Black powder revolvers

[Delmar]

all right i just bought a 1860 Army Steel Sheriff .44-Caliber Revolver , should be here in a week so i went a head and bought the ball ammo , the caps and snag some powder off my old man . only thing i don't have is the paper wads , sooo can i just use some tough paper cloth instead ? ya know jerry rig some thing up . i'm also thinking about buying the R&D .45 LC cylinder for it too .

A lot of guys use felt for the wads and soak them in some sort of crisco canola oil blend or something. I just load the powder and seat the ball. Haven't had any chain fires so far.

 

[Claddagh]

The best known trade name in treated felt wads for C&B revolvers is Ox Yoke Originals "Wonder Wads". They're readily available from many outlets. Cabela's, Dixie Gun Works and Midway USA are among those. Dixie also offers punches in various sizes for fabricating your own.

Cloth is generally used as "patch" material for projectiles (usually RB loads) in muzzle-loading rifles and single-shot handguns, but not in C&B revolvers. Paper was once used as wadding in smoothbore muskets and as patching material for the lead slugs in some BP cartridge designs. Neither is particularly usefull in a revolver.

A "wad" serves a very different purpose in a revolver than in a musket or shotgun. In those its primary purpose is to provide a way to keep the powder charge in place and form a rudimentary gas seal in order to better propel the projectile(s). In a C&B revolver, it's used as an alternative to topping off the chambers with grease to provide some lubrication for the bullet and greatly reduce the possibility of "flashover" ignition of the adjacent chambers.

Most folks use one method or the other, not only for better safety, but because it helps keep the powder fouling soft. This allows more rounds to be fired before functional issues from accumulated fouling start cropping up and makes the inevitable cleaning easier to do.

IMO, the cheapest and easiest method is to use your finger, a popsicle stick, a knife blade or what-have-you to fill the front of the loaded chamber with Crisco. It's better suited to range/plinking sessions than it is to carrying in a holster (especially in warm weather!) but it works perfectly well and is much less expensive than buying specialty products like "Spit Ball" or "Bore Butter".

 

[JusAdSumBellum]

Thinkin hard about finding a black powder revolver as a displaynovelty shooter. Really want it for the cowboy kid in me.

Saw the 1851 navy round barrel at cabellas online. Looks like for 200 I can get started playin cowboys and indians. I wonder if this will just be another addiction that never ends.

My brother bought one of these. I shot it a few weeks ago. Seems pretty high maintenance, but its really fun to shoot. He bought the handgun and a Confederate States reproduction gun holster to complement it. He looks awful goofy with it.

 

[cosermann]

I've used and like the wonder wads. They're a little extra insurance against chain fires and a lot less messy than topping off the cylinders w/Crisco or the like. Have fun.

 

[Delmar]

+1 for Crisco!

 

[cosermann]

Cheap, but effective. And it's good for fries and onion rings too!

 

[WLW]

I use the wonder wads too, but not as much as to prevent chain fires but to make the powder remain placed in a nice compact area of the chamber. I use to be scared to death of chain fires, then I read an article by "The Bevel Brothers" in Muzzle Blast magazine which is the official pub for the NMRLA. The did a pretty convincing test about chain fires and it produce the results that chain fires can occur from loose fitting caps on the nipples, and not from loose powder and ball (if the ball being used is the proper size). I wish I could provide a link to the article but I don't think it is online. If you get Muzzle Blast its in a 2010 issue.

Just thought I would share...

 

[rex soldier]

I use the wonder wads too, but not as much as to prevent chain fires but to make the powder remain placed in a nice compact area of the chamber. I use to be scared to death of chain fires, then I read an article by "The Bevel Brothers" in Muzzle Blast magazine which is the official pub for the NMRLA. The did a pretty convincing test about chain fires and it produce the results that chain fires can occur from loose fitting caps on the nipples, and not from loose powder and ball (if the ball being used is the proper size). I wish I could provide a link to the article but I don't think it is online. If you get Muzzle Blast its in a 2010 issue.

Just thought I would share...

thanks for sharing
my uncle is kinda worry about that happening too me . he said he's seen it go off before on a another guy before and want me to put crisco stuff on the end of cylinder after i loaded it . but i didn't think it could happen if i used bigger bullets . but thanks for sharing now i might not be a chicken when i fire it for the first time .

 

[Jack Ryan]

I use wonder wads once in a while but mostly I just shoot bullets and grease the grooves.

 

[WLW]

thanks for sharing
my uncle is kinda worry about that happening too me . he said he's seen it go off before on a another guy before and want me to put crisco stuff on the end of cylinder after i loaded it . but i didn't think it could happen if i used bigger bullets . but thanks for sharing now i might not be a chicken when i fire it for the first time .

Well now... hold on pardner. I didn't say bigger, I said proper fitting bullets and more importantly proper fitting caps. Some of the import revolvers nipples are a bit small. My boss has an 1858 where the nipples are so small the caps wiggle real bad. He changed the nipples out and now all is good. What the Bevel brothers were saying is the spark from the cap going off can get under another cap and then you've got a chain fire.

