High humidity reeks havoc

[M. De Land]

love how the guy who has never had a chain fire tells the person who has had chain fires, cured the problem, recreated the chain fire deliberately and then cured it again that I am wrong.

Your not wrong about over ball lube helping to prevent chain fire but if you have a gap in the lead it won't . You are wrong about it never happening through the nipples. I've not had it happen because of proper hammer spring tension and good nipples along with over ball lube and over size balls that have prevented it.

 

[M. De Land]

Here's what Ol' Sam had to say on the matter. Pages nine and ten. He also gives the cure in the drawing.

What does Colt say about it on pages 9 and 10 which I can't seem to access ?

 

[M. De Land]

over ball lube absolutely does work. how many of you have actually had chain fires and corrected them and then recreated the chain fire deliberately and then corrected it again. ?

All you proved is one way a chain fire occurs and ignoring every thing else that is going on.

 

[nick_1]

it seems like what colt said is that he had to redesign the nipples and cylinder to help prevent chain fires through the nippls? there really was not anything else to ignore. I had a problem, I trouble shot the problem, I fixed the problem and people still tell me I am wrong

 

[SOLANCO]

Reinforces my preferences for single shot flintlocks of both handgun and long arm persuasions. Cap n ball revolvers are pretty and quaint. In a pinch I'll take my Combat Commander or Smith Mountain Gun of Chiefs Special. As far as I am concerned, handguns are defensive weapons. Not toys. OK My flint pistol is a toy. But it is not what I am reaching for when the fit hits the shan.

 

[IanH]

I had a problem, I trouble shot the problem, I fixed the problem and people still tell me I am wrong

Welcome to the internet.

 

[M. De Land]

it seems like what colt said is that he had to redesign the nipples and cylinder to help prevent chain fires through the nippls? there really was not anything else to ignore. I had a problem, I trouble shot the problem, I fixed the problem and people still tell me I am wrong

No one is saying your wrong about chain fires from the front of the cylinder. What you have wrong is that it "only" occurs from the front end !

 

[44Bro]

It's a pdf I'll try Attaching it here.

 

[nick_1]

what I have experienced here on this site is an abundance of people who have never had a chain fire pontificating that chain fires rarely happen from the front of the cylinder and that they usually happen from the nipples. It may be possible to have chain fires from the nipples but my chain fires happened from the front. I isolated the problem and proved it. have any of you had chain fires from the nipples. made adjustments ONLY to the nipples and caps, cured the chain fire, taken a step back and undid the adjustments, replicated the chain fire, re do the adjustment and cure the chain fire? If you have a chain fire and then change your nipples, switch to #10 caps and add lubed wads to your load you will undoubtably cure the chain fire but you will not know which one of the steps that you took was the cure.

 

[smoothshooter]

High humidity in Maryland today. Went to range. With T7 it was frustrating.
My ‘48 Colt .31 pocket didnt do too bad except accuracy was off compared to normal.
But the ‘51 Navy .36, i can usually get 6 or 7 cylinders before it wants a disassembly and wipe down. Today after 2 cylinders (12shots) the fouling was so bad the cylinder would barely turn. After 3 I called it a day, besides my hands were sweating so bad the grip was sliding all over.
Maybe the little one wasnt as affected cause it takes less powder, but the Navy just did not want to be there today.
What’s your experience with powder fouling and humidity?

Fouling usually gets softer with high humidity.

 

[smoothshooter]

I'm a black powder noob, and I was astonished at how rapidly black powder fouls the barrel. Today, I tried shooting with chamber lube and was even more astonished at how much the fouling is reduced by using the lube. Contrary to popular misbelief, as I understand it, the purpose of the lube is NOT to prevent chain fire, but to lube and clean the barrel with each shot. And by golly, I've found that's true, and it works. It doesn't really matter whether you top off the chamber with lube, or whether you lube your patch, you just use plenty of lube and it works!!

The formulas I've tried so far:
40% beeswax + 60% Crisco
40% beeswax + 60% Olive oil

The olive oil lube was a little easier to use, but I think might get too soft in really warm weather.

