So yesterday, at our local gun show, (judging by the prices is was sponsored by Tiffanie's) I picked up a new project. It is an older CV Kentucky Cap and Ball kit, new in the box, and the price at 45.00. For 35.00 it came home with me. My pops has a Hawkins rifle kit he just finished and a navy revolver in black powder, thought I needed a place to start. Any advice, cautions or suggestions on putting one together or actually firing it appreciated.

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with wings as eagles

Black powder is FUN!

I got my first BP gun in 1969, a reproduction Civil War era .58 Remington Zouave rifle. Been shooting them ever since.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

My suggestion:
RTFM ! A couple of times before starting assembly and then again before trying to shoot it.

BP is a blast

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In dog years I'm dead.

That will be really a fun project and shooting BP is a lot of work and fun.
Just don't do what I did when I finished my Hawken rifle in the 70's.
Since I had no knowlege of what the stock was supposed to look like I just sanded it all smooth and rounded the edges. Years later I found out the wood around the lock work should have sharp well defined edges.
It would be good to look at some finished pieces so you get the right look. Is the kit barrel already blued?
Recently I purchased the Lyman plains pistol in 50 caliber to go along with my two 50 cal rifles. The 180 grain patched round ball with 40 grains of FF BP is a good load. I hope you can still get BP where you are located. I never thought Pyrodex was quite the same.
I never use the ramrod to load so I made one out of 3/8" brass rod and a wood handle. Always be sure to fire a cap before loading to remove oil. Always pour your powder charge from a separate measure. Seat the ball and patch firmly on the charge. Make sure that you have a nipple wrench and a nipple prick handy. Avoid the nipples with the little holes in the sides. I had miss and hang fires with them.
Some sanding and a little true oil should make for a nice looking pistol.
I do 120,180 and 220 in the silicon carbide paper. You can go to 320 but with several coats of finish 220 is usually enough. Do the inside with the oil as well to seal the wood.
Good luck and have fun.
Bruce

Hi guys,
The barrel is not blued so that will need to be done. I guess I should have said the only thing missing is the instructions, but it shouldn't be to hard. Found a couple of sites and even you tube videos of this pistol so will continue the research. Im really excited, of course now I have been looking at powder horns and all the accessories.

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with wings as eagles

You will spend more on accessories than you payed for the gun. A lot more! But don't worry it's only money. I don't shoot BP any more but I remember it was a lot of fun. Getting this pistol ready to shoot and then taking it to the range will be a lot of fun and keep you out of trouble. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

I echo the opinion Bruce had about Pyrodex-it's never been as good as the real thing. Black powder works wonderfully and most of the substitutes don't.

Cleaning-you have to clean the darn things and you can spend a small fortune in cleaners designed for black powder. But, to start with, and to save your sanity, just use hot water. Water, in fact, is the key ingredient in all the fancy cleaners (at least the ones I am aware of) sold to make cleaning BP "easy."

If you have a tea kettle, when you come home, put it on full of water. By the time you have the gun apart and ready to clean, the water will be boiling. Dump the water in a decent plastic bucket and use that water to clean the gun. With a rifle or single shot pistol, it is real easy. Stick the breech end in the water in the bucket and pump a cleaning rod with a patch on it from the muzzle end. The hot water will rise through the barrel and clean out the BP residue. The hot water will evaporate from the action of the heat and then the application of a lubricant will keep the gun from rusting.

Most people never start or, if they do, they never stick with BP because of the mess of cleaning. It really shouldn't take any longer to clean a BP firearm than it takes to clean a smokeless gun.

There are good cleaners for BP, but hot water will work just as well as they do.

Bob

Welcome back to the future. I mean forward to the past. I got my first, a Uberti Colt repro 1860 about a year ago and what fun it is.

Later you can meet in the middle and try black powder cartridge loading

I had one just like that when I was 13. My advice TAKE YOUR TIME (hard to do when you are a teenager). Buy a good grade of cold blue and it should work fine for your barrel, unless you have a local gunsmith that does bluing. If you do, a lot of times if you do the prep they'll throw it in the vat pretty cheap.
I agree with the BP shooters, use real Black Powder. Personally I don't like Goex, but for what you're doing it will work fine.
I used to use the hot water method, but found patches treated with Wonder Lube work just as good and not as messy.

A neccessary item with the many other accessories is a portable shower.
BP shooting will get you dirty and nasty in a hurry.

A nice front-stuffer should be browned, not blued. It'll make it look much more original. Take your time and enjoy the finished product.