They tried as hard as they could to cause one the way most folks say it'll happen and that's by not putting grease or a wonder wad in place.

So... if your uncle says use grease use it. I'm only sharing what I read in an article.

Be well,

WLW

 

[rex soldier]

Well now... hold on pardner. I didn't say bigger, I said proper fitting bullets and more importantly proper fitting caps.

uh what i kinda meant was instead of firing 451" diameter i would fire .454" diameter . i can do that right ? i heard another guy say thats what he fires so i really don't know .

 

[Delmar]

uh what i kinda meant was instead of firing 451" diameter i would fire .454" diameter . i can do that right ? i heard another guy say thats what he fires so i really don't know .

Most likely you can, yes. There will be one particular size ball that fits best in your pistol. If, for example, your pistol shaves a nice ring off of a .451 ball, you could probably get away with using .454 as well, but it is going to take a lot more force to seat the ball. If you try seating .457 balls in the same gun chances are you will risk breaking the loading lever pin.

 

[rex soldier]

Most likely you can, yes. There will be one particular size ball that fits best in your pistol. If, for example, your pistol shaves a nice ring off of a .451 ball, you could probably get away with using .454 as well, but it is going to take a lot more force to seat the ball. If you try seating .457 balls in the same gun chances are you will risk breaking the loading lever pin.

alrighty then i should be all set when it gets here Thursday . thanks guys

 

[Claddagh]

Mostly what Delmar said. Read the manual/pamphlet that comes with your revolver for what ball size they recommend. It varies, with Pietta usually saying 0.451" and Uberti 0.454" (for nominal .44 cal. revolvers). Some of the Walker and Dragoon replicas and the Ruger Old Army need a 0.457" ball.

Also agree that properly fitting caps likely do more to prevent "chainfires" than grease or wads, given the use of a pure lead projectile of the right size for the chamber.

The problem is that there is no uniform set of dimensions that're "standard" among the various manufacturers of percussion caps, or for nipples (other than for thread size and pitch, SAE or metric) for that matter. A "No. 11" cap from one maker might fit snugly on the nipples of a particular revolver while those from another will need to be pinched in order to keep them from falling off.

Basically three things one can do about that: Change cap brand. Change nominal cap size (eg: No.11 to No.10) or replace the factory nipples with an aftermarket set. I've found that Remington No.10 caps usually fit the nipples on most of my Italian replicas much more snugly than about any make of No.11's. YMMV.

FWIW, another little tip from experience: Get some plain ol' Windex and snag an old toothbrush somewhere. It'll make your clean-up a lot quicker and easier whether you use grease or not.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

+1 on using #10 caps. Seems most of the italian replicas ARE made for the #10s, and they do fit better. Do take the time to push them on snugly with your thumb, and not a hard object.

 

[Delmar]

My BP cleaning tip is baby wipes! My wife bought me a cheap paper cutter and I cut a mess of wipes in quarters before I go to the range. Wipe the cylinder pin and the cylinder with one every third or fourth time you load. Then use one for a patch on your cleaning rod to get the fowling out of the barrel and the cylinder. It will keep you shooting all day!

 

[WLW]

My BP cleaning tip is baby wipes! My wife bought me a cheap paper cutter and I cut a mess of wipes in quarters before I go to the range. Wipe the cylinder pin and the cylinder with one every third or fourth time you load. Then use one for a patch on your cleaning rod to get the fowling out of the barrel and the cylinder. It will keep you shooting all day!

Dang..that's smart!

 

[Jack Ryan]

My BP cleaning tip is baby wipes! My wife bought me a cheap paper cutter and I cut a mess of wipes in quarters before I go to the range. Wipe the cylinder pin and the cylinder with one every third or fourth time you load. Then use one for a patch on your cleaning rod to get the fowling out of the barrel and the cylinder. It will keep you shooting all day!

I "wonder" how those would work for wonder wad type thing if you had a punch and just kept them sealed in something?

 

[Delmar]

I "wonder" how those would work for wonder wad type thing if you had a punch and just kept them sealed in something?

Wonder wads and most felt wads that people use, are a good deal thicker. Baby wipes are a pretty tough material though.

To use as wet patches I keep them in a ziplock bag. I also take some out of the bag and let them dry out to use for dry patches, or to lube the pistol after.

 

[rex soldier]

i just put 50 rounds down range with my new cap and ball . and i'll i got to say is sweet . i tried the whole crisco crap . all it did is make it more messy and i seen that if your not care-full your powder will get stuck on it and just make it a mess .
the cc .11 caps don't work very good for me . there to small and hard to get on the nipple and when i do get them on some times they don't fire the first time and i got to hit them again with the hammer to fire . but the remington .11 work every time . and fit just snug too .

something else i wanna know is what kinda of powder are you guys using ??

i was using the hodgon triple 777 and i used pyrodex once . at all worked fine but it really didn't make awhole lot of smoke or make the gun messy .
i tried to find some real black powder at gun stores but no seems to sell it .