Lubricated 1/8” felt wads under the ball work just as well and are far less messy.

 

[smoothshooter]

Chamber grease DOES prevent chain fires, if it doesn't melt and run out first. It also helps keep the cylinder from caking up with fouling so badly it won't turn after the first cylinder full is fired. Barrel lubing is an important, but almost secondary benefit.

On humid days the fouling from BP can get so bad it's like black paint running all over everything. Flintlock pans and pistol cylinders/barrels condense moisture from the air as they cool from being fired, making a gooey mess. That's just part of the fun! A roll of paper towels in the range bag is your friend, and I've been known to keep an old Windex bottle full of water/Ballistol mix (10:1 or so) handy, hold the revolver upside down and slightly barrel down, and spray out the goop from the front of the cylinder pin, barrel, and frame.

Grease over the chamber mouths has no effect on chainfires unless you are doing something else very wrong, and it may not even then.
I make my own lube by melting cooking oil and beeswax together. I punch my own felt wads and dip them one at a time in the melted lube with tweezers.
I also smear it on the arbor before shooting.
I have gotten as many as 96 shots out of my Uberti .36 Navy without cleaning using Shuetzen 3F.
Never kept track with my Unerti 1860 Army, but it does well too.

Use proper fitting caps and balls and you will have no chain fires, even with no lube at all in the chambers.
If a chain fire occurs, it is not a disaster. Does no harm to gun or shooter.
I have never had one myself, but witnessed one. Was a funny surprise.

 

[APG]

If you ever watched a cap and ball revolver shot in slow motion you'll see that fire and sparks come out of the nipple of the chamber that is shot, sparks and fire come out of the gap between the cylinder and barrel and also the same out of the end of the barrel. Pretty neat to watch. And by the looks of it a chain fire can come from either end of the cylinder. This is just my opinion be it right or wrong.

 

[M. De Land]

Lubricated 1/8” felt wads under the ball work just as well and are far less messy.

That is what I have switched to after five decades of over ball lubing and so far have been very well satisfied with but still have yet to give them a head to head equal test to over ball lubing for accuracy.

 

[M. De Land]

by the same token lube also gets that extra spilled powder soaking wet. I have shot plenty cylinders without lube and with tight balls and normal loads with no problems. i do prefer a little lube to keep the fouling soft. If I was shooting 40 +gr of real PB I would use lube. the lubed wads may work really well as others have said, I just dont want to add another step and another thing to buy.

You can easily make your own wads as opposed to buying them, which is another step I suppose ,but at loading it takes the place of the over ball lubing, its not an added step.
The other thing I never liked about over-ball lubing is if the wind is blowing at any angle from in front of you your shooting glasses will soon be covered with atomized melted lube blowing back in you face.
The biggest issue of over ball lubing that troubles me is the lube volume change in each chamber as the shot count progresses in a fiull cylinder load, the first shot being the most significant.

 

[nick_1]

making wads is a huge extra step. I used to make paper cartridges as well and no longer do that. the way I lube my cylinders is superfast, easy and not messy. someone just said it again upthread that lubing chamber mouths has no effect on chainfires. lube has an excellent effect on chainfires. It stops them dead. naturally there are other factors involved but If you are dead set on shooting maximum loads I would highly recommend lube in chamber mouths.

 

[CaptainVane]

Fouling usually gets softer with high humidity.

Maybe softer, didn’t test it. All I know is there was a hella lot more gummed up powder than I usually encounter.

 

[stikshooter]

Hmmm. OK, can you cite instances, or is this just your opinion? No problem with being extra cautious.

Not opinion just FACT/really Ed

 

[French Colonial]

I started taking the cylinder out to load it, it is just easier for me at my age and sausage fingers. Easier to load the powder, the wad is the easiest step of all and putting the balls in place and getting the rammer precisely aligned is easy as well.

No chainfires and no lube on top of the ball.

 

[nick_1]

I also load on the bench. I have several spare cylinders that I carry in pouches when in the field. a small dab of bore butter on the end of my starter that I load with lubes the ball and seals the chamber without me ever touching the lube.