what would cause inconsistent "cap and ball" revolver performance?

I have seen the very same thing. I am a big time black powder gun nut and I am always trying new powders and loads.

The problem was two fold. Pyrodex sucks for cap and ball revolvers. It just doesn’t get enough ignition with a percussion cap for light loads. I have used it in BP shotguns, rifles and revolvers. With a modern inline rifle that uses a shot gun primer it works pretty good. But with a percussion cap there is a noticeable delay fire. That delay in a revolver means it hasn’t burned fully as the ball leaves the cylinder.

Your second problem was those oiled wads. Any oil will change the powder burn rate with black powder substitutes. So if he has to use Pyrodex don’t use those oiled wads. Just press the ball to the powder charge and cover the ball with bore butter or Crisco cooking grease or wax.

You can make the loaded cylinder water proof by sealing the cap and loaded ball with wax.

I recommend changing to real black powder or Hodgdon’s triple seven (777) FFFg black powder substitute. This ignites better than pyrodex with a cap and has more consistent velocities. Its also 15 % more powerful than BP or Pyrodex by volume and so just use 25 gr charge ( by volume NOT weight). This should give you velocities over 750 to 800 ft per sec.

One last thing. Make sure the ball is the right size. When pressed into the cylinder, some of the ball must be shaved off for a very tight fit. If it doesn’t fit tight you will have very poor results. You see none of the .36 cal BP revolver have the exact same size bore or cylinder. Some will take a .375 diameter ball for example. I am willing to bet that ball was too small.

Never use a patched ball in a revolver; it will never be accurate that way. When the patched ball enters the forcing cone of the barrel the patch gets tore off the ball and now you have a way undersized ball bouncing down the barrel.

You really don't need a wad in a cap and ball revolver but you do need some grease covering the ball. That's mostly to keep the gun from having a "chain-fire"( setting several shots off at once). They do make felt "pads" or wads to put over the powder to prevent chain-fires. The oil soaked wad is deadening some of the powder and therefore inconsistent velocity .

I have owned several 1858 models and have never had a problem and don't use wads. I do grease the cylinder over the ball though. Wads can smolder and cause little fires if not careful.They are really only used to prevent the chain-fires.

Unless you typoed and meant a .451 ball, the guy was shooting a .36 caliber rifle ball in a .44 caliber revolver.

I'm amazed he got even 500 fps.

FW

IW, .44 cap-and-ball revolvers generally use balls in the .451 to .458 range, depending on the gun and how new or how worn it is. .36 caliber revolvers use .375 or .380 balls, and .36 caliber rifles use .348 to .355" ball along with a patch. You cannot successfully patch bullets in a revolver, the forcing cone will strip the patch off the bullet.

Beyond that, I'd say Bear Crap is spot on with everything except his recommendation of Triple 7.

I'm of the opinion that blackpowder substitutes are an answer to an unasked question. Use FFG or FFFg blackpowder and not only will ignition improve, but accuracy will improve, and the smoke will smell better.

The fellow also need to ditch the oily patches as well. All he is doing is contaminating his powder charge. There are a number of chamber sealers on the market, but I only use them when the six-gun is going to be stored loaded for a while. On the range, I use Crisco squeezed from an od shampoo tube. A tube of any heavy grease will also work.

Doc Hudson

Cap And Ball Revolver

I agree with another answerer. Oiling the wads is not necessary and may contaminate the powder charge.

Whether or not the powder charge is compressed will also affect muzzle velocity.

Black powder firearms get dirty quickly. Keeping the cylinder(s) clean goes a long way towards improving ignition.

Thanks for an interesting question.

As Bassett says, it is often the backyard breeders who breed to extremes, unwittingly? Or perhaps because the weird and wonderful extremes make their poorly bred dogs "rare" and "more expensive" . Just look at the term "Teacup" or "miniature" or whatever other term they use when they mean they have deliberately over-emphasised a toy breed and bred it smaller than is healthy and AGAINST the breed standards. Look how many get cross here because when they say they have a colour that is unacceptable and then wonder why everyone does not swoon over their "rare colour". However, there are also bad kennel club (show) breeders, not all are perfect ! Many times the exaggeration in a breed comes from people who breed for one thing, perhaps a certain coat or preferred head shape, and in time that becomes the norm because some unscrupulous juidge places the dog, then someone else puts the dog up, and before long others are breeding to the current trend in "type". People need to get back to basics, while still health screening, working breeds should be fit for purpose, and not just to get a show Ch title. There is a little truth on both sides, but I still agree that the backyard breeder who changes for the exaggeration in order to make more money and fails to health screen is the scum of the earth. # ADDED: BTW, I love your avatar!

You sure he used the same amount of powder for each cylinder? Even small differences make a big impact.

Another thing to consider is the bore could be rusted out, but I doubt it would have that effect.

Why you would soak the wad in oil I don't know, but that may have something to do with it.

All you need to prevent a hangfire is a dry wad.

I had always thought that the 1858 was a .44 cal like my Remington...I use a .454 ball.

Try without the wads and just use Bore Butter or whatever over the ball.

It's a revolver remember.

Were all the nipples cleaned for even ignition?

Seating pressure DOES make a difference.

That said, if he's not new to pistols. but that gun is new to him.

it's likely the longer lock time of the cap & ball revolver that was

disturbing his accuracy.

Modern pistols get that bullet clear of the barrel a lot faster, and

that's forgiving of lotsa hold problems.

Cap And Ball Pistol