shot Pietta 1858 with Crisco - messy

[Blackpowdersmoke]

do you leave the nipples in?

Well...I take them out and clean each one individually after shooting and then put them back in the cylinder before putting the gun away. Is there some reason that I sould leave them out??...LOL...BPS

 

[mjulihn]

I used number 10 caps and they fit perfectly.

Yep! I happen to prefer Remington #10 caps...

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

I used number 10 caps and they fit perfectly.

I could never find #10 caps locally. I haven't shot the gun in a number of years so I haven't tried to find them (# 10's) on-line. The main thing I'm interested in is finding some quality replacement nipples that are machined to a consistent spec. and not just made to all look alike...BPS

 

[Dphar]

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.

Cap and ball revolvers shot without something the soften the fouling will tend to lock solid from fouling on/in the cylinder pin etc. Usually in about 12 rounds or less.
The lube is just part of the process. Make it too hard and it may not work as well.
I suggest trying SPG BPCR bullet lube.
Its harder than crisco and requires no kitchen stove chemistry. http://www.blackpowderspg.com/products_body.html
Dan

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

I do leave the nipples in. I used anti-seize in them before installing and once in awhile after a cleaning I loosen and retighten them just to check that all is well. Never had a stuck one or any rust. Once a year I do take the pistol completely apart for a thorough cleaning. When I have done a complete disassembly of the pistols I have never found any rust. I always find gunged up residue but no rust. You have to remember that if you neutralize the salts in BP fouling you are stopping the corrosive factor in the residue.

 

[nilo52]

Hey cowboy2,
I don't use anything to seal the chambers on my '58 also. I cast my own .454 RB's and, at least on my remmie, I get a nice ring shaved off when I seat them. I never have had any problems with chain fires. I use CCI #10 caps that fit tightly on the cylinder nipples and that may have something to do with my shooting chain fire free. I think the design of the cylinder on a remmie has a lot to do with it as well, the nipples are well shrouded from each other. :thumbsup:

 

[tv_racin_fan]

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.

A guy I know of uses the wads and the grease. He calls it the belt and suspenders routine.

I surely aint trying to claim my way is the only or even best way. BUT it works for me.

If you really wont to get technical one should slug his barrel to see what would be the minimum size ball to use per HIS barrels bore than check his cylinder and possibly have it reamed so as to make certain he shaved enough of a ring to insure no chain fires.

I didn't get that technical and instead just bought the ball I was told to buy. I honestly have no clue what my issue was.. All I know is that the manual said to put some grease over the ball and that crisco would work if one didn't care to buy something made for that purpose. It made a mess but it never was such a mess as to prevent me from usin it. What eventually caused me to stop shooting that firearm was either me shooting MAX loads or hangin on the loadin lever like Grape Ape until I had ruined it (it was a brass framed Colt Navy clone in 44 cal). May well have been a cap issue and not the fact that I had left off the grease that one time. Might well not have happened at all with a Remington due to the difference in the cylinder machinin. I dunno about none of that ALL I know is the one time I left off the "crisco" it chain fired and scared the fool out of me, my wife, and the fella who was shootin with me. I'll not try it without some grease or a wad unless my life might depend on it. I might however mix some beeswax and sweet oil and make something a bit thicker than crisco.

 

[Cowboy2]

I don't have any objection to people using whatever method they like. I think feeling safe about the weapon you are using is a very important part of shooting. I just quit using over ball lubricant because it made more of a mess than I was willing to deal with, and I felt it was unnecessary. Granted, I'm shooting Triple 7 in my pistols, which doesn't foul the way bp does, so my circumstances might be different.

You know, every Pietta I've shot has been bad about cylinder pin/arbor fouling, regardless of propellant. None of my Ubertis are remotely as problematic in this regard.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Here are a couple of pics of my ol' Rem 1858 army. I dug it out of the safe a little bit ago. It was given to me as a Xmas gift in '74 and has probably had no more than 100 or so rounds through it. It was made by Santa Barbara Arms (Spain) and I still have the original box and paperwork. I thought it was imported for CVA, but I couldn't find any verification of that. It's still bear trap tight!...BPS

 

[Poor Private]

My method is powder in all chambers, then a wad (homemade-punched out of wool felt then saturated and dried with bore butter) in all chambers, then the ball in all chasmbers. Sometimes I use a loading stand for the cylinder sometimes not, it all depends on if I am out in the field or not. Then I cap all chambers. I havn't had a chain fire since the 70's doing it this way. The last chainfire I had I didn't use the felt wads.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

I havn't had a chain fire since the 70's doing it this way. The last chainfire I had I didn't use the felt wads.

I just made a mental note of that!!...BPS