How'd You Carry A Cap 'n' Ball?

[Tower75]

Ok - recent rumblings have got me thinking

It's 1855 - you're a middle-class businessman and you would like to defend yourself from thugs and muggers while out walking to and from your home. You purchase a cap ‘n’ ball revolver, but the question is, how do you carry it, safely? This is a pocket gun, so you have no holster.

Do you load only 5 out of the 6 chambers and rest the hammer on the empty?

Do you load all 6 and gently rest the hammer on top of the percussion cap, as for it to go off, the cap needs a sharp strike and resting the hammer on the cap should be ok, as long as you don’t drop the handgun.

The handgun you have is not an Adams, so it doesn’t have that crafty safety notch on the cylinder.

So, how were these things carried – or is the answer “personal preference”?

And no, this isn't a case of myself wanting to carry a cap 'n' ball around with me, just curious as to how you were meant to carry these things. :?:

Regards
T

[ovenpaa]

Good question.

Load 6/6 and close the hammer is fine until you fall off your horse so the workable alternative is load 5 and close the hammer on the empty chamber. This does of course assume you are only going to be defending yourself against a couple of bad guys who are close enough to hit and you are a reasonable shot and you have time to get the thing out of a pocket and cock it over a live chamber.

[Sandgroper]

Carefully!

Would you buy a cap and ball when you could have a pinfire revolver instead?

[Steve E]

Load 5 and drop the hammer on the empty chamber, its how them cowboys that had a revolver carried them, even after they changed to metallic cartridges.
If you had a pin fire I would still only load 5 out of the six. Out of interest when I lived in USA in the 1980s in Idaho, the local Sheriff carried a Colt S/A in 45LC and only loaded 5 and kept the hammer dropped on the empty chamber.

Steve

[Tower75]

Load 6/6 and close the hammer is fine until you fall off your horse

:lol: Drunk again.

Would you buy a cap and ball when you could have a pinfire revolver instead?

No, if given the choice I would have a pinfire, just don't drop the cartidges :shock: . But I was just thinking about cap 'n' balls

Out of interest when I lived in USA in the 1980s in Idaho, the local Sheriff carried a Colt S/A in 45LC and only loaded 5 and kept the hammer dropped on the empty chamber.

Neat. A Sheriff with a proper sheriff handgun.

[dave_303]

Carefully!

Would you buy a cap and ball when you could have a pinfire revolver instead?

Pinfire's wouldn't be much safer, the pin still protrudes so it's still like carrying a cap and ball, just quicker to reload in theory.