Chain Fire

I'm really surprised about the comment about the cap not firing.

I would think the flame from the burning powder in the chamber that "chain fired" would have detonated any priming compound in the cap.

How did you determine the cap didn't fire?
Did you put it on another nipple and try firing it by dropping the hammer on it?

No damage to me o r the gun, there didn't appear to be any damage to the cap.
I couldn't find a reson on my end for it happening, I have slixshot nipples and use Remington #10 caps.
I even seat them with a dowel so I wonder if some how spark is getting past that small hole on the side of the nipple.

I know I was surprised to see that, after checking it over I dropped the hammer on it, now I think I should of saved it.

Same chamber and it went off on the first try.

That's pretty much it, I had been shooting paper cartridges until I ran out then I switched to loose powder.
I measured out a 25 grain load of Pyrodex and states a lubed felt wad over the powder. I used my dowel to seat the wad and ramed bown a .454 ball on top of it , and no I don't use lube over the mouth of the chamber.

I think most likely the culprit was just revealed, a smoldering ember from the paper used in the cartridges before going to loose powder.

I would think it would have detonated the powder while loading.

If it were covered by fouling from the previous shot it could still hold an ember that is insulated from the fresh powder charge until it burns through.
This is a big deal with cannon or mortar shooting where any kind of a wadding or paper jacket is used. Swabbing between shots to kill any hot embers is part of their safety protocol.

That's what I've wondered. There have been a few chain fires where there seems to be no plausible explanation.

If there is a crack than it will continue to happen regularly as it will only get bigger.

M.D. said:

If it were covered by fouling from the previous shot it could still hold an ember that is insulated from the fresh powder charge until it burns through.

Click to expand...

Upon first reading this, I thought it far-fetched that this could occur in the small chambers of a revolver. But then, we are discussing an incident that is rare in its occurrence. Would Pyrodex be more susceptible to this than gunpowder?

Richard/Grumpa

I would think that because Pyrodex is harder to ignite than black, it wouldn't be a factor.

I plan to check for that soon, I'm laid up right now from surgery if there's a Crack I want to know about it.

You could fill the suspected chamber with acetone and cork off both ends with neoprene and see if any seeps out.
Acetone will find the tiniest fissure.
I doubt a chamber crack is the cause though.

Is there any way the thin walls, etc. could ignite a charge in the abutting chamber? Doesn't seem possible.

The wall thickness would have nothing to do with an adjacent chamber barring some kind of connection between the two. A crack or void between two chambers can happen but it is so unlikely as to almost be discounted entirely (note, I said almost).

Do you mean like a "cook off round"? No, black powder revolvers never get that hot!
In my own mind I think a paper ember is the most likely cause given the circumstances.

Gene, how were your cartridges constructed, and did you take any steps to blow out or brush the chambers between shots? I would think that when the chamber went off it would fire the cap, but if there was some cartridge paper wadded in the bottom of the chamber, it might explain the cap not firing.

My cartridges are made now from curling papers I make them with a tapered dowel and glue in small squares of tissue paper in the ends. Before loading those last six loose powder rounds I did check and remove a little unburnt paper, only what I could see in the chamber. And yes the cap did not fire off which surprised me very much, so much so that I had to drop the hammer on it just to believe my own eyes. That was the third loaded chamber out of six, I have to admit I was a little spooked after that and reluctantly popped off the last three before calling it a day.

I was just searching youtube for videos regarding chain fires. I noticed in three of the videos that the same chamber detonated as on my gun, I wonder if some how that chamber (next in rotation to fire) has some inherent problem on the 1860 design.

I also have been thinking that somehow paper cartridges are less likely to chain fire than loose loads because of how there contained. I haven't heard of paper loads chain firing as of yet.