Took it to the Range today and used TRIPLE7 and some Home-Made FFg Black Powder. Used the standard .375" round ball for everything, lubed with SPG. CCI #11 Magnum caps. Loading loose powder and ball I managed to shoot about 30 rounds an hour and had a great time doing it. Had NO misfires or hangfires. Had no caps dropping into the lockworks. It was just a great dirty time. Triple7 gave the best velocities and accuracy for me.

Took some video and then captured the moment of ignition.

Targets
Best Triple 7 Target

Best FFg Target

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

30 ROUNDS PER HOUR IS MOVIN' IT!

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

in regard to fouling the cylinder arbor? That was always the biggest issue I had with my repro '51 and '61 Navies back in the day. In the day, meaning the Carter administration.

The formula was store bought .375 round balls, I think like 15 grains by volume of Curtis & Harvey 3F, and the once omnipresent Italian #11 caps. Lube was Crisco.

After 3 cylinders full, and sometimes after 2, the arbor would get grungy enough that the whole action was sluggish, and a disassembly and cleaning was in order.

The brass framed Spiller and Burr copy I shot a lot back then, seemed much better sealed again that sort of issue.

In those days or yore, J C Penney's had the best assortment of black powder gear in town. Also you had to make sure you had caps stocked up if you wanted to shoot on Sunday. Caps could not be sold in town on Sunday due the Blue Laws we had in place. The past was weird place.

greatly diminished by keeping it thoroughly greased, not oiled. That is the purpose of the cuts on the arbor.

but when I pulled it apart in the shop after I got home, there was resistance to removing the barrel and sliding the cylinder off. Not great resistance but you could definitely feel it. It did not seem to affect rotation or at least, not much.

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

Windex with ammonia soak for a few minutes, then pushed a clean patch through ...

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

I run a patch soaked with Moose Milk down the barrel after every cylinder full. Keeps it shooting well and also makes it easier to clean up with when finished shooting.

My best friend in high school and I both had acquired repro 1851s by 1977. Mine was a no name used pawn shop gun, his was a Lyman badged, probably Uberti made, 1851 Colt Squareback.

The squareback was and is just a gaspingly good looking revolver.

That summer, both of us, by happenstance, killed rather large Opossums her our revolvers. Different days, same basic situation. The critters gamboled out in front of us when we were not hunting, and both were shot for their lapses in judgement.

The speed with which they fell over dead was impressive. I would guess the soft lead round balls were good at transferring the not very high energy they carried.