To Wad or Not To Wad...

[Russ T Frizzen]

You can pack plain old beeswax in the chamber mouth, and tamp it in firmly around the ball with your finger. It will serve well as a lube, especially in warm weather.

 

[Musketeer]

I never thought of straight beeswax. I think we're done with 100+ degree days here for this year, but I'll have to give it a shot next summer. I still have several cakes o' wax stashed around here somewhere. THanks for the advice. :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

a Colt fired at night shows that there is ample opportunity for flash-over at both ends of the cylinder.

 

[crockett]

Wow! That's the best image I've seen explaining how a chain fire could easily occur at either end of the chamber, the caps really need to properly fit the nipples.

 

[renovato]

That's an excellant example of what I've been saying all along. It's not just some errant hot "spark" that gets into an adjacent chamber. It's hot gasses under pressure. They can blast their way past things that aren't tightly sealed. That's why I don't trust grease. It might stop a hot spark, but gasses under pressure just push it aside. The ball needs to shave a ring to fit tightly, and the caps need to fit the nipples tightly and be pressed tightly onto them to make a solid metal to metal seal.

Thanks for posting that pic!

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Precisely. And a very tightly fitting ball makes a perfect plug. If those gases are getting past the ball, I seriously doubt that a wad is going to stop them. The hardest factor to keep consistent is the caps. The right size and a firm seating of them is the best you can do. Fortunately the least amount of flash occurs at the rear of the cylinder.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

check closely the cap to to the 'right side' of the cap that is being fired.
looks glowing red to me.
that particular pistol is a .44 cal Colt '51 (not HC I know but replicas are made with that caliber, and brass frame) loaded w/25gr 3F and round ball over a felt.
my nephew's pistol.
never a mis-fire or chain fire as he loads to my instructions.

 

[Musketeer]

The position of the hammer is what surprises me. Is that the cap blowing it back? :hmm:

 

[akjim]

great photo. I hope I haven't been doing it wrong for the past 10 years. New Army 44. I was taught powder, ball and wonderlubed wad over to avoid chainfire. Am I missing something such as a wad over the powder as well? I've done that for years with smooth bore bird shot but never the pistols. Usually 35 gr 3F.
Thanks for the posts great stuff. :bow:

 

[mykeal]

Powder, wad, ball.

In that order. That's all.

 

[David Teague]

The position of the hammer is what surprises me. Is that the cap blowing it back? :hmm:

Ah... No. That would be the pressure of the load not the little bit of pop from the cap.

:wink:

Cheers,

DT

 

[LeMat1856]

mykeal - both those look *very* interesting but i was surprised by the negative reviewer of the cumpston book:
"...tiny, grainy, black and white illustrations..." but otherwise everyone gave it 5 stars. oddly, there were no reviews for the lyman book. regardless, i might get both, used, since they are pretty reasonably priced.

blizzard - way to go "southpaw." my favorite excuse for bad shots is always that it must be a right-handed gun !!

russt - a post on nssa said that beeswax was getting expensive due to unexplained hive die-off's. if so, i will have to compare prices before giving it a test. and, thanks for the tip to mark the suspected chamber. if it happens twice with the same one, i'll know it's not the rb.

~daniel~

 

[Musketeer]

Ah... No. That would be the pressure of the load not the little bit of pop from the cap.

:wink:

Cheers,

DT

That sounds right. :thumbsup: It occurred to me after I asked that question that I've popped a few caps on my revolvers sans powder or ball in the past and that the hammers never moved (perceptibly, at least), but the question was already out there. :redface: :haha:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

.
.
. oct 7 / 15:25




blizzard - way to go "southpaw." my favorite excuse for bad shots is always that it must be a right-handed gun !!



~daniel~

that's my nephew fireing the Colt, he's a lefty.
he's crookeder'n hell too. as 99% of leftys.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Beeswax has always been a bit pricey. You can probably find it for between $7 to $9 a pound and a pound will last a long time, especially in a 50-50 mix with tallow. Jas. Townsend usually has it.

 

[akjim]

Powder, wad, ball.

In that order. That's all.

Well in my first day on the MLF I guess I've been paid back in spades for the subscription price. Thanks alot for the advice. I have gotten a few responces like that and can't thank ya'll enough. It's amazing but like a lot of hobbies, this one like many are self taught or all the info comes from "one" source who can easily be wrong. These forums are a wonderful way to learn. Thanks again.... :hatsoff:

 

[LeMat1856]

here's a video of cabela's 'how to load' and below that is thier 'how to clean' ...

page with two videos : loading and cleaning

(i hope it actually works, ha!)

 

[akjim]

Hey LeMat, thanks for the video's. :thumbsup: Looks like my confusion stems from the fact That I may have been using the wonderlube over powder wads in place of a lube over the end of the cylinder. I was going powder, ball, lubed wad instead of powder, ball, lube as promoted in the videos. Now I have to wonder what the over powder lubed wad actually accomplishes as the grease or lube over the ball is designed to reduce the potential for chain fire and probably promote easier cleaning.

 

[mykeal]

Now I have to wonder what the over powder lubed wad actually accomplishes as the grease or lube over the ball is designed to reduce the potential for chain fire and probably promote easier cleaning.

The lubed felt overpowder wad, when used correctly, accomplishes the same task as the chamber mouth grease (softens fouling and chainfire insurance) except it's not as messy.

Notice I said chainfire 'insurance', and not 'prevention'. The best preventative action with regard to chainfires being initiated at the chamber mouth is a properly fitting projectile. Chamber mouth grease is only insurance because it can melt or be displaced by concussion and leave a gap. If your total protection against a chainfire is chamber mouth grease, you're leaving yourself open to chance.

 

[LeMat1856]

mykeal, my last time at a range i noticed that the t/c bore butter i use seemed to be almost melting (it looked real real soft, and translucent but still stuck to the ball and did not drip off the chamber).

so my question is, based on 60-75 degree air temp and adding the heat of 3f burning in chamber after chamber, which product holds up the best and is least likely to melt during a full 9-10 round volly ?