started with the first pistol, Cabelas has a "Pistol on a card" set up that has (pretty much) everything you need for a couple days light shooting (Fam Fire). That normally goes for about 250.00.
Cabelas has a sale on right now so that price might be lower. Don't cut yourself getting it open.

At a minimum you need:

Pistol, (Never ever ever call it a gun. It is not a gun)
caps,
balls,
powder,
powder measure,
bore lube (for the first couple days, you can get away with Crisco, but you will grow out of that quickly. Its easy to make your own and it doesn't put too much of a strain on your marriage.)
gun oil (most of the guys never let petroleum based products touch their shootin irons.)
Someplace to shoot and something to shoot at. ( I recommend a Ford truck...Never shoot at a Chevy truck :D)

There are plenty of additional things that willl come in handy. Most of that will be things you choose on your own and should not be overinfluenced by others.

Most of all, when you have a question...any question, come to this forum. You will have four good answers (plus one long, rambling, pointless, verbose, misinformed, opinionated diatribe from me) within about 24 hours.
 
I think most here well recommend the Remington 1858 NMA as a first BP revolver.

Cabela's has a sale going on now.
1858 with fixed sights, $190.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20817&hasJS=true

1858 with target sights, $210.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20817&hasJS=true

The $40 starter kit gives you all you need to get started except powder and caps. I don't care for the plastic powder flask, but that's just personal preference.
 
Ooops

Papa and MCB,

Oooops. MCB is right. No explosives in the Pistol-on-a-card thing.

Sorry.

I also share your feelings about the buck and a quarter plastic piece of crap powder measure. But, Hey...just an opinion.
 
A revolver is a pistol is a gun, but a gun is not necessarily a pistol, nor is a pistol necessarily a revolver.
 
RESEARCH, and then More Research!

Yep, check out the sticky's first, and then also search the forums. You can go cheap, but you will probably find that you should have waited a tad and saved up more for the better (Uberti).

Depending on what you want it for, you also might want to consider a single shot.

Yep, loads of things to consider.

The one thing we do know and concur on here. You start, you'll get hooked. It's a downhill slope of fun.

We'll be looking for you at the bottom of our pit! :D

The Doc is out now. :cool:
 
robhof

I started with one and now have six, told my wife they're like rabbits, she said that I better have them Fixed. Maybe just one more....
 
What a question?

When I got back into BP shooting, there was a week in which I had bought a pistol but then went to a gun show and came home w/ two more.

My wife asked me a question that I simply could not answer. She said, "How many pistols do you think you will be needing?"

I must have had the dumbest expression on my face, she ever saw. I simply did not have a lucid answer for her question. She understands a little better now that it is not a question of how many one needs. It has more to do with, "How many are out there?"

Could any of you answer this question in a meaningful way?
 
"You never have enough handguns"

In anycase, BP guns are still guns. In certain jurisdictions, they may not carry the same legal ramifications as "firearms" or be classified as such, but they're still guns. and pistol actually comes from the French "Pistole" which comes from the Czech word for Flute, which is what the Hussites called their handguns in the olden days because they looked like flutes. So, "Pistol" does predate "Revolver."

Revolvers also don't necessarily mean pistols, either, as there were revolving rifles, too.

But, to the OP, I'd suggest hitting up a local shop and talking to the folks there, if you have one that carries BP supplies. Some shops are great, others, not so much. I went to a shop once to pick up the supplies to finally fire my BP Revolver. Turns out it's the only local place to buy BP supplies, but the owner was so rude that I walked without buying anything.

As for which revolver you get, get anything you fancy with a steel frame. The one I have has a brass frame, which is supposedly horrible, but I've seen/heard about them running for hundreds/thousands of rounds, no problem. But, to err on the safe side is always good: go with a steal frame.
 
I give another vote to the Rem 58... extra cylinders are nice to if you like to hunt with or pack it much.

Have owned lots of them through the years, Walker, 1860, few 36cal.1862's, the little Pocket 31Rem. and my favorite out of all of them is the 58 Rem in 44cal.
 
I'll add my vote for the steel frame Remington. Remingtons are easier to learn on but if you favor a Colt design then by all means get one. Brass frames will last for many years if loads are kept light. Not so long with heavier loads. A steel frame will last decades no matter how heavy you load it.
 
Couple things

To Thomme,

Gun shop operator in Norfolk acts the same exact way. Just about as arrogant and contemptable a human as I have ever met. AND the only guy in the area who handles BP stuff who knows anything about it. We have Bass Pro Shop which has prices 15 percent higher than Cabelas almost aross the board. We also have Dick's Sporting Goods, whose prices are even worse yet.

I also agree that you never seem to have enough. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that having enough of them is never a consideration in the decision to get one more. Show me one for a good price and that old wallet is coming out.

To Hawg,

+1 also keep it clean.
 
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