How Many Shots Between Cleaning

[Glenfilthie]

Well I finally got out with my new 1860 Uberti Army clone. I probably shot about 30 rounds or so until it got so filthy I had to shut it down and take it home to clean it. That's okay...that's enough shooting for me...but is this normal?

My second question is about field handling - on my first trip out I needed screw drivers to pick cap shards out and a plastic hammer to tap the retaining wedge out. Is it necessary to carry those tools to keep the gun shooting or am I doing something wrong?

When I got home I cleaned it and pulled all the nipples out...and promptly ordered high end bronze replacements from TOTW. Will they help with the problems of caps falling off?

Your two bits is sincerely appreciated.

 

[aeatwood]

That is pretty close to normal, especially for a new gun. I use lubed felt wads under the ball, although lube on top of it also helps. This will keep fouling soft(er) so that you can shoot longer, and cleanup will be easier.

New guns tend to have sticky wedges. As it breaks in, you will eventually be able to push it out. That screw on the side of the barrel assembly is to keep from losing the wedge.

A lot of the cap problems can be solved w/ new nipples, picking caps that fit those nipples properly, and flipping the gun to the side as you cock the hammer. You can also try pointing the barrel up as you cock the gun. I think that is part of the reason that practice continued, even after cartridge guns became available - just old habit w/ single action guns.

Some people recommend filling in the safety pin groove in the face of the hammer to help with that as well.

For all day shooting, I just pop the wedge loose, wipe arbor w/ a spit patch, re-lube it and reassemble and keep shooting.

Alan

FWIW, although 2F shoots a little dirtier, the fouling seems to stay softer, and is easily wiped away. I generally get better luck w/ accuracy w/ 2F also. It is lower pressure for the same charge, and seems easier on the open-top guns.

 

[Glenfilthie]

Thanks Alan! :hatsoff:

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

I have an 1851 navy that i bought a couple months ago. With my gun and yours too i am sure, this is a common problem with the caps. There is a little hollow section on the inside of your hammer that is part of the "safety" feature, where you can bring the hammer down on a stopper in between nipples. When the hammer falls and ignites the cap, the cap is molded into the shape of this section if it is not blown off the nipple. Sometimes it falls into the gun and causes jamming. From doing a little research i have found that this is a common problem and more than likely happened to our forefathers too. Like your gun, mine is simple to take down with the removal of the wedge, barrel, cylinder, etc. Most times though, if you hold the guns barrel up and shake it a little, the cap with work itself out. Other times it may be neccesary to disassemble it. It doesn't mean that your gun is malfunctioning.

That being said, there is a couple of videos from a member of the forum under the gunbuilding section that shows how to fill in the gap under the hammer with jb weld if it bothers you a lot. I cannot remember the guys name, someone else might know it right off hand, but it starts with "duelist" and then a number.

Hope this helps a little!

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

Just saw Alan's complete post. Like Alan said, the wedge will become easier to come out with use. I am able to just push mine out with a firm thumb pressure. I shot my revolver over 80 times the first day i took it out after buying it. It started to gum pretty bad around 50 or 60 shots and i quickly disassembled it at the range, relubed, cleaned the bore, and kept shooting. At about 85 shots it had had it. Cylinder didn't want to rotate. Figured it was time to go then!

I have decided to shoot real blackpowder in my guns from now on, but for that day i was shooting 22 grains of the equivalent to FFFG pyrodex. I also clean with Ballistol, which if you get, i am sure you will love! :thumbsup:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Cap fragment jamming the action aside, I have fired over 100 shots in one range session from a Remington clone, and though dirty, the gun kept functioning. I kept a shop rag handy to wipe the excess dirty grease away. I put Blue and Gray Pistol Patch over each ball as lube. I fired almost as many with plain old shortening and gave up because I ran out of balls, not because of the dirt.

Yes the cap jam problem happens all too frequently. Old style "non-magnum" caps seem to cut down on that problem just slightly.

 

[Mike 56]

I filled in the hammers of my cap eating guns and it worked. I have shot my guns with lubed wads, filler,grease over the balls, grease cookies and no wads or lube. The grease cookies worked great the problem with them was you had to make them for the weather you are shooting in. Too soft in hot weather and they would kill the powder. Too hard they would stick to the balls and not lube as well. So what i started doing is i would use lubed wads or filler and add a finger full of Crisco in the chambers before loading the balls. When you shoot the grease is mixed with the fouling so you don't get any hard fouling any were on your gun. You can push a dry patch or two threw the barrel and it is clean. No fouling on the hammer or hammer channel even the cylinder can be wiped clean with a few dry patches. The grease is blown thew cylinder pin area keeping it lubed. Adding 15% bees wax to Crisco makes easy to use and not so messy.