DIY Black Powder pistol cartridges

[Ninurta]

Loading 'em up.

You just drop the paper cartridge into the chamber butt-first, roll that chamber under the rammer lever, and ram the ball home. They seat pretty tightly into the chamber, which is a GOOD thing. This is what they look like when you're done ramming them:



   

When you seat them, the edge of the chamber reams off a ring of lead, which is how you know they are sealed properly to the chamber:



   

You see there the lead rings shaved off, and in the case of the cartridges I neglected to trim the paper from, a paper ring, too. It trims it down to bare shiny lead, of exactly the proper diameter for the chamber. The brass gizzy there is an "in line" capper. If you look close at the left end, you'll see percussion caps lined up in it, ready to be placed on the revolver chamber nipples.

Some folks lube the bullets right after they get done making the cartridges, but I use separate lube when I load them. I use ordinary Crisco grease, which is also what I lube the gun itself with, at the moving parts. To lube the bullets, I just dab a gob onto my finger, pack it into the chamber mouth on top of the bullet, and wipe off the excess. The grease keeps the powder fouling soft for easier cleanup, and using natural grease has the added function of "seasoning" the barrel. Folk familiar with cast iron skillets will know what I mean by that.

When it's all done, the business end of the cylinder looks like this:



   

There ain't no mistaking whether it's loaded or not with that big 'ol white circle staring out of the chambers.

When it's all done, this is the view from the target's perspective:



   

Now all that is left to do is cap the chamber nipples with percussion caps, and find a target to shoot at.

As a bonus, this is how the revolvers come packaged. Although this is Dustin from Guns of the West, mine came in exactly the same packaging, with everything he has to dig out of the box to get to the gun. He's right - they are loaded with oil when they get to you. Dustin has a long complicated degreasing process, but I just wiped mine down with paper towels until it no longer tried to slip out of my hand, and left a film of the oil on it for protection.

Trivia: In the beginning and again at the end of the video, Dustin is in a bar talking. Look at the portrait behind and above the bar to the left of Dustin, right over his shoulder, and compare it to that beardy bastard above behind the gun in my last photo. Spooky, huh?



.