I had a chain fire with an 1858 where three cylinders went off at once and at 25 yds I actually had two holes in the paper. I had forgotten to put the lube over the ball. I use a mixture of beeswax and Murphy's Oil and it is not messy at all.
1851 Colt Navy
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oldwolf
40 Cal.
Last time out I recovered a few of my Duro-Felt / Crisco wads from downrange. I expected a burned and blackened corpse of a wad, but to my surprise the wad was still white on both sides, the perimeter was a little blackened with rifling marks, and the wad itself felt dry. I guess the Crisco lube was squeezed out of the wad and (hopefully)distributed down the bore.
oldwolf said:
What you found out was that the flame face did not reach the wad by the time it exited the bore; thus there was some amount of powder unburned and ineffective in propelling the ball. This is very often the case, even for moderate and light loads. It might only be a couple of grains, which would be ideal...
And yes, the lube was very likely distributed along the bore by virtue of the wad being compressed against the ball. The only way to prove this, however, is to compare the fouling in bores that have been shot with and without the wads.
oldwolf
40 Cal.
So you mean that since the powder burns from the breech and then forward, there was a layer of unburnt powder insulating the wad from being burnt as it moved down the barrel.
That would make sense if that is what you meant.
That would make sense if that is what you meant.
