Loading a Cap and Ball Revolver

Cap and ball weapons were all “the thing” during the Civil War and later—right up until Smith & Wesson’s patent ran out on the bored-through cylinder and Samuel Colt could get in the self-contained cartridge game. Numerous models of cap and ball revolvers were produced until 1873.

If your character is using a cap and ball weapon, there are limitations. For instance, a muzzle-loaded long gun gives you one shot; a cap and ball revolver with six shots is just that—six shots. And  it can’t be reloaded quickly. Your characters won’t be reloading it while running from the bad guys or riding to the rescue. Keep reading and you’ll understand why.

Unlike a modern cartridge, where the bullet, powder and primer are enclosed in a brass case, reloading a cap and ball revolver takes 6 steps for each chamber. That’s six steps times six chambers to fully reload a revolver.

I took most of these pictures of my friend and fellow cowboy action shooter, “Major Misalot”, reloading his cap and ball revolver cylinder. The reloading can be done while the cylinder is in place on the revolver, too.

The loading is done in reverse order of the firing process, from the barrel side of the cylinder:

1. Add powder

In this picture of “Major Misalot”, he used a reloading “station”. Another cowboy friend “Noz” used a powder flask to measure the powder for each cylinder.

2. Place a lead ball on the powder in each cylinder

3. Ram the ball home, all the way down into the chamber. 

“Major Misalot” is using his modern reloader, but this can be done using the ramming rod on the revolver, as in the next picture. The rod is firmly pressed into the chamber then the cylinder is rotated until all six lead balls have been rammed pushed into place.

4. Grease the cylinder to prohibit chain firing – where the burning powder from one shot ignites the others in the cylinder. Obviously not a good thing!

5. Cap the nipple (think blasting cap here)

Another method to “cap” the chamber is to use a capper, a spring-loaded brass disc that presents the cap. Above, “Major Misalot” hand capped his. “Noz” uses a capper. He pressed a cap into position six times then went back over all six chambers to be sure the caps seated properly.

NOW its finally ready to fire.

With practice, it doesn’t take all that long to reload the six chambers in a cylinder, but you really can’t pour powder, ram a ball, cap the nipple and grease the chamber at a gallop. I can certainly see why many who relied on a cap and ball revolver carried fully loaded spare cylinders.

And, just to remind you why someone shooting black powder can’t hide…

Tracy Garrett

Civil War Reenacting: Firing a Musket

By Matthew Pizzolato

There were many different styles of firearms used during the Late Unpleasantness ranging from converted flintlocks to carbines, shotguns and repeaters, but the most common for the infantry soldier was the muzzle loading rifle, or musket. 

When the War began, both sides used .69 caliber rifles converted from the old smoothbore muskets.  A smoothbore was only accurate at ranges of less than one hundred yards, but with the advent of rifled barrels, accuracy increased to five hundred yards.

The Model 1861 Springfield in .58 caliber was the most common for the Union forces, while the Confederacy relied on the imported British made 1853 Enfield, also in .58 caliber.

 

1853 Enfield rifle

Toward the end of the War, some of the Union regiments used Spencer repeater rifles that once loaded could fire seven rounds in thirty seconds.  Confederate soldiers often lamented the Union's firepower superiority, saying about the Spencer that it could be loaded on Sunday and fired all week long.

 

Loading and firing a muzzle loader, especially under combat conditions is not as easy as it sounds.  It's quite a complicated process.  Ammunition consisted of paper cartridges that contained a pre-measured amount of powder and a Minie ball. 

Minie balls recovered from Civil War battlefields
Bullet on left is unfired, the other has been fired.

First, the stock of the gun was placed on the ground.  Then a cartridge taken from the satchel, the end torn off, usually with the teeth before pouring the powder down the barrel. Then the bullet could be inserted.

Next, the ramrod had to be removed from the underside of the barrel, reversed and inserted down the barrel, ramming the bullet all the way down. Then the ramrod had to be removed and replaced on the bottom of the barrel. Once that was completed, the gun had to be primed by placing a percussion cap on the nipple of the gun. Only then could it be fired.

It's commonly believed that a good soldier could load and fire three times a minute.  Imagine trying to do that while bullets are whizzing past you.

In reenacting, we skip the step of using the ramrod and loading a bullet. All we do is burn powder, but there are still several steps to go through.

The stock of the rifle is placed on the ground, a cartridge taken out of the pouch, the end bitten off and powder poured down the barrel.  Then gun is raised and a cap placed on the nipple of the gun. Then we await the order to fire, unless of course the order is to fire at will.  I still haven't figured out which one of the opposing soldiers is named Will. 

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print. He writes Western fiction featuring his antihero character, Wesley Quaid, that can be found in his story collection, The Wanted Man and the novella Outlaw. 

Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western and can be contacted via his personal website or on Twitter @mattpizzolato.