shot Pietta 1858 with Crisco - messy

[shoktrapper]

Shot my Pietta 1858 for the first time over the weekend and used the Crisco method. It worked well since it was cold but I have to say it really makes a mess after you shoot all 6 balls! I have 4 extra cylinders for mine and shot only two because I did not want to clean the other 3. (they came with the gun when I bought it from a friend) I read on here that someone mixed bees wax with crisco. How well does that work and how do you mix it? Does it have to be real bees wax? Also shot my trapper for the first time. I love it! Love having a set trigger! Very accurate.

 

[Flinchlock.50]

Hi! I use the same stuff that I use for Black powder rifle cartridges and patch lube. The formula is 50% pure beeswax 50% extra virgin olive oil. Melt the bees wax in a double boiler. When completely melted,stir in the olive oil making sure itis all mixed together. If you dont it looks like egg drop soup. Let it cool or stick it in the fridge. For patch lube I also melt in about 5%-10% crisco. I hope this helps. :thumbsup:

 

[Dave Marsh]

Use Ox Yoke wonder wads -- no grease and no mess. More expensive then crisco or whatever type of grease you use but well worth it. I have 2 1858's with 2 cylinders each and clean up takes about 15 minutes for all of it. Faster to load as well. Pour in the powder, then the ball and just slip in the wonder wads and ready to go....

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Use Ox Yoke wonder wads -- no grease and no mess. More expensive then crisco or whatever type of grease you use but well worth it. I have 2 1858's with 2 cylinders each and clean up takes about 15 minutes for all of it. Faster to load as well. Pour in the powder, then the ball and just slip in the wonder wads and ready to go....

I'm no expert by any means and I do use felt "wonder wads", "bore buttons", or whatever anyone would like to call them in a number of my ML rifles between the powder and conical bullet. I do have an 1858 Remington repro that I shoot once in a while for squats and grins. I purchased some Ox Yoke .44/.45 "wonder wads" a few years back with the intention of giving them a try as I also feel that greasing the cylinders off (which is a must do for safety) is messy to say the least. So my question is..."Wouldn't it make more sense to use them in the revolver just as I do in a rifle with the wad being placed between the powder and ball? It seems to me like there could be a possibility for one to fall out while shooting if used over the ball and not under. Wouldn't placing one under the ball (between powder and ball) still have the desired effect of preventing a chainfire? Incidentally, I saw no mention anywhere on the package instructions as to where the wad should be placed...BPS

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

My apologies. I was looking at the instructions on an older package that was missing the loading instructions. The instructions state that you should charge all the cylinders, seat the wonder wads over top of the powder in each cylinder with the loading lever and then seat the ball in each cylinder...BPS

 

[Cowboy2]

I used Crisco once as a chamber cover. Never, ever, again. Now its just a lead ball over powder, and life is much better.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

I used Crisco once as a chamber cover. Never, ever, again. Now its just a lead ball over powder, and life is much better.

No lube/grease anything to prevent a chainfire? I saw that happen once..fortunately no one got hurt!!!...BPS

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

You might be thinking of ' sealed wads' which are like the felt wads but are intended to be used over the seated ball. Having said that I don't use either. I have had chain fires but never from the front of the cylinder. Always from ill fitted caps. I still can't understand how anyone can still believe that the fire from an adjacent chamber can past the ball swaged into a cylinder to cause a chain fire.

 

[tv_racin_fan]

Maybe everyone aint as careful to make sure they is using the correct sized ball...

I had a chain fire once.. it was the only time I left the crisco at home... but that was back before I knew about the fiber wads. AND to be honest it may have been a cap issue BUT it only happened once and it happened to be that one time I forgot the crisco and thought it would be ok.

I don't worry about the mess since it washes off so easily. I laugh at the fellas who laugh at me for cleanin my revolvers in the kitchen sink. Just seems so simple to take em apart and drop the parts down in the sink (well plugged of course). Sprinkle a drop or three of dishwashin liquid then running enough hot water to cover all the parts and let her sit about long enough to smoke a cigarette. All that nasty fouling is soft and ready to just fall off after just a couple minute soak then a bit of scrubbin with a brush or patch on a jag. Dry her off good with some rags or a towel or two then burnish in some crisco (or bore butter or beeswax n sweet oil (olive oil) mix or whatever lube you prefer) real good and she is ready to go for the next trip. I try to stay away from petroleum products with black powder firearms.

 

[shoktrapper]

great responses. Gives me alot to think about and to try!

 

[Dave Marsh]

I put in the powder, a tight fitting ball that you need to push a bit to get it in and then the wonder wad. I have 2 1858's one with the 8 inch barrel and one with the 5 1/2" and both shoot good groups.

When I get home I take them apart and run hot water on them and scrub with a toothbrush. I have a small brush for the inside of the cylinders. I then spray them down good with WD40 and wrap them in a paper towel or 2 and let them sit overnight. Put them back together the next day and ready to go again.

