WARNING - The information in this post could result in severe injury or death. This is presented as "food for thought" only. Anyone following the concepts presented here does so at his own risk.

In the 1870s it was popular to have a carbine and a handgun chambered in the same caliber so the shooter only had to worry about one set of reloading dies and bullet mold.

This same concept is availabe today in many .357 Mag / .44 Mag / .45 Colt carbines and revolvers, but this is all common knowledge.

I have taken a lot of heat for being a wheelgunner in the age of semiauto handguns and ARAK long arms.
Most of the folks who give me grief like to talk about the generous stash of m ilsurplus ammo they have collected along with reloading components.

Unfortunately all of the skeptics seems to have missed one critical part of their preps. Not a one of them has the ability to produce jacketed or plated bullets as part of their plans. In fact, I have yet to meet one of them that has ever cast a bullet and/or has the molds to do so in his kit.

Then there is the really nasty fact that gas operated weapons and black powder do not go well together. If you think shooting cast bullets in your favorite AR/AK might create a problem, you have no idea what the black powder fouling will do to the gas system. In very short order, even an AK will be reduced to a single shot squirrel rifle because the cartridge will lack the gas pressure to cycle the action assuming the fouling and the cast bullets have oleft the gas port open.

Now back to the revolver and matching carbine.
They will run on cast bullets.
They will run on Black Powder.
With a good relaoading manual I have the ability to salvage components and propellents from salvaged or bartered rounds and convert those components to fit wither a .357 or .44 revolver cartridge, both effectively and SAFELY.

9mm Luger used a .355 bullet. .38/.357 use a .357 diameter bullet. The slightly smaller diameter bullet will cost you some velocity and accuracy if used as is, but the value is in the small pistol primers used in those cartridges and the powders. Pistol cartridges normally operate at a significantly higher pressore than a revolver cartridge, so taking poder fromk a 9mm Luger case and using it in a .38Spl case gets you a .38+P or a low end .357 in the longer magnum case.

A .40 S&W or .45 ACP will get you a hot .44 Special or a mild. 44 Magnum. .45 ACP will give you pretty close to a standard .45 Colt load and the bullet is the same diameter. All of these use the same Large Pistol Primer.

Shotgun shells also contain powder that can be used in handguns, and the lead shot melt and cast nicely.

This type of improvisation is possible because revolvers are not picky about the pressure of the ammo they fire. As long as the bullet clears the barrel, you can keep shooting. If all you have access to is Black Powder or Grand Ma's Gun Powder, the revolver won't care. Jacketed or cast lead bullets fire the same in the revolver.

My BOB contains 2 Lee Loader kits and 2 bullet molds. With these kits I can reload my primary defense weapon and my heavy hunting handgun. The key to this entire gimmick in knowledge. If you are not damned careful and 200% sure of your information, you can blow yourself straight to hell. Get a couple of good reloading manuals, and learn how to read them.
In extreme situations, this could be a lifesaver.

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"Life is what you make of it friend" ~ Linda Hunt in Silverado
"When one is in danger of being mobbed by squadrons of passionate Zulus, one shot stops are entirely satisfactory." ~ Jeff Cooper

This is good knowledge for those who know firearms and are capable of reloading their own ammo. Imaginos is correct that if you are going to do this you have to get the knowledge you need through reloading manuals and other reliable sources of information. Be careful about using reloading information that you get on the internet.

Here are some more useful tidbits you can use. If you have a 223 or any other 22 caliber centerfire rifle, you can shoot cast lead through it. You just need to back the loads down to where the velocity is about 1200 FPS (feet per second). I prefer to take it down to about 1000 FPS. Leading of non jacketed bullets is normally not an issue at these low speeds. These speeds are the same as a typical 22LR. They will not be effective for larger game, but your 223 will still make a good squirrel or small game rifle. I would avoid using these in an AR if possible, but they will work good in any bolt action 223 hunting rifle.

There are still firearms available that the rounds used in them were originally developed when black powder was widely used. The 38/357 and 44 that were mentioned by Imaginos are good examples. One that is more effective is the 45-70. These work for large game, even with black powder loads. They are hard to find, but you can get a 45-70 rifle that will shoot ammo with todays higher pressures, powders and jacketed rounds. They will also function properly with black powder and cast lead bullets. Load data is available for a lot of different velocities and pressures. If you want to find something like this, do a search for cowboy action shooting. They are the ones who this type of rifle was developed for.

If you use black powder for any reloads, use warm water and soap to clean powder residue. It is more effective than modern cleaners like Hoppes. After cleaning the black powder residue, clean as you normally would with modern solvents to remove any leading in the barrel and the oil the gun very well.

Since I reload for all of my centerfire guns, pistol, rifle and shotgun, I keep a large quantity of reloading supplies on hand for emergency use only. I keep 1,000 rounds for each gun loaded and ready to go, along with enough supplies to reload 5,000 more for each. For calibers I can't reload, like 22LR I keep 5,000 rounds for each gun. I figure this will give me plenty of ammo for most long term emergencies as long as I do not waste it. Also, in a long term emergency, I figure I can scrounge up enough ammo and supplies to keep me going even longer.

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Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Handgun and Personal protection in the Home.
V.F.W. Life Member
NRA Member
U.S. Army Veteran