I've been known to carry a 1858 Confederate Navy .44 in the woods as backup. Just in case the past warnings on this thread did not get thru, ALWAYS seal each and every chamber on your pistol after loading EVERY TIME you load. I've seen several of these guns that suffered chain fire and none of them looked pretty.
Another way of sealing each chamber are those Wonder Wads, and yet a third option is to load another 10-15 grains of cornmeal or uncooked grits on top of the powder and under the roundball. It's a pain in the a**, but will not melt and run out on a real hot day.
And for laughts, mix the cornmeal with the blackpowder BEFORE loading so that it cools down the burn of the powder. You will get a smoke cloud so big that you can sneak up on the target and pistol whip it into submission while it is coughing up it's lungs and rubbing it's eyes. Another advantage of the cornmeal trick is that you will fill the chamber more fully so that when the ball is seated, it is fully seated on a compressed powder charge. Some of those pistols will leave you with an airgap between the ball and powder even at full stroke of the charging rod.
