Continued Part 4 of 4
Managing the Cap & Ball Sixgun, How Was It Done?
The heroic exploits of western folk heroes seem even more amazing
when viewed within the context of the primitive, and finicky
mechanical devices which were their principal weapons.  People
who are totally unfamiliar with firearms cannot appreciate the
care and attention to detail these firearms required to provide
any reasonable utility.  Preparing an empty cap & ball sixgun for
action is like loading a muzzle loading rifle six times.  
Loading the cylinder takes the average person about 5 minutes. 
An expert can do so, albeit hurriedly, in about three minutes,
but not if he's bouncing on the back of a horse!  Let's look at
what steps are involved in completing this little task...
If the revolver had not just been fired, the inside of each
chamber would be wiped clean of residual oil or moisture which
could wet the powder and cause a misfire.  To ensure reliable
ignition, the steel cones or "nipples," which are threaded into
the rear of the cylinder in line with each chamber  would be
cleared with a straight wire or pick.  The user would then place
the gun on half cock, freeing the cylinder's rotation, so that
the flash channel of each nipple could be visually inspected in
sequence as the gun muzzle was held up to the sky, to be sure the
user could see daylight through it.  This indicated the flash
channels were unobstructed, so that the fire from the percussion
caps would indeed reach the powder, a most crucial point!
Next, a charge of black powder, enough to fill the chambers, but
leaving enough room to seat the ball, would be measured from a
pocket flask and poured individually into each chamber of the
cylinder.  A typical 19th Century pocket flask was about the size
of a flat pear, and held about 3 ounces of powder.  This is
sufficient to reload the cylinder of a .36 caliber Model 1851
Navy Colt eight times, that of a .44 caliber Model 1860 Army
seven times, or a large 1848 Dragoon model five times.  Revolvers
were usually furnished with a powder flask which would measure
the correct charge, about 20 grains of pistol powder for the .36
Navy, 30 grains for the .44 Army, and 40 to 50 grains of rifle
powder for the .44 Dragoons.
As each chamber was charged, a lead round ball or conical bullet
would be placed over the open chamber and forced into it.  The
lead had to be pure and dead soft, otherwise the gun couldn't be
loaded at all.  Early Colt Patersons and some later pocket
pistols, such as the Colt Wells Fargo Model lacked loading
levers.  To load these, the barrel wedge was drifted out of the
frame, the barrel and cylinder removed pulled forward off the
frame and cylinder pin, powder poured into the chambers, and the
balls pressed into it using the protruding cylinder pin, while
grasping the revolver frame in one hand and holding the cylinder
in the other hand, against the saddle horn or some other firm
object.  The Paterson and some other models were equipped with
spare cylinders, which could be carried loaded, but changing
cylinders, under the best of circumstances took at least half a
minute and could NOT be readily performed on horseback. 
A minimal amount of "kit" or equipment was needed to maintain the
gun in the field.  Balls for .36 caliber revolvers ran 87 to the
pound, whereas the .44s were 50 to the pound.   These were cast
of soft lead by hand in an iron or brass mould, supplied with the
gun.  Balls were generally carried in a small leather pouch in
the pocket.   Also needed were percussion caps.  A tin containing
one hundred of these was about the size of a stack of four poker
chips.  A  blob of axle grease or tallow was carried in a snuff
box, which was needed to lubricate the gun and to apply over the
balls to prevent dangerous multiple discharges.
After firing, a black powder gun would rust literally over night,
unless cleaned with water, promptly dried and then oiled or
greased.  Maintaining a percussion revolver in good working
condition required constant care and attention.  The old
soldier's admonition that "weapons shall be cleaned and readied
before nightfall" was not so much in anticipation of night
ambushes, as an attempt to mitigate the corrosive effects of
hygroscopic black powder residue, when fouled weapons were
exposed to the evening dew.  The good condition of surviving
specimens, despite their obvious heavy use is testimony to the
fact that owners of these guns cared for them as if their very
lives depended on it, as they often did.
The advantage of having two guns was that one could remain loaded
and ready while the other was taken apart, cleaned and reloaded,
an important factor in Indian country.   Revolvers generally came
which a combination screw driver and wrench which fit the frame
screws and could be used to remove the nipples from the cylinder. 
The gun would be disassembled completely, and the cylinder,
nipples, screws and small parts dropped into a tin cup filled
with water.  Boiling water was best because the parts would dry
almost instantly, of their own heat, when poured from the cup and
the small parts strained out through a bandanna.  The barrel and
frame would similarly be dunked in water, scrubbed with a small
hog's bristle brush and wiped clean inside and out with a rag. 
If water was scarce, leftover cold coffee could be used and the
parts laid out on a flat rock warmed in the fire, or on a bed
roll to dry in the sun.
Once dry, the internal parts and exterior were oiled or greased
then reassembled.  If the chambers of the cylinder were
absolutely clean and dry when loaded, the balls tight fitting and
well greased, and the caps tight-fitting, the revolver would
remain sure fire, even if left undisturbed for months or years.
                           REFERENCES
Hacker, Rick   "Frontier Firepower 1836-1872," article in Gun
               Digest, 35th Edition (1981), DBI Books, Inc.,
               Northbrook, IL 
Keith, Elmer   Sixguns, Stackpole, Harrisburg, PA (1961)
Rosa, Joseph G.     Gunfighter, Man or Myth?, Oklahoma Press,
                    (1969)
Serven, James E.    Colt Firearms, Stackpole, (1964)
Wycoff, James  Famous Guns that Won the West, Arco Publishers,
               New York (1975)
 
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