Keeping an 1858 loaded indefinitely

[Rfp10000]

Curious on thoughts on Keeping an 1858 Remington Pietta or Uberti loaded on 5 chambers with simple 30 gr load with no wad or lube over .454 ball.
This load always works but I always loaded , shot & cleaned daily but I’d just like like thoughts from people who just keep them loaded until they feel like shooting.

 

[Sparkplug]

I carry mine on the regular. I can go months at a time and it will still fire when needed.

I do use a dry wad between the powder and ball, but it's more for accuracy than anything else.

 

[wiscoaster]

Shouldn't be any problem if you're not using any lube.

 

[Rocketman89408]

I load 30 grains of 2F, custom lubed felt wad and .454 ball. I have left them for years and they go bang. Dry Northern Nevada.

 

[Smokerr]

Loaded Metalic can have serious issues if left long enough.

I would be less inclined to do that with True Black vs a substitute. I have what I think is a 60 year old can of Unique that looks and smells fine.

Its up to the indivual if they want to try it.

 

[Rfp10000]

Thanks for the response … I know in the old days this was def done .. just double checking ..,

 

[TNGhost]

Its like canned food. Its good, until it isn't.

Time and expiration dates mean nothing. If you are staking your life on it, then check it every so often.

 

[SeaBee133]

I fired off a caplock double barrel 12g in 2011, that had sat around loaded since 1921… Figured I would unclog the spiderwebs in the barrels by popping a couple caps…

 

[CaptainKirk]

Why would you do that?
Even Hickok took turns firing each of his 1851 Navy Colts every other day, so he could keep them clean and operational, and also to keep him in constant practice. Word is, he only shot one at a time so he was never without a loaded Navy close at hand.
In this day and age, unless you live out in the country, that would be impossible. But discharging a loaded firearm and cleaning it would make way more sense than leaving it loaded, and far more legal depending on your locale.

 

[SDSmlf]

I load 30 grains of 2F, custom lubed felt wad and .454 ball. I have left them for years and they go bang. Dry Northern Nevada.

I have had purchased pre-lubed felt wads foul a powder charge in the past. Believe it was the Wonder Lube melting in the cylinder chambers in the hot sun.

Curious on thoughts on Keeping an 1858 Remington Pietta or Uberti loaded on 5 chambers with simple 30 gr load with no wad or lube over .454 ball.
This load always works but I always loaded , shot & cleaned daily but I’d just like like thoughts from people who just keep them loaded until they feel like shooting.

No reason it wouldn’t be work, but I wouldn’t count on it in a serious personal defense situation. Actually wouldn’t consider a cap and ball for self defense unless there was some compelling legal reason, but that’s not your question.

 

[SeaBee133]

Why would you do that?
Even Hickok took turns firing each of his 1851 Navy Colts every other day, so he could keep them clean and operational, and also to keep him in constant practice. Word is, he only shot one at a time so he was never without a loaded Navy close at hand.
In this day and age, unless you live out in the country, that would be impossible. But discharging a loaded firearm and cleaning it would make way more sense than leaving it loaded, and far more legal depending on your locale.

I know in my part of the country (Memphis TN vicinity) everything is kept loaded. And very close to hand. I carry my badge, qual card and a service weapon whenever I leave my farm. There are 14 loaded unmentionables within 3 short paces of my bed.
Between the wildlife, the druggies and the state making a 4 lane highway from the ‘hood to farm country…

 

[CaptainKirk]

I know in my part of the country (Memphis TN vicinity) everything is kept loaded. And very close to hand. I carry my badge, qual card and a service weapon whenever I leave my farm. There are 14 loaded unmentionables within 3 short paces of my bed.
Between the wildlife, the druggies and the state making a 4 lane highway from the ‘hood to farm country…

I get that totally, and agree with your assessment. That being said, unmentionables would be the wise approach in such a situation. C&B revolvers occasionally failed to fire back in the good ol' days, and I've experienced several F2F situations at the range due to bad caps, fouled nipples, caps that departed on their own volition and similar. You only have one life; would you trust it to an antique design with a 90% success rate...unless there is 'no other alternative'?
And if you can read between the lines, we ain't going down that road.