 

[Cowboy2]

A properly sized ball seals the chamber. I check for a ring each time. I worry about chainfires from the back end of the cylinder, not the front. Since I shoot Triple 7 in my pistols, sometimes I will use a wad or two behind the ball in order to take up cylinder space, but not as a safety tool.

 

[fraungie]

I shoot my 1858 with 20grs of powder I load powder from one flask. Then fill the rest of the chamber with cornmeal from another flask. Press the ball in. no wads, no grease, no mess. I have not had a chainfire. I doubt a spark could get around the interfearance fit ball and all that cornmeal. When I clean the barrel at the end of the day it is not as dirty.The cornmeal seems to push out all the fouling in the barrel. Keeping it one shot dirty. I bought a sonic cleaner for my brass. I am going to try to put all the pieces from my cap n ball revolver in it. Anyone ever do this? It does a great job on brass casings. I would think it would work on the blackpowder fouling as well.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Well fellas it may be because I'm a little too old school or a little too paranoid (or maybe both?) but I always take all the precautions I can. I cast .453. balls for my Rem and they always "shave" a nice ring on the way in, but I always greased the cylinders off with crisco or some type of BP lube as well. Like tv racin fan, I dissassemble my revolver and scrub all the parts in the sink with hot soapy water. I like to pre-heat the oven to 200 deg. while I'm doing this and after the hot soapy water bath I shake and wipe off the excess water and place the parts on a cookie sheet and leave 'em in the oven for about 45 min. or so. Pull them out, let them cool to room temp. and then oil it up and re-assemble. This assures that you get all the moisture out of the little nooks and crannys. Been doin' it that way since I received the gun as a Xmas gift in 1974...BPS

 

[Rev_William]

This sounds almost like the mustache wax I make lol

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

There are many ways to skin a cat. Your meticulous method of shooting and cleaning is not improper or in error. But I differ in opinion that it is necessary. Several people have approached me, while I have been shooting my c&b pistols at the range, and commented that they own c&b revolvers but do not use them because it is too much trouble to clean them.

When asked what their cleaning procedure is, they relate a method not to dissimilar from yours. When I tell them that I can clean my revolvers in less than 15 minutes, some of them are astonished, some dubious, and a couple thought my method too risky. Nonetheless, I have never had any rust in any part of my revolvers for as long as I have shot c&b pistols.

For reference this is my cleaning method for my Remington NMA revolvers. There has been some variation over the years but it has substantially been this way:

1. I take the cylinder out, drop in a small bucket of moose milk made with Ballistol.
2. I then dip the revolver in the same bucket just shy of the cylinder bolt and with a tooth brush I scrub the fouling off all surfaces. I dunk the revolver repeatedly while continuing to brush.

3. I shake off the excess fluid from the brush and scrub the back part of the frame.

4. Dry everything off, including a few shots from a can of compressed air.
I run a couple of dry patches down to the bore. Lube everything with Ballistol.

5. Scrub the cones on the cylinder with the tooth brush in the bucket of Moose Milk. I turn over the cylinder and take my Speed Mop, which has six wool mops, and pump fluid through all six cylinders at the same time in the Moose Milk. I run some dry patches through the cylinders dry with paper towels and shots from the can of compressed air. Lube with Ballistol and I am done.

I have been reusing the same bucket of moose milk for a while now and will continue to do so. This method is not original to me but has been related to me by CAS competitors who shoot their c&b pistols a lot more than I do and I shoot mine 3 to 4 times a week. But I have had a pistol in storage for several months that had no more done to them than what is detailed above, without any signs of rust externally or internally.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Sounds like a good way of doing things...I wasn't implying that anyone should do it my way, it just happens to be the way I was taught to do it 37 yrs. ago and as we all know, old habits die hard. The man that got me into muzzleloading (I believe he is currently President of the Pa. chapter of the NMLRA) taught me a LOT about the proper use and care of ML firearms when we were in High school. My method doesn't take that long, it's just that I go the extra mile to dry things in the oven for a bit after the wipedown. Any way one does it is fine as long as they're thourogh...BPS

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

I have had chain fires but never from the front of the cylinder. Always from ill fitted caps.

Seeing as how you mentioned that Dan, one of the peeves I always had about my Remington repro is that the nipples would not always hold a #11 cap well. About half of them were a good fot and the other half were somewhat loose. I would always "pinch" the cap a bit before placing it on the nipple so that it didn't fall off. My gun is Spanish made, and I believe it was imported for CVA. Short of digging it out of the safe and verifying it, I believe that's the deal. Anyway, would you, or any of you fellas reading this thread have any suggestions as to where GOOD QUALITY MADE nipples can be found. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread but thanks in advance for info...BPS

 

[fraungie]

do you leave the nipples in?

 

[shoktrapper]

I used number 10 caps and they fit perfectly.