What was my mistake?

[Md80runway23]

Today, I had a major uh oh moment. Let me begin by saying ive shot black powder for years with no issues, but mostly muskets. Ive shot a lot of revolvers but mainly blanks in reenacting. Today I loaded my new toy a 1858 remington. I began by loading 30 grains of powder, my ball, packed the ball, and put muzzleloading grease over the top of the cylinder. First round of shots went great, reloaded shot once...no issue...the second time made a noise that didnt sound right. I popped out the cylinder and to my suprise the ball was lodged in the throat of the barrel! Had I pulled another round im afraid this gun would have exploded in my hands. Any idea what I done wrong? Thanks

 

[DuncNZ]

No Powder? or a short charge?

 

[Boston Bill]

I will take the 1st guess. No powder in that chamber. You really need to double and triple check that all the chambers have powder. Also if it fact it was no powder, that ball should have been way deeper than the others. That would be another tell that something is wrong.

 

[TreeMan]

I’ll second the diagnosis that you didn’t put powder in that chamber. I use a loading stand when I load my pistols. I use a coffee stirring straw to check all my cylinders prior to seating a ball to make sure I loaded each one.

 

[Md80runway23]

I could have not but maybe too little as well. If I would have pulled the trigger agaim would it have exploded?

 

[TreeMan]

I could have not but maybe too little as well. If I would have pulled the trigger agaim would it have exploded?

No it wouldn’t have exploded but that second ball hitting the one lodged in the barrel would have most likely ruined your barrel by bulging it. My daughter was shooting my 357 Blackhawk one time. I was standing beside her. I heard that weird pop too and yelled at her to STOP. She was shooting 38 reloads someone gave me. He too forgot to put powder in. That primer lodged that 38 bullet halfway down the barrel. I had to beat it out with a cleaning rod.

 

[ppb]

I could have not but maybe too little as well. If I would have pulled the trigger agaim would it have exploded?

I’m not a BP revolver guy, but I suspect with that much of the ball exposed in the forcing cone, you may not have been able to rotate the cylinder to the next chamber. (Just a thought…)

 

[Md80runway23]

No it wouldn’t have exploded but that second ball hitting the one lodged in the barrel would have most likely ruined your barrel by bulging it. My daughter was shooting my 357 Blackhawk one time. I was standing beside her. I heard that weird pop too and yelled at her to STOP. She was shooting 38 reloads someone gave me. He too forgot to put powder in. That primer lodged that 38 bullet halfway down the barrel. I had to beat it out with a cleaning rod.

Ok thanks next question as my powder measurer is not the most accurate. 30 grains seems to about put the ball flush with the cylinder. I dont want to get to much powder and cause an explosion that way. What is the proof load on these if I get a tad over lets say 40 grains would I be in danger?

 

[DuncNZ]

Would a cap be powerful enough to drive the ball into the throat ? or would there need to be some powder present ?

 

[TreeMan]

Ok thanks next question as my powder measurer is not the most accurate. 30 grains seems to about put the ball flush with the cylinder. I dont want to get to much powder and cause an explosion that way. What is the proof load on these if I get a tad over lets say 40 grains would I be in danger?

In that brass frame revolver I’d stick with 15-20 grains of 3F. That range is also most of the time the most accurate on targets. You don’t need more than that unless you’re picking off Yankees.

 

[ord sgt]

A friend has a Remington .44 revolver. His target load is 25 gr FFFg, cornmeal filler and a .454 roundball. That loads to the top of the chamber. On the other side, I use 15 gr FFFg, a wonderwad and a .451 round ball. It loads lower in the chamber. He has won competitions with his revolver after having all the chambers made equal.
Back to your statement, even a minor distraction will cause you to skip a step in the loading process. Dryball happens to almost every bp shooter.

 

[ord sgt]

Would a cap be powerful enough to drive the ball into the throat ? or would there need to be some powder present ?

Short answer, yes. There is enough power from the cap to push the ball out of the chamber.

 

[sheriff john]

My question is how was the powder measured and was each chamber loaded (ball seated?) before indexing to the next?

I like to use a copper flask because it's fast and easy for me to pour powder into each chamber. Plus, I know what each spout holds. Downside is that sometimes the cut-off does not completely close. which can allow powder to flow either back into the flask or not cut off when I load into chamber or bore. Had it happen both ways.

In any event, fully seating the bullet atop the powder charge each time will immediately show both light charge or overcharge if each chamber is loaded the same.

I doubt a cap has sufficient power to push a proper-size ball very far into the barrel, but I've never tried it nor seen it done.

Glad you were attentive !

 

[.36Rooster]

With a sidebreak pocket derringer, I once had a #10 cap blow an entire load of powder with a ball in front of it out of the barrel. I stood there snapping caps for a couple of minutes, and when i went to pick the nipple, and saw light shining through, it took me a moment to catch on to the fact that the gun wasn't loaded anymore. It had misfired and the cap cleared the barrel of its load.

I eventually stepped up my ball size and i think that was part of the problem.

I suppose its possible that you did not add powder to that chamber and the cap drove the ball out...but i have also had misfires with .36 caliber revolvers and #10 caps. The charges remained seated. However, the italian revolvers do have tapered chambers, and the ball is compressed smaller as you load it. If you indeed forget powder and rammed it down the chambers throat, the ball would have been of small enough diameter to easily dislodge from the rest of the chamber and enter the forcing cone...you didn't notice the disappearing ball and longer lever pull? That really would have caught your attention...

 

[deerstalkert]

i had a 454 casull fail to burn powder and the primer forced the bullet and unburned powder into the barrel and forcing cone. carried it hunting for moose a week before i discovered it. the thought of what would have happened in that situation scared me stiff! and i ain't skeerd of nothing.
it was enough to bring me back to BP and muzzle loading.

 

[CyrusP]

Looking at your picture with my 53 year old eyes do I see what looks like powder on the ball? Perhaps just a really light load of powder but definitely some? PS I eat a Granny Smith every day! Natural peanut butter spread on it is great!

 

[TrapperDude]

Looking at your picture with my 53 year old eyes do I see what looks like powder on the ball? Perhaps just a really light load of powder but definitely some? PS I eat a Granny Smith every day! Natural peanut butter spread on it is great!

Try taking a bite of cheddar cheese with a bite of that apple next time you eat one. It sounds funny, but cheddar and apples go together like PB & J.

 

[hawkeye2]

I tried wax bullets in a Pietta .44 Remington once. A cap would just push the bullet far enough to bridge the gap between the cylinder and barrel. I would have to shear the wax bullet off by forcefully turning the cylinder so that I could remove it. Adding about 4 grains of powder would get it clear of the barrel and with enough force to drill a round hole through 1/8" Masonite. They weren't very accurate. The wax weighed less than lead so I'm guessing there was a little powder in there but possibly not. I was using factory nipples and if I ever bother trying it again I'll drill out a set straight through to see if that works.

I never tried cheese with an apple but cheese is the only thing that ever ought to go on top of a slice of apple pie.

 

[necchi]

Any idea what I done wrong? Thanks

Yes, operator error.
Yah, there could have been some bad results shooting into a blocked bore/muzzle.
This is firearms safety 101. Please stay focused
Please, slow down, pay attention to each step, these ARE real guns that go "BOOM"

 

[azmntman]

damp powder will also do that, I shot a cylinder off that was loaded a year and "sealed" with bore butter that somehow made its way into the powder and the balls just barely got out of the barrel. Thats my guess? Anyway one chamber in the cylinder got dampened?