62 caliber pistol

[btech]

Finally shot my new pistol I built. I get about 2-3 shots off and then the cap goes off but no ignition. I clean the barrel with scraper and swab. Removed nipple and clean it too. Next shot is still iffy. Finally just gave up. I'm wondering if the drum is filling with fouling material.
Is there some secret to shooting a percussion drum design?

 

[AZbpBurner]

I've got a scraper, but it's always at home - there's never any need to take either it or brushes to the range.

Scraper after only 2-3 shots? Why? A damp patch will suffice. Consider, too just a nipple pick, used in combination with a pipe cleaner thru the drum cleanout & into the bore. It doesn't take much to foul some drums and flash channels to impede cap fire into the barrel. So, step away from the scraper. You're likely breaking loose just enough powder residue to plug up the drum or nipple hole.

Also consider, after pouring in your powder charge, holding the pistol by the muzzle, and giving the barrel a couple of taps with a wooden mallet, or even just a section of big dowel or broom handle. It will settle powder, and feed a little into the drum. I use a wooden mallet for both flintlock and percussion rifles, and because of it, I never get misfires.

Nice looking pistol! I especially like the flat to round barrel. Was it a kit, or an assembly of parts you selected yourself?

 

[btech]

Made from parts. Hand shaped stock. If I don't scrape it still fouls very quickly. Could I have the drum too far from the breech? Got it all the back touching the breech.

 

[tecum-tha]

percussion/patent breech?
What is the powder chamber diameter?
You should swipe between shots. nd that is with a lightly damp patch. I guess your wiping patch is too tight and too wet. Exccess moisture will be at the end of your powder chamber and will foul the powder charge. Result: All gummed up and no ignition.

 

[Zonie]

Chances are pretty good that your barrel cleaning is filling the area between the nipple and the breech with fouling.

If this cleaning also includes using a wet patch there is a good chance that it is leaving water/cleaning fluid at the breech.

If this happens, the new powder charge will be dampened, greatly reducing the likelihood that it will fire.

I do not recommend cleaning the bore between shots unless loading is becoming difficult or your in a World Pistol Championship where hundredths of an inch is important.

 

[btech]

I started cleaning between shots because after 3-4 shots without cleaning, no fire. I pulled the drum after one set of shots and lots of fouling was present. Don't understand why I only have this problem with the drum design.

 

[Don]

Are you using real black powder or a substitute? If you are using real black try a sub if it isn't against your traditional convictions. Subs tend to foul less and should not cause the same problem at least not as fast. I have a drum percussion pistol that does the same thing after several shots even when using Pyrodex. I have found that running a couple of dry patches after a couple of shots to get some of the fouling out helps a lot.

Don

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Sounds like the fouling is just enough to prevent the powder from settling into the flash channel in the drum.

How big is the flash channel?

Large coarse powder grains just won't settle into a narrow flash channel after a little fouling build up. I have seen some with only an eighth inch channel, which I think if too narrow. I have used a dremel to open up the interior of a CVA drum a few times.

 

[crockett]

btech- yeah, you are probably loving it to death. If you are swabbing between shots you are pushing all the fouling clinging to the bore down into the breech area and that stuff is plugging up the drum's passage. If you want to swab between shots then, after swabbing, fire a cap on an unloaded barrel to blow out all the residue in the drum passage.
If you just pour in a new charge the powder bypasses the residue clinging to the bore, THEN when you ram down a PRB the patch sort of pushes the excess fouling down which is NOW above the powder charge.
The so called "fouling shot"...some guns will shoot to a different point of impact once you start reloading without the swabbing. BUT- not all guns do this. Try just reloading without the swabbing. OR...if you want to swab, shoot off a cap on an unloaded barrel before reloading. The cap is powerful and if you aim at some sand or tall grass, the cap's blast will move the grass or sand- insuring the passage way is clear.

 

[satx78247]

EXACTLY SO.

yours, satx

 

[zimmerstutzen]

also if there is THAT MUCH fouling from just a few shots, your patch ball combination sounds too loose. Black powder burning under a PRB that is too loose leaves substantially more fouling than a tight load.

There are some here who claim they can shoot dozens of shots without swabbing the barrel. Shooting from a smooth bore pistol should be no different. I swab the bore after nearly every shot, especially at matches, and NEVER had a drum clog from fouling after I opened up the flash channels.

 

[btech]

I used a 1/2" diameter drum from TOW. I checked yesterday and its not protruding into the barrel. Somehow I am getting a lot of fouling that's plugging the drum. Thanks for all the good ideas. I was wondering if a musket cap be better at getting thru the fouling? I'm using 3F Pyrodex, about 30 grns. #10 caps.

 

[Zonie]

Pyrodex should never create enough fouling to block off the flame channel or IMO, even to need to be wiped between shots.

I think your problem is the nipple you are using with your 1/2 inch diameter drum.

There isn't a published standard for nipples but there are basically two standard type (not including the Musket type). The pistol nipples and the rifle nipples.

The length of threads on most pistol nipples is about .200 inches long. The length of threads on a rifle nipple is about .250 long.

If you are using a rifle nipple and you have flattened off the surface around the nipple hole to give the nipple a surface to seal against, the lower end of the screwed in nipple is over half way thru the drum.

This will block off most of the flame channel that leads into the barrel with nipple threads.

Try getting a pistol nipple with the shorter threads.

An alternate approach is to remove the side screw in the drum. Look down the hole. If you see nipple threads, remove the nipple and try to file off the bottom of it so it won't block off as much of the flame channel.

With most nipples, there is a limit to how much of this lower area you can remove without totally removing the small restricting hole at the bottom.

That restriction is needed to keep the powder gas from blowing the hammer back during firing.

 

[btech]

I will try this. Thanks!