how long

[ebiggs1]

I just got through watching “Gone With the Wind”, again, but I noticed this time, Scarlet puts an 1858 Remington into a drawer and sometime later, perhaps months later, she retrieves the gun to shoot a Yankee looter.
My question is how long did they leave their guns loaded? A black powder revolver would be of little value if it had to loaded every time it was needed. Especially if the need was immediate!
I think I read somewhere that Robert E. Lee’s revolver was found some 6 years after he surrendered, and it was fired with no problem

 

[torn moc]

from personal experience....as long as you dont have any oil in the chamber to contaminate the powder and as long as the gun is in a dry environment....the charge will last a LOOOOONG time.
Then again...I have loaded a pistol that I forgot to swab the chambers befor loading ..and oil contaminated the powder charge...it would not fire the next day....
If thers no oil or moisture in the chambers I have kept a revolver loaded for over a year and it fired all six when I pulled the trigger...

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

It's important to have the proper size caps, too. With the ball sealing one end of the chamber and a tight cap on the other, the powder should stay alive indefinitely.

 

[LeMat1856]

.
. aug 1 / 05:00am


i've personally had a cylinder fully loaded and capped for over a month.. took it to the range and all 6 fired off perfectly.

humidity would be your worst enemy for long term storage.. keep the chambers as air tight as possible and it should be useable for months.

~d~

 

[ebiggs1]

You guys have hit right on my exact querry. Just what did they do back in the day? They certainly left their guns loaded for long periods of time.

 

Just what did they do back in the day?

Unless someone wrote it down - nobody knows.

Let's assume you can leave it for six years? :wink:

I think I read somewhere that Robert E. Lee’s revolver was found some 6 years after he surrendered, and it was fired with no problem

 

[hanshi]

Long, long, long ago before I had modern revolver, all I had for protection was an 1858. I lived in the humid Southeast. I kept the gun loaded for a year and it fired just fine.

 

[Homesteader]

Long, long, long ago before I had modern revolver, all I had for protection was an 1858. I lived in the humid Southeast. I kept the gun loaded for a year and it fired just fine.

Ditto

 

[DanChamberlain]

Black powder is not in and of itself hygroscopic. Even humidity will not overly affect it if the chambers are properly sealed. This of course means a properly fitting cap as well as has been previously mentioned.

Once the weapon has been fired, the salts remaining become hygroscopic and drink up the water from humidity, causing the rust.

If you have a properly sealed chamber, the charge should last as long as a loaded cartridge and the metal of the chamber should not suffer corrosion.

Dan

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

A fully loaded and capped revolver was "transported" in KALIFORNIA? In NJ that would be a crime if you didn't have a concealed-carry permit :surrender: to put a loaded gun in your vehicle :shake:

Dave