 

[SeaBee133]

I get that totally, and agree with your assessment. That being said, unmentionables would be the wise approach in such a situation. C&B revolvers occasionally failed to fire back in the good ol' days, and I've experienced several F2F situations at the range due to bad caps, fouled nipples, caps that departed on their own volition and similar. You only have one life; would you trust it to an antique design with a 90% success rate...unless there is 'no other alternative'?
And if you can read between the lines, we ain't going down that road.

Amen

 

[Dark Angel]

Curious on thoughts on Keeping an 1858 Remington Pietta or Uberti loaded on 5 chambers with simple 30 gr load with no wad or lube over .454 ball.
This load always works but I always loaded , shot & cleaned daily but I’d just like like thoughts from people who just keep them loaded until they feel like shooting.

Carry my .44 New Army loaded for months at a time. Never had any problem when the time came I wanted to shoot. Read somewhere/some when, that BP doesn't degrade much over time if it is kept free from moister, in a sealed container. Can't think of anything more sealed than the chamber of a BP revolver. Despite some popular myths? when I first got into BP shooting, neither does it corrode your chambers. Still. wouldn't want to go any extended period with firing the recharging my weapon.

 

[Tenring]

Like everything over time it will degragate but a year most guy’s don’t have a problem . I don’t know about the cap being stored on the nipple the fulminate gets really bad when allowed to be out in the open over time and not in a tin, I could be wrong but I have had many not go off because of leaving them out.

 

[B P Arn]

"Fulminate"? Time to buy some new caps, I'd say!

 

[Tenring]

I guess.

 

[Dark Angel]

For those interested, found online what appears to be a comprehensive guide for the loading a storage of black powder revolvers. Under the heading Black Powder Guide, the subtitle is, How Long Can a black Powder Revolver Stay Loaded. Hope this helps.

 

[Rfp10000]

I have had purchased pre-lubed felt wads foul a powder charge in the past. Believe it was the Wonder Lube melting in the cylinder chambers in the hot sun.


No reason it wouldn’t be work, but I wouldn’t count on it in a serious personal defense situation. Actually wouldn’t consider a cap and ball for self defense unless there was some compelling legal reason, but that’s not your question.

Reliability with real black and proper fitting caps is no problem. Normally I would use a lube wad for load & shoot situations at the range but I feel the lube over time could affect powder. Sometimes I’m not in an area where daily discharge is possible. I always clean the day of discharge Indefinite in my question can mean a few days or a few months or so.

Carry my .44 New Army loaded for months at a time. Never had any problem when the time came I wanted to shoot. Read somewhere/some when, that BP doesn't degrade much over time if it is kept free from moister, in a sealed container. Can't think of anything more sealed than the chamber of a BP revolver. Despite some popular myths? when I first got into BP shooting, neither does it corrode your chambers. Still. wouldn't want to go any extended period with firing the recharging my weapon.

When you leave it loaded , do you load with lubed wad or just powder & ball?

 

[Whitworth]

A properly seated/sealed bullet and tight fitting cap essentially mimics a loaded cartridge. Being a simple mixture black powder doesn't degrade like smokeless so the limiting factor will be the life of the cap. A modern foil lined or lacquered cap with proper fit on the nipple should be no different then the primer in center fire cartridge in terms of longevity. Lube from an underwad or used over the ball could eventually contaminate your powder so use a good fitting'sealing bullet with no lube. FWIW I've shot 1,000s of 80+ year old surplus rounds with only a few duds in US made ammo, WW2 foreign ammo's reliability is a gamble with duds and hangfires common. I always attributed hangfires to degraded powder that took a bit of smoldering before fully igniting, Cordite in particular. YMMV