How to carry spare ammo for early cap & ball revolver

1

1972

Inactive
I had a question regarding how components were carried in the era of the cap & ball revolver and early holsters/belts.

Okay, so back to the “real” days of the era after the civil war. How did people carry extra powder, caps, balls, wads, etc for their revolvers? I have seen pictures (not original ones) of belts with a leather carrier for the Remington or Colt type powder flask? Was this common? What about spare balls, caps, wads or grease, that sort of thing? Where and how did they carry that?

I guess they could have carried it in their saddle bags, but that only is of use if you have your horse handy. Or did they carry “possibles bags” at that point in time? That seems kind of cumbersome for a revolver.

I know “Josie Wales” and “Preacher” carried spare cylinders, but that would denote have really worked for everybody. Cylinders are/were expensive, and have to be “timed” to work with the revolver. Not everybody could afford that, and not everybody would want to do that. But everybody WOULD have had the need to carry spare loads for their revolvers with them.

So what did they do?

I want to order a belt and holster, but am not sure how to fit in the reloading gear.

Any suggestions?
 
I carry pre-measured powder charges in rubber tubes, the ball acts like a cork and holds the powder in, just thow'm in my pocket or in a belt pouch with a tin of caps and some wads.

Back in the days of the War between the States, the revolver loads were pwder and ball wraped in paper, just drop it into the cylender and ram, add caps and shoot. There were cartrage boxes mad to carry revolver charges. I have one of these on my BP pistol belt, but only wear it during a match.

If you want to roll your own, use some cigarrete rolling paper and glue it to the side of the ball to make a cone, fill the cone with powder and twist it closed..........and your ready to rock.

Although wads were in use back in the days, they were not used during the war, I dont even think they greased over during the war.
 
Powder was carried in a flask, usually made of copper. Balls/minie balls were carried in leather pouches or cartridge boxes hung from belts or in pockets. Caps were carried in small tins much like those we have today; the tins were carried in pockets in the coat or vest. Holsters were actually fairly uncommon, guns usually were held in sashes or tucked in pants or coats. Paper cartridges containing powder and ball were also widely used, carried in pockets or cartridge boxes hung off a belt. That may seem cumbersome, but that's what was done.
 
Manufactured paper cartridges came in wood blocks containing 6 paper cartridges and 8 or 9 caps and were covered in a waterproofed paper envelope. These cartridge packages were made for .31, .36, and .44 cal revolvers.

CW accoutrements inluded pistol cartridge and cap boxes that were belt mounted. Soldiers would make paper cartridges for their pistols in camp before and after a battle and refill the belt boxes. Powder flasks & horns were used to carry the powder.
 
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