concussion from BP revolvers

I've read several times but have always been skeptical that in Wild West days when a gun fight would break out in a saloon that the first couple of shots would knock out all the flames from oil lamps lighting the joint.
I can certainly see how a couple of shots from a .44 would smoke up the place enough to make it seem as all the lights were out but I wonder/doubt that the concussion actually was putting the oil lamp flames out.

If there was more concussion from BP revolvers than anything else, we'd all know it because it would seem to be worse than other things we shoot that definitely run at higher pressures. Given the low pressures involved with BP, it doesn't seem that there'd be enough concussion to extinguish oil lamps--not unless the muzzle was close enough to effectively blow out the flame.

Maybe flames extinguished due to the lack of oxygen from all the smoke

Seems doubtful to me. If I wasn't married I'd try to replicate the scenario in my living room and report back to you

Could be. Saloons and buildings were generally smaller than those we are used to today. And we don't live daily with oil lamps....

Umm... No. My 1858 w/ a 30ish gr charge of 3Fg and a .451 roundball has no more of an report than a 38 special out of a modern revolver. Won't even bother mentioning 357, 44 mag, 30 carbine in a Blackhawk, etc.

Only way a gun could blow out the lamp would be with direct muzzle blast blowing it out

I agree that it is very unlikely. I collected mantle lamps for some years (non pressurized kerosene mantle lamps). As with most all the other collectors of such, we would use them in the cooler months because of the heat output!
Now, being a big "stereo" guy, running some nice music at 115 or so decibels , you could definitely make the lamps "dance" but not near enough to blow them out. I would imagine a saloon would not be anywhere near as "air tight" as a 1980's house so . . . no . . . !!


Here's an example of a mantle lamp.


Mike

M. De Land said:

I've read several times but have always been skeptical that in Wild West days when a gun fight would break out in a saloon that the first couple of shots would knock out all the flames from oil lamps lighting the joint.
I can certainly see how a couple of shots from a .44 would smoke up the place enough to make it seem as all the lights were out but I wonder/doubt that the concussion actually was putting the oil lamp flames out.

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M. De Land said:

I've read several times but have always been skeptical that in Wild West days when a gun fight would break out in a saloon that the first couple of shots would knock out all the flames from oil lamps lighting the joint.
I can certainly see how a couple of shots from a .44 would smoke up the place enough to make it seem as all the lights were out but I wonder/doubt that the concussion actually was putting the oil lamp flames out.

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I don’t believe it.
I don’t think even firing a modern magnum unmentionable would do it.

being that BS is usually quite damp, the quantity of it written in the accounts of lamps being extinguished by concussion is probably what actually put the lights out!

The concussion of a blackpowder revolver charge, either a hogleg or a cartridge revolver is very low

Even a .58 rifled musket generates less muzzle energy than a .44 Magnum at the muzzle and I doubt touching off a musket in a saloon will blow lights out

This rumor of the lamps being blown out came from the Broken Branch Salon. Where a cowboy got in a gun fight and was hit good and hard. His last words were "Who's dimming the lamps".

Seems to me that Mike Venturino wrote about a lamp being blown out in a small room by the concussion from a .44 caliber cartridge revolver he was using. I believe that it was actually a .44-40. I'll try to find the article.

Justin.44 said:

Seems doubtful to me. If I wasn't married I'd try to replicate the scenario in my living room and report back to you

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once I shot 6 shots from my pistol and the concussion knocked out the nuclear power plant ten miles away

There was a saloon keeper in Texas who definitely got a concussion from Gus's Walker.

smoothshooter said:

I don’t believe it.
I don’t think even firing a modern magnum unmentionable would do it.

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I've shot a 155 howitzer.

That would blow out a saloon lamp.

To answer the concussion issue, just walk down the back of the firing line at a muzzleloading competition. A line of 5-10 revolver competitors might generate some perceptible concussion, but not much from a distance behind them. Even doing videos from an off angle or at an angle that looks even or a bit ahead of the muzzle there is a bit of concussion but not enough to extinguish lamps &c. Even being on the line as a competitor is not an issue compared to smokeless powder competition.
Just my $0.02 worth- adjusted for inflation.

William Sublette said:

I've shot a 155 howitzer.

That would blow out a saloon lamp.

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Yes indeed, a 90mm tank round will also.

hatman said:

There was a saloon keeper in Texas who definitely got a concussion from Gus's Walker.

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That's right Gus don't put up with no smart-mouthed bar keeps.

I believe he was surly.

Rich44 said:

Yes indeed, a 90mm tank round will also.

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Don't be on the fore deck when the USS New Jersey is going to fire.