BP Revolvers....What Am I Doing Wrong??!?!

[skyhigh315]

Hi,

I've got a few Pietta and Uberti Colt replicas, but lately when I shoot, I can't seem to get more than six or seven shots before the cylinder is too 'sticky' to revolve by just cocking the hammer. I see videos of guys shooting and reloading for 30 and 40 shots without cleaning. I'm using Pyrodex P, .451 round balls. No wads.

Am I punishing myself by not using wads or lube over the balls?

 

[OLD CROW]

good morning,
whats changed in your shooting style ???
you say ''but lately''.................did you lube over the balls previously?
glenn

 

[Juice Jaws]

I grease the arbor and that works for me. Use wads some times and never lube over balls. Also use 3F black powder.

 

[Swandog]

I'm a newb but in my limited experience you must lube the arbor that the cylinder revolves around. also...Could your wedge be tapped in too tight to reduce the cylinder gap too much?

 

[Many Klatch]

Put white lithium grease on the arbor before you shoot. Once blackpowder crud starts building up on the arbor the cylinder can get almost impossible to turn. Either that or take off the cylinder each time you reload and clean the arbor.

 

[Eutycus]

This white lithium grease, is it the same that comes in grease cartridges for grease guns? But I think, that is more of a black grease. Does it really matter?

 

[robinsroost]

I use white lithium grease, in a spray can, from Walmart or big lots. It is white and useful for a verity of things around the house...…….robin

 

[Jack Ryan]

Hi,

I've got a few Pietta and Uberti Colt replicas, but lately when I shoot, I can't seem to get more than six or seven shots before the cylinder is too 'sticky' to revolve by just cocking the hammer. I see videos of guys shooting and reloading for 30 and 40 shots without cleaning. I'm using Pyrodex P, .451 round balls. No wads.

Am I punishing myself by not using wads or lube over the balls?

You are using pyrodex is your problem. They are BLACK POWDER revolvers.

 

[TFoley]

I've shot 99.9% Pyrodex in my ROA since the day I bought it, 32 years ago. I get to shoot maybe 48 shots before I need a cleanup of the cylinder pin and a re-application of NON-petroleum-based grease. I use Shakespeare spinning real grease - having lucked into a ten-pound tub in a fishing tackle fire-sale about twenty years ago. I shot beside a pal using a similar pistol a few years back whose cylinder froze up after 18 shots - he was using a petroleum-based water pump grease. There's a lesson there - petroleum-based lubes burn from the heat of shooting a BP handgun, and make sooty cruddy and hard carbonised coke.

 

[Le Loup]

Hi,

I've got a few Pietta and Uberti Colt replicas, but lately when I shoot, I can't seem to get more than six or seven shots before the cylinder is too 'sticky' to revolve by just cocking the hammer. I see videos of guys shooting and reloading for 30 and 40 shots without cleaning. I'm using Pyrodex P, .451 round balls. No wads.

Am I punishing myself by not using wads or lube over the balls?

Well personally I would be using grease over the ball as a safety factor, to stop chain firing. I have never used Pyrodex, only 3FG Black Powder, & I never had any problem with the cylinder sticking.
Keith.

 

[drobs]

I use a dab of Bore Butter on the Arbor and find I can shoot for days at a time. If using dry Wonder Wads, I put a dab of Bore Butter between the wad and the ball. This puts the lube down the barrel instead of all over the outside of the gun.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Try some CLP or Hopped around the cylinder’s pin.

 

[Eutycus]

I've always heard it's a chemical reaction of sorts when any petroleum based product is used in conjunction with black powder. A "tarry" substance is going to be the result. Simple chemistry.

 

[skyhigh315]

Hi Guys,

First off, THANKS for all of your replies. I can't believe how much of a moron I can be after so many years of shooting, then not shooting, then starting up again! I totally neglected to lube the arbor. I put a dab of Bore-Butter and ran out of ammo before the cylinder could seize up. Caps jammed up in the 1860 Army, but the Hog-Leg (Walker) just fires and fires until the balls were all gone. I read someplace about adding some lube on top of the wad and under the ball. I was dubious at first, but I tried it and maybe it's coincidental, but even my 13-year-old was getting 4" groups at 25 yards with his '51 Navy.

 

[uno676]

I put lube over the ball when it gets a little sticky but usually that’s after I’ve shot a bunch. As somebody said above don’t use petroleum based lube the fouling likes to stick to it.

 

[Kansas Jake]

If you have Pyrodex and no black powder, go ahead and shoot it. It is a little harder to clean up than BP, but I've had no real problems with it in a C&B revolver. I grease the arbor or cylinder pin and when the cylinder starts to get stiff, I pull the cylinder, give the arbor/pin a wipe and re-lube it. I've also used Hoppes Black Powder solvent to keep a cylinder loose without pulling it. I just put a few drops in between the cylinder and frame in the area at the front of the cylinder arbor/pin. I would guess if you are using any type of BP liquid lube it would serve the same purpose. I often add the solvent after a few cylinders are shot.

 

[bang]

Hi Guys,

First off, THANKS for all of your replies. I can't believe how much of a moron I can be after so many years of shooting, then not shooting, then starting up again! I totally neglected to lube the arbor. I put a dab of Bore-Butter and ran out of ammo before the cylinder could seize up. Caps jammed up in the 1860 Army, but the Hog-Leg (Walker) just fires and fires until the balls were all gone. I read someplace about adding some lube on top of the wad and under the ball. I was dubious at first, but I tried it and maybe it's coincidental, but even my 13-year-old was getting 4" groups at 25 yards with his '51 Navy.

I used a melted together mix of hard wax and veg oil for top of ball. I like it because mixed right you can put it in a cooking syringe to apply it. It adds lube to ball on exit and helps to keep out lead fouling. As far as pyrodex, I've been using it in all my BPs for years. Even my cannon.
Some may frown on it but I use Pyrodex P in everything. Has always worked out great for me.

 

[smoothshooter]

Hi,

I've got a few Pietta and Uberti Colt replicas, but lately when I shoot, I can't seem to get more than six or seven shots before the cylinder is too 'sticky' to revolve by just cocking the hammer. I see videos of guys shooting and reloading for 30 and 40 shots without cleaning. I'm using Pyrodex P, .451 round balls. No wads.

Am I punishing myself by not using wads or lube over the balls?

Keep some grease on the arbor,
And when loading put a greased wad between the powder and ball.
Don't bother with smearing grease over the loaded chambers. Makes a big mess, is an extra loading step,'and does nothing to prevent chain-fires.

For lube on the wad and arbor I use a melted mix of about 1 part bee's wax to 2 parts olive oil.
Typically get 50 to 90 shots without having to break down to clean, if even then.
I also put just a tiny bit of lube on the rear, raised part of the cylinder where it rubs on the frame as it rotates.

 

[Gee Dog]

+1 re Deputy Dog's mention of white lithium grease on the arbor/cylinder pin. In conjunction with a proper under-ball lubricant you can get 90-100 full load shots before the cylinder begins to bind (and meanwhile any foweling buildup in the bore will stay soft).

 

[bang]

When I first started with pistols I bought a Rogers and Spencer. A friend had a New Army 44. He was always having to fight with rotation and to get the cylinder pin out regardless of lube. My Spencer was a breeze. Turned out he was maxing out the powder. He liked the boom. Well he couldn't hit consistant with it. Final solution was to drop the powder load to average and work out what that gun shot for best performance. In doing so it greatly reduced the amount of build up and heat exposure. Wasn't much help to his aim but at least the pin would come out without getting out the brass hammer.