Im going to get 3 pistols my grandfather made, he passed 3 years ago. I dont know anything about them at the moment, other than they are apparently "cap and ball". I am hoping they are marked with caliber or maybe have some bullet casts with them.

Can anyone school me on sizing the balls if needed, and what the best way to go about perhaps building up to a safe load on an unknown gun? I would love to be able to shoot them but if its not safe to do then it is what it is. Hopefully I will know more in a few weeks when I can get hands on with them.

Was he a 'make it yourself' kind of guy, or could they be from the various black powder kits that have been around through the years (where you do some finishing and assembly)? If it's one of the kits, I'm betting it won't be too hard to track down which model it was and find load info for it.

Post pic when you can .
The term Cap and Ball usually refers to a revolver . If he " made them " they were kits" ,
But they could also be single shots , and those can be made , also from a kit , UNLESS he was really into it .

No matter the caliber , if they are revolvers you want a ball to shave a ring of lead from the ball as you seat it .

IM me if you have any questions.

He very likely did not use a kit. He had a full machine shop and was always doing very nice work on all kinds of different stuff. Even did some stuff for the Texas Rangers I think.

I dont think they are revolvers. Should be single shot if they are similar to the one I saw as a kid, which was a flintlock.

My dad is not a gun guy at all so I really dont know what to expect from what he told me about them.

Post pictures when you receive them. If they are single shots and you determine the bore size then half that number and that would be your starting charge, ie .50 cal, start at 25 grains of 3f. Now if you were working up a load for a rifle, start a 1 gr of powder for each caliber.

Sorry I dont have any better pictures. Havent been able to go get them yet.

The flintlock looks to me to be one of those non-firing souvenir types that people used to pick overseas.

I really would love to see close ups of that long cylinder'd revolver and the silver derringer!

The long cylinder revolver is a Taurus Judge. The silver derringer looks interesting.

Revolver is an older Taurus Judge. Says made in Brazil.



Ill probably be able to pick them up next weekend so will have better pictures then.

That is one interesting & funky looking piece!

Update?

@Erkeric

Update?

Sorry I forgot about keeping up with this post.

I have the pistols but Im still not really sure what to make of the pistols. I dont know if they are kits or not. There is a picture of my grandfather holding the flint lock and possibly the other 2 percussion cap pistols in either 1962 or 63.

I am certain he made the derringer in his shop.

Turns out there was some confusion by my dad. The Judge was my other grandfathers and it got mixed up with another of the AMT pistols, a full size. Long story short that got sold instead of the Judge along with all of the other guns he had. I wish nothing got sold but what can you do.

Ill take some pictures when I get home today. Are there details that would indicate if the pistols are kits or non firing that I could look for?

Proof marks on the barrels .......most kits came with proofed barrels....... Bored thru touch hole on the flintlock..... rifled or smoothbore..... and any other markings for that matter.

That funky derringer is interesting....to say the least

Please dont mind my dirty workbench
So the silver derringer is in 45 acp. Barrel locks in place with a detent ball. Best I can tell is its intended to be fired by your middle finger. Index finger runs along side the barrel like you are pointing. Smooth barrel. Hammer is kind of difficult to pull back/heavy spring.




Long barrel flint lock is rifled. Seems like it would be fully functional. Touch hole is there. I dont see any proof marks or markings anywhere. Not to say they arnt under the wood.






The two percussion cap pistols are smooth bore. Again, no proof marks or anything. The longer has a bit of rust in the muzzle. And all the screws have decoration on the longer of the two. Knurling on the longers hammer.








I could take apart the two small pistols and see if they have markings under the wood. I dont know if I will. The flintlock is done with pins so I dont think I would want to take it apart.

Look like shooters to me.....you're gonna want to square up the cock/flint before trying to make sparks with that flintlock though...... whats the approx. caliber?

The derringer is slick......