Loading revolvers question.

[Woody Morgan]

In 88 I was deer hunting with a muzzleloader on the WA coast. I was sitting on a stump in waist high brush. taking a rest. About 30 yards from me a Buck stood up, I had a perfect shot. It had drizzled all day, everything was wet, no wind. I took careful aim and pulled the trigger. SNAP, the cap sounded like a firecracker, the gun did not fire. I got three more chances before the buck ambled off into the brush. Two more caps and on number 6, the gun finally shot. I had a piece of plastic wrap and a rubber band over the end of the barrel in an attempt to keep the powder dry, I had been out about an hour when I had my chance. That was the only shot I had that year and I missed it.

We may have passed each other in the woods. We hunted the Forks area for elk fairly often.

wm

 

[toot]

so true.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

Glad I ran across this thread. I received my .44 Remington repro from my folks in the early 80’s and have been using Crisco in the end of each chamber since. What a mess is right! I usually did what I was told to do when I came to gun safety, but always mentally questioned how on earth the flash could possibly get past that ball fitted so tightly in that chamber. Without a form of lubricant, does it get harder to load the cylinder after a few shots?

 

[Whughett]

post deleted.

 

[Erwan]

how on earth the flash could possibly get past that ball fitted so tightly in that chamber. Without a form of lubricant, does it get harder to load the cylinder after a few shots?

Did you look how clean or dirty is the rear side of the cylinder is and how are the nipples and caps... ?

 

[nkbj]

.41 balls in .404" chambers.
Lanolin-olive oil-beeswax.
No drip, no mess, no loss of powder volume, no flash overs.

 

[Rifleman1776]

No. Load and shoot as you described. Enjoy.

 

[OkieDougie]

I think everyone loads these pistols the way they were shown when they first started. Many different methods, and none of them are wrong.
Loading method I use for my 1858 is to load powder, firm fiber or cardboard wad, dab of my shooting grease, and then the ball.

 

[Stantheman86]

.41 balls in .404" chambers.
Lanolin-olive oil-beeswax.
No drip, no mess, no loss of powder volume, no flash overs.
View attachment 127838

Did you make a repro of the .41 Navy prototype
What size is the bore on that thing ?

 

[nkbj]

Yep, had to try out Colt's idea and I really like it.

 

[Red Owl]

I think we have a lot of issues going in all directions. On the Army ammo issue- the concern was not chain firing but to waterproof the cartridges. On the Colt wad issue. Colt's original combustible ammo patent had a cork wad below the bullet but remember those cartridges with the bullets had more bearing surface than the ring of a ball. On the candle wax. As I understand it, Robert E. Lee's Colt 1851 had the chamber ends filled with red sealing wax not red candle wax but either could probably be used. If you didn't expect to shoot the revolver, taking a lot of time filling the chamber ends with wax was probably okay. I currently use powder, a lubed wad, and a ball. If you skip the wad and lube the chamber ends, some lubes like Crisco have a tendency to "burn up" Fire a couple of chambers and then look at the end of the cylinder to see if the Crisco is still there in the unfired chambers.
If you carry the gun in a holster- probably want a lubed wad and no lube in the chamber ends- could run out into the holster.
On chain firing, they can probably happen in several ways but the general consensus is that poorly fitted caps cause the problem.

 

[Whughett]

.41 balls in .404" chambers.
Lanolin-olive oil-beeswax.
No drip, no mess, no loss of powder volume, no flash overs.
View attachment 127838

In a 36 caliber revolver. ??

 

[Whughett]

I’ve read up on paper cartridges a little bit. Have several “kits” and even two Civil War era reproductions of Colts bullets. Union civil war troopers were supplied with paper cartridges manufactured in the north by the 100’s of thousands, by young boys and girls in factories. Supplied in 6 cartridges paper wrapped boxes that also contained the caps plus an extra. That would indicate that the revolvers were intended to be reloaded on the battle field. If one could, during battle, reload a musket surely one could reload a revolver.

I dabbled with paper cartridges making several hundred until the tedium of doing so out weighed the advantages. I can attest to the fact that a properly made paper cartridge makes reloading a very simple process with the only fiddly part being capping.

 

[nkbj]

In a 36 caliber revolver. ??

The chambers and barrel in a .36 caliber 1851 were remachined to nominally .40 caliber.
Colt had tinkered around with making prototype .40 calibers on the 1851 frame and I wanted to see how it would work. Maybe the national split and war got in the way of further development but he had a great idea.

 

[Whughett]

The chambers and barrel in a .36 caliber 1851 were remachined to nominally .40 caliber.
Colt had tinkered around with making prototype .40 calibers on the 1851 frame and I wanted to see how it would work. Maybe the national split and war got in the way of further development but he had a great idea.

I use .375 in most but one a Remington Navy likes the .380 ball.

 

[user 33697]

I shoot all my .44 cal 1858 or 1860 Uberti's and Pietta's with my homemade paper bullets using .454 balls that always make a nice seal in a cylinder leaving a lead ring. Never had to use a lubed wad or grease over the ball. Not much fouling and cleaning on any revolver as I use either fffg Hodgdon 777 or fffg American Pioneer powders. And yes, to be a purist, I do occasionally use fffg Geox BP. Also, I use only Remington #10 caps and Slixshot nipples on all my revolvers. Never have had a chain fire.

 

[smoothshooter]

Howdy, Did a search but didnt find what I was looking for.

Going to take my 1851 navy to the range for the first time, have a question.

When loading a lubed wad over the powder, under the ball. Do you still need to add lube/grease over the ball to prevent chain fires ?

Thanks !

NO!

 

[smoothshooter]

Glad I ran across this thread. I received my .44 Remington repro from my folks in the early 80’s and have been using Crisco in the end of each chamber since. What a mess is right! I usually did what I was told to do when I came to gun safety, but always mentally questioned how on earth the flash could possibly get past that ball fitted so tightly in that chamber. Without a form of lubricant, does it get harder to load the cylinder after a few shots?

Lubed wads work just as well as anything to reduce hard fouling.

 

[user 52142]

8

Lubed wads work just as well as anything to reduce hard fouling.

Thanks !

 

[smoothshooter]

Glad I ran across this thread. I received my .44 Remington repro from my folks in the early 80’s and have been using Crisco in the end of each chamber since. What a mess is right! I usually did what I was told to do when I came to gun safety, but always mentally questioned how on earth the flash could possibly get past that ball fitted so tightly in that chamber. Without a form of lubricant, does it get harder to load the cylinder after a few shots?

Even if you had “ the dreaded chain-fire “ what harm is there? Most percussion revolver shooters act like a pistol will blow up like a pipe bomb if they have one.
The balls coming out of the adjacent chambers only have a velocity of about 200 feet per second or less.
The cheapest BB gun has a higher muzzle velocity than that.