Howdy
First, let's get something straight.
There are no official SAAMI specifications for 'cowboy' ammunition.
Any ammunition you see on a store shelf that says 'cowboy' on it is just that manufacturer's idea of what a 'cowboy' load should be.
Let's back up even further. In the Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) world, many competitors are shooting very light loads that have very little recoil. This is so they can put all five shots (yes five, not six) on the target very quickly. That is because CAS is scored by time, and the less time it takes to shoot, the better. Those who score very well and are also shooting 45 Colt are often shooting loads that have about as much recoil as a light 38 Special. This ammo is not available commercially, it is loaded by the individual shooters.
But the commercial 'cowboy' ammo you see on store shelves will have considerably more punch (and recoil) then the stuff some guys are shooting in CAS.
Next, a 45 Colt loaded with Black Powder will have much, much more recoil than the mouse fart loads some guys shoot in CAS. Stop and think about it for a moment. 45 Colt was developed in 1873, and the case capacity is huge. It is huge because Black Powder, pound for pound, does not have as much energy as most Smokeless powders. So a large case was necessary for a man stopping load in Black Powder with 45 Colt. The often quoted specification was 40 grains of Black Powder under a 250 grain bullet.
Modern 45 Colt brass does not have quite as much powder capacity as the old 19th Century Balloon Head brass, so case capacity is a little bit less. My typical Black Powder 45 Colt ammo has about 33 grains of Schuetzen FFg under a 250 grain bullet. Here are the components of my Black Powder 45 Colt ammunition.
As can be seen in this photo, my Black Powder 45 Colt ammo is no mouse fart, it has stout recoil. In this particular photo I am firing a 2nd Gen Colt loaded with my Black Powder 45 Colt ammo.
Next, let's talk about paper. There are two completely different types of Black Powder loads that use paper. The loads that have been pictured so far are pre-made Black Powder loads meant for a percussion (cap & ball) revolver. There is no case because in a percussion revolver the ammo is ignited by a percussion cap on the nipples of the cylinder. This is really no different than pouring Black Powder into the chambers and then seating a ball on top, except the powder has been pre-measured at home, rather than pouring in the powder and seating a ball while at the range.
The other type of ammunition that used paper was a type developed a long time ago. This was called paper patched ammunition. The bullet was wrapped in paper and seated over the powder charge in a primed case. The bullets were slightly undersized and it was the paper that actually engaged the rifling in the barrel. Paper patched ammo was mostly used for large caliber rifles, such as 45-70 and larger. Watch the movie Quigley Down Under sometime if you want to see paper patched ammo being used. These rounds are not suitable for a revolver.
So. If you want to preload BP ammo for a percussion revolver, you do not need a press. However the guy you spoke to did not know what he was talking about, if you want to load Black Powder into brass cases, you will need a press.
This is my old Lyman Spartan single stage press that I first learned to load ammunition on. It is perfectly suited to loading either Smokeless or Black Powder ammunition. These days I only use it for my Black Powder 45-70 ammo. The tool in the background is a separate primer seating tool that I use with my old single stage press.
However, these days I use a progressive Hornady Lock And Load AP progressive press to load all my BP 'pistol' ammunition. This photo shows a batch of 44-40 being loaded with Black Powder on my Hornady press.
OK, now let's talk about the Remington 1858 Cap & Ball revolver. This is my old EuroArms 1858 that I bought way back in 1975. About twenty years ago I bought a 45 Colt Conversion Cylinder for it. It is wearing its Conversion Cylinder in this photo. The interesting thing about the 1858 Remington is that even though it is referred to as a '44' caliber revolver, the actual rifling groove diameter was more like about .451 or so, the same diameter as a 45 Colt revolver. I won't bother to explain why right now.
There were several competing designs for conversion cylinders for the 1858 Remington on the market back then. One was the design by Walt Kirst. Because of the diameter of the Remington 1858 cylinder, it was not possible to bore six chambers into a cylinder for the 1858 Remington without the cartridge rims overlapping each other. So Kirst's cylinders all had only five chambers. About this time Ken Howell came up with a clever work around to this problem. By angling the chambers ever so slightly at the rear it was possible to fit six chambers into his cylinders for the 1858 Remington. The angle was so slight that it did not affect accuracy. Howell patented his design, and for a while his cylinders were only available through Taylor's Firearms. Not too much later, Howell sold the rights to his patent to Taylor's so that when he started his own company he was not able to offer the patented six chamber design for the 1858 Remington. A few years ago the patent expired, so Howell can now offer the angled cylinders he designed all those years ago from his own company. You will notice one of the photos above shows Howell's literature.
Here is a photo of my old 1858 with its 45 Colt conversion cylinder.
In this photo you can see that not only will this conversion cylinder accept 45 Colt ammo without the rims over lapping, it will also accept 45 Schofield ammo, with their larger rims, without the rims overlapping. More about that in a moment.
Yes, you can shoot relatively mild Smokeless ammo out of these cylinders. The literature that comes with them says to limit the velocity to 750 fps to 850 fps, but that is a meaningless specification. It is PRESSURE that is important when keeping a revolver cylinder from blowing up, not velocity. 750 fps to 850 fps can be achieved with many different Smokeless powders, some of which may exceed the pressure limits for these revolvers.
Study this photo for a moment. It shows my 1858 Remington at the top, and a Colt Single Action Army at the bottom. Notice the grip designs. Notice there is more space between the grip and the trigger guard with the Colt than with the Remington. I discovered a long time ago that the stout recoil of Black Powder 45 Colt in my old Remington pounded the knuckle of my index finger. The slightly longer distance makes shooting BP 45 Colt acceptable in my Colts, but I generally shoot 45 Schofield ammo in the Remington. The shorter Schofield case has less powder capacity, and I use a 200 grain bullet in my Schofield ammo.
PS. Here is a photo of the components of my Black Powder 45 Schofield ammo. Starline 45 Schofield case, about 28.5 grains of Schuetzen FFg, and a 200 grain Big Lube bullet. Less recoil than m BP 45 Colt ammo.
