Pre-cast lubed bullets are readily available from any number of sources. I find just about all of my black powder cartridge needs from Buffalo Arms in Ponderay, Id. (just north of Sandpoint).
I use vegetable wads of varying thickness in order to get the best possible amount of compression with nearly every cartridge I load whether that be .44 Russian, 44/40, 38/55, 45/70, 45/90.
Some powders perform better with more compression (1/4"), some less (-1/8") Regular Goex performs better with compression, Swiss not so much. I much prefer using Swiss in cartridges, I have substituted Goex Old Eynesford as it is Goex's answer to Swiss with the addition of graphite to coat each grain of powder. Nothing comes close to Swiss for consistency lot to lot, Goex is all over the place by comparison if your getting down to real accuracy. For pistol use the only reason I prefer to use Swiss is that it does not foul between shots to the degree that Goex does. You would have to be interested in shooting more than a couple of shots to really understand what I'm talking about but for example: I shoot my .44 D.A. in .44 Russian and even after about a couple dozen shots it starts to foul to the point where the cylinder binds slightly as I pull the hammer back to full cock, I simply unload and wipe the face of the cylinder as well as the area above the forcing cone and I'm back in business. On those early black powder era Smiths that small concave area above and slightly to the rear of the forcing cone is called the "fouling cup", even the 1917's have it. It was to provide a place for the fouling to gather without binding the cylinder, at least that makes sense to me...I welcome anyone to straighten me out.
If your going to go to the trouble of firing these old revolvers, use the best powder there is....Swiss, the Colonel would approve.