Handbook of Modern Percussion Revolvers

By Michael Morgan

Six Shots of Blackpowder Fun!

Those old blackpowder handguns look great hung over your mantle - but they're much more fun to shoot! Now, thanks to Handbook of Modern Percussion Revolvers, author Michael Morgan shows you just how entertaining these history-making firearms can be.

Inside, you'll find:

• Detailed loading advice for today's modern blackpowder percussion cap revolvers
• Tips and tricks for accurate shooting
• In-depth breakdowns for the three most popular working reproductions
• Dozens of historical fun facts and trivia

Morgan's passion for these important firearms and his user-friendly approach to shooting their modern reproductions is sure to ignite the same excitement in you. Explore the special world of percussion revolvers - then get yourself a gun, some caps, and let the lead fly!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gun Digest Books
• Release date: Dec 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781440239045

Michael Morgan

Michael Morgan is seminary musician for Columbia Theological Seminary and organist at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. He is also a Psalm scholar and owns one of the largest collections of English Bibles in the country.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Samuel Colt patented the percussion, or cap and ball, revolver, in 1835. While it is true that several forms of revolving firearms had been around prior to Colt’s first revolving pistol, Colt’s design had reached a tolerable state of perfection at a critical moment, and history would never be the same.

A cased Colt Paterson Revolver with accessories. The Paterson was the first revolver commercially manufactured by Colt’s. (Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions)

The Colt Single Action Army. Commonly referred to as The Peacemaker. It was introduced in 1873 and is still in limited production. (Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions)

Hollywood and dime novels put Colt’s 1873 Model P Single Action Army, The Peacemaker, in every holster of the Old West. The truth is very different. Name almost any real life Old West personality, on either side of the law, and chances are good that person carried a percussion revolver at some point in their life.

By the time the Colt Peacemaker was introduced, most of the great westward migration had already occurred. Texas had won its independence from Mexico and joined the United States. The Mexican-American War was won. The California gold rush was over. The War of Southern Independence¹ had been fought. The Pony Express had come and gone. The Transcontinental Railroad was old news. The majority of the revolvers carried by the participants in all these great endeavors were percussion revolvers made by Colt’s, Remington, Star, Spiller … Burr, Whitney, and a few others.

Though the percussion revolver is most closely associated with the Western Frontier, it was also the state of the art in medium- and large-bore repeating handguns across America and Europe. Personal-defense options prior to Colt’s Paterson revolver were pretty limited to one or more single-shot muzzleloading pistols, Bowie knives, tomahawks, and swords. The percussion revolvers were reliable and easy to carry in a belt scabbard or simply tucked into the waistband or a pocket. The firepower inherent in a brace (pair) of revolvers went a long way toward evening the odds in a self-defense situation.

Buffalo Bill’s revolver: To Charlie … Carrie Trego. This old Remington revolver. I carried and used for many years in Indian Wars and Buffalo killing. And it never failed me. WF Cody Dec 13th 1906 (Photos and text courtesy Heritage Auctions)

Modern shooters who try blackpowder shooting usually find it to be a quaint way to touch the past or to add some extra hunting time by participating in the blackpowder-only seasons. Some take to it in a big way and join the buckskinner family, participating in living history, re-enacting, and competition. To that end, the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting has created a new surge of interest in the percussion revolver. Regardless why the shooter picks up a percussion revolver, one fact remains. For 170 years, the percussion pistol has proven itself to be a reliable companion when the chips are down, and it is still an accurate and effective weapon in the hands of a person who knows how to use one. These guns are fully capable of taking small game and defending the homestead. All it takes is a little knowledge and practice.

A Colt Model 1855, 7th Type Root Sidehammer Percussion Revolver. The Root model sidehammers were an offshoot of Colt’s original design. Unlike the more commonly known models, the Root model’s hammer attached to the outside of the frame, and the frame has a topstrap, as seen on Remington revolvers of the period. Sadly, the Root sidehammer is almost never seen in replica form. (Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

North American Arms .22 Cap and Ball Revolver. North American Arms manufactures completely modern .22-caliber percussion revolvers in stainless steel. These single-action revolvers are compatible with many accessories that fit other North American Arms mini-revolvers. (Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

Most modern literature on the percussion revolver is historical in nature, rather than practical. This book is an attempt to pass along real how to information for the owner of percussion revolvers. As such, much of the anecdotal and historical information commonly available will be dispensed with, giving way to a focus on how the working mechanics, loading, cleaning, diagnosis of potential problems, and easy repairs the owner can perform on percussion revolvers, all with minimum tools.

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¹ The War of Southern Independence, as some refer to the American Civil War, refers to the conflict between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. Hostilities lasted from 1861 to 1865. This conflict resulted in the deaths of over 600,000 valiant men on both sides. The outcome of this period of American history still influences politics in the twenty-first century, and detailed study of this event and its aftermath is strongly encouraged by the author.

CHAPTER ONE:

PARTS AND TERMINOLOGY

FRAME STYLES

The frame is the main part of the pistol to which everything else attaches. Revolvers have two frame styles, closed-top and open-top. A closed-top frame forms a complete enclosure around the cylinder. The bar of metal that forms the top of the frame is referred to as the topstrap. An open-top frame lacks this topstrap above the cylinder. The following pictures show the two different frame styles.

Closed-top frames have a reputation for being more durable than open-top frames, because the sections of the frame aren’t separated every time the weapon is cleaned, plus the entire frame resists the stresses caused by firing the weapon. Disassembly causes wear on the parts, and the frame pins of open-top frames can become loose. Open-top frames also have a reputation for being less accurate, because the rear sight of an open-top pistol consists of a small notch in the nose of the hammer. The rear sight for a closed-top pistol is a notch in the topstrap.

Closed-Top frame: This closed-top frame is a U.S. Model 1861 Remington New Model Army percussion revolver.(Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

PARTS OVERVIEW

The following set of pictures illustrates the location of the major parts of the percussion revolver. These parts will be discussed in more detail later.

Open-Top frame: An example of the open-top frame, this one a Colt M1862 Pocket Navy .36-caliber percussion revolver. (Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

PARTS LIST:

Hammer

Rear Sight

Frame

Barrel

Front Sight

Muzzle

Loading Lever

Ram/Plunger

Trigger Guard

Trigger

Stocks (often incorrectly referred to as grips.)

Cylinder

Forcing Cone

Cylinder Pin/Center Pin

Pawl/Hand

Cylinder Bolt

Cylinder Detail: These two images show front and rear views of a cylinder from a Ruger Old Army revolver. The left image shows the chambers. The bottoms of the nipples can be seen as the small bright circles at the bottoms of the chambers. The cylinder pin, sometimes called the center pin, passed through the hole in the middle. The right image shows the rear of the same cylinder. The rectangular cutouts are the safety notches. The tops of the nipples can be seen as small holes in the outer ring of circles located between the safety notches. Percussion caps are placed on these nipples as the last step in loading a percussion pistol.

The inner ring of small round holes are engaged by the hand, or pawl, which rotates the cylinder during the cocking process. Once the revolver is fully cocked, the pawl assists the bolt in locking the cylinder so that a chamber is aligned with the barrel. The center pin hole is in the middle.

Not visible in these photos are the bolt cutouts, which are located around the outside of the cylinder. The bolt cutouts are rectangular, oval and, on some models, round indentations similar in appearance to the safety notches. When