My black powder pistol experience is EXTREMELY limited but I used to shoot with a friend that had a Ruger Old Army and it was definitly a hoot to deal with the Crisco, the powder and the caps.
If I remember correctly he used 40 grains black powder with a .457 round ball for a "full" charge and 20 grains for a target load.
I don't remember the weight of the round ball just thought it was odd that a .44 revolver took a .457 ball. It usually shaved some lead seating the ball in the cylinder but he claimed that was a good indication he had a "good" seal.
Caps were somewhat hard to come by back then and he said he had problems with foreign made caps and not knowing if a 10 or 11 size cap was going to fit.
NOTE: My friend warned me about the incredible danger of the Ruger Old Army black powder revolver being that if his wife ever caught him in the kitchen in the midst of cleaning the thing he would undoubtedly be a dead man. (Boiling water and an old tooth brush to clean the thing and dry the thing out in the oven on an old cookie sheet etc.)
