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Drum and nipple question
- Thread starter Fran49829
- Start date
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Fran: If your gun has a "side drum" sticking out the side of the barrel about 3/4 of an inch ahead of the rear of the barrel, you should be able to see the ramrod.
If it has a "snail" breechplug it will have one or more small channels which connect the nipple to the powder charge in the barrel. With this design, you will not be able to see the ram rod, but if you remove the nipple, you should see the connecting hole headed off towards the bore.
To answer you real question, for reliable, fast ignition, the gunpowder needs to get thru the connecting hole(s) so it is sitting right under the nipple when the cap fires.
One of the reasons people have slow fire, or hung fire, or no fire when the cap goes off is because they didn't get the powder under the nipple. This is usually caused by them leaving the spent cap from the previous shot on the nipple and/or leaving the hammer down on the nipple when ramming the next shot. If the fire has to turn a few corners to get to the powder, it often doesn't have enough heat left to actually ignite the powder charge.
If the nipple is clear, with the hammer at half cock when you ram the first/next shot, the air in the barrel will blow the loose powder back thru the connecting holes so it stops right under the nipple.
The only times I've seen problems with this is if the connecting hole(s) have oil in them from the previous cleaning, or when the gun was (IMO) not cleaned correctly and the old fouling is plugging the connecting hole(s).
By Cleaned correctly I recommend removing the nipple first. Then after wiping the bore with soap or whatever cleaning solution you want to use, flush the soap out of the bore by forceing water back and forth rapidly thru the nipple hole.
I just place the breech in a bucket of water and use a patched jag to suck the water in and blow it back out thru the nipple hole. On the down stroke, I apply a lot of pressure which litterly blasts the water out of the nipple hole. This removes all of the fouling buildup in these small connecting holes.
I forgot to say, I remove my barrel from the stock before doing this, but there are plastic tubes that can be bought which have ends that can screw into the nipple hole and do the same job without removing the barrel.
Hope this answers your question.
If it has a "snail" breechplug it will have one or more small channels which connect the nipple to the powder charge in the barrel. With this design, you will not be able to see the ram rod, but if you remove the nipple, you should see the connecting hole headed off towards the bore.
To answer you real question, for reliable, fast ignition, the gunpowder needs to get thru the connecting hole(s) so it is sitting right under the nipple when the cap fires.
One of the reasons people have slow fire, or hung fire, or no fire when the cap goes off is because they didn't get the powder under the nipple. This is usually caused by them leaving the spent cap from the previous shot on the nipple and/or leaving the hammer down on the nipple when ramming the next shot. If the fire has to turn a few corners to get to the powder, it often doesn't have enough heat left to actually ignite the powder charge.
If the nipple is clear, with the hammer at half cock when you ram the first/next shot, the air in the barrel will blow the loose powder back thru the connecting holes so it stops right under the nipple.
The only times I've seen problems with this is if the connecting hole(s) have oil in them from the previous cleaning, or when the gun was (IMO) not cleaned correctly and the old fouling is plugging the connecting hole(s).
By Cleaned correctly I recommend removing the nipple first. Then after wiping the bore with soap or whatever cleaning solution you want to use, flush the soap out of the bore by forceing water back and forth rapidly thru the nipple hole.
I just place the breech in a bucket of water and use a patched jag to suck the water in and blow it back out thru the nipple hole. On the down stroke, I apply a lot of pressure which litterly blasts the water out of the nipple hole. This removes all of the fouling buildup in these small connecting holes.
I forgot to say, I remove my barrel from the stock before doing this, but there are plastic tubes that can be bought which have ends that can screw into the nipple hole and do the same job without removing the barrel.
Hope this answers your question.
Gordon Horn
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 4
Just as an aside,(and this may just be my habit) but when I'm shooting my Tennessee which has the Drum and Nipple, after loading the powder, I pick it up a little and give it a couple of pats on the lock side. This helps get a little powder under the nipple also.
Happy shooting!
Happy shooting!
rudy parnell
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
- 418
- Reaction score
- 0
Zonie well done, sir. I would add that it is not necessary to remove the screw on the end of the drum type spark channel [ignition chamber]. Lots of guys thought for along time that they were getting some insurance by removing this screw and swabbing around inside there with cue tips and pipe cleaners. Not so. Best advise anyone shooting cap guns to stay away from penetrating oil. Use hot soapy water to flush out the entire system, then rinse with water and let stand. Wipe the outside of the barrel and all the metal around the nipple with a film of light sewing machine oil. Just put crisco, animal fat, or lube 1000 down the bore. In hunting season I use alcohol to clean the bore and charge channel and nipple. Wipe down exposed metal ie. barrel and lock and side plate, triggers, ect. with light film of oil. If you are going to store the gun for sometime then put oil in the barrel and cue tip oil into nipple hole and spark channels. Finally, the flathead screw in the drum holding the nipple is for introduction of powder to clear a projectile loaded without powder. Use extreme caution.
This proceedure could be dangerous. Personal injury and death could result from improper handling. :m2c:
This proceedure could be dangerous. Personal injury and death could result from improper handling. :m2c:
wwfeatherston
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2005
- Messages
- 187
- Reaction score
- 2
"One of the reasons people have slow fire, or hung fire, or no fire when the cap goes off is because they didn't get the powder under the nipple. This is usually caused by them leaving the spent cap from the previous shot on the nipple and/or leaving the hammer down on the nipple when ramming the next shot. "
That may be my problem- leaving the hammer down!
That may be my problem- leaving the hammer down!
This gun was almost impossible to fire with #11 caps. It was given to me because it would'nt go off. I made a small scraper which I attached to my ramrod, and after much reaming worked it through so I could see it through the cleanout hole. The gun now has over 100 rounds through it with no missfires. I wanted to be sure I did not make it unsafe or screw it up by reaming it out.
Fran
Fran
Some of the CVA guns have sort of a cone shape at the breech and if you want to scape out all the crud there is a special tapered scraper you can buy (this would be done at the end of the day when you are cleaning the weapon). Other brands are usually flat in the breech face area. In any event it seems you should still be able to see the tip of a ramrod depending on the diameter of the rod compared to bore diameter.
There are a lot of causes of a hang fire. Sometimes if you swab between shots you actually push crud down the bore and plug up the hole from the drum. The flash of the primer ignites this crud that then "Burns through" to the powder charge. This is why some folks always snap a cap before reloading- to blow out this crud. If you don't swab between shots then you shouldn't have much of a problem.
That tapping the butt- that's the way I was taught. Put in your charge, hold the gun with the lock plate down and give it a little tap to force some powder into the drum area.
There are a lot of causes of a hang fire. Sometimes if you swab between shots you actually push crud down the bore and plug up the hole from the drum. The flash of the primer ignites this crud that then "Burns through" to the powder charge. This is why some folks always snap a cap before reloading- to blow out this crud. If you don't swab between shots then you shouldn't have much of a problem.
That tapping the butt- that's the way I was taught. Put in your charge, hold the gun with the lock plate down and give it a little tap to force some powder into the drum area.
