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Load from the flask into the barrel

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I, myself blow down the barrel. Been doing it for almost 30 years. Some people at the range ask what I am doing and I tell them that I like the smell and I am inhailing. When they look at me wierd, I then tell them what I am doing for real.

Still, It always crosses my mind each and every time I dump powder down the barrel...."Is this the one?" I never pour directly from any horn or flask like they do in the movies.

I would rather not draw back a nub.

Headhunter
 
well, the way i was taught...was every gun is ALWAYS loaded..that said,puttin yer mouth over the muzzle?????????? not at my shoot... :nono: always load from a seperate measure, and keep clear anything from the muzzle hands fingers.arms etc....and point it up...that's jes me...RC
 
I started out loading my gun after blowing down the barrel. Did it for years. After all, I knew when the gun fired, and if it fired, there was no ball down there to come out and hurt or kill me when I blew down the barre. Then, I was teaching some students at a hunter safety class, and demonstrating how to safely load the gun, and when it came time to talking about blowing down the barrel, I too remembered that old adage, and current Ten Commandment of safety advice to never point a gun at anything you do not intend to destroy.

I decided right then and there to start using dampened patches ( with spit) to run down the barrel to put out embers, rather than blow down the barrel. I didn't want to have some kid blow his head off because he imitated something he saw me doing that he didn't really understand. BTW, that camp patch on a jag pushes out the smoke and debris through the touch hole, or the flash channel and nipple just as well as blowing down the barrel does.

Oh, because I am left handed, I always have waited until the guy on my left, with his right hande flintlock, shot before taking the line to fire. I have never had any interest in standing at close ranks with other shooters, to see who could burn the other faster with the flash and spitting out the touch holes. This has also eliminated the problem of not being sure if your gun fired because of the all the noise and smoke being created by the shooters next to you. Its because of this that I got away with blowing down the barrel all those year. It was only when I began to think about what kind of safety lesson I was teaching spectators, and remembered how much I watched to learn when I was a kid, that I decided ot clean up my safety act.

No one gets punished for doing this wrong. But think about what you are doing, and who may be watching who does not understand all the subtle distinctions you have learned about safety and shooting BP guns.
 
ahhh, yes paul the left handed thing...specially when ya look left,somebody has stepped up an is priming their gun..specially a righty..woooo! i'll back off i ain't in no hurry...some jes don't care.step right up..oh well..RC
 
Gents,
Thank you for a great response. I'm new to the forum and really enjoy it!
I'm an old dog that can learn new tricks. I have never loaded from a horn or flask and never will. I have learned blowing down the barrel, after a shot, may not be wise for at least appearance sake.
Hopefully all those who have seen this response learned something. Good luck and good shooting.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
Old Deacon :hatsoff:
 
Just a follow up question on the ergonomics of the thing, (and no contention is intended): How do y'all handle a revolver, a measure, a flask, and do it in the field without a loading bench? I'm honestly not being sarcastic here, I'm genuinely curious. With only two hands (apparently luckily), I'm not sure how I'd safely handle all three at once.

If I've been screwing up and just been lucky for the last 30 years, I'd really like to know how I should be doing it. Please enlighten me. (Again, I am honestly not being sarcastic. I'd really like to know the specifics, the mechanics of it.)

My wheelgun loading has always been: Revolver up in left hand, powder flask in right. Thumb the release, tip over to fill the spout with a finger on the opening to keep it from spilling, close and upright to check level, and then fill each cylinder. Stow flask, place and ram wads & / or balls, then (sometimes) lube on top. Apply caps, fire. Obviously I check the cylinder before loading.

How do you do it? (Again: in the field rather than on a bench.)

PS: (because the tone I sense seems to necessitate it) I'm an old dog, but I learn new tricks every day. Teach me. I'm guessing there are some new dogs reading this too, who could learn from more detailed info.

Thanks.
 
I have blown down the barrel occasionally over the years after shooting to make sure the touchhole was clear, but realized that even though I knew the barrel was empty, it was a bad habit. How many times have we been jawin' with somebody on the firing line and have forgotten whether or not if we had loaded that gun? Years ago I did, and thought I would give 'er a blow and found that I had an obstruction. Then it dawned on me that there was a load in it. Even though I load with the frizzen forward and the cock down, not to mention that I wipe between shots, I just about crapped myself.

At our club, if someone sees you blow down a barrel, be prepared to get hollered at. Just a couple of weeks ago, I heard a range officer holler at one of our most experienced members for doing it. He doesn't normally do it but for some reason he did it that day.

The act of blowing down the barrel of an empty gun in itself ain't dangerous other than the possibility of chipping a tooth or something. The problem is that we as humans tend to forget or get distracted and don't realize that we're blowing down the barrel of a loaded gun. And yes, as you said, we're not setting a good example to young and/or inexperienced shooters.

1st Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." As BP shooters we should live by a rule based on this. "Abstain from all appearance of Stupidity."
 
Homesteader: Loading a revolver in the field, without the benefit of a loading bench is a royal PITA ! YOu have described the process pretty well. I tend to take the cylinder out of the gun, wipe down the nipples, and with the rest of the revolver holstered, run a patch down with a ramrod to clean out each chamber. Spit temds to remove most fouling. Then I put the cylinder in the top of my pants pocket while I use a patch with spit to clean the frame and the back end of the barrel. Then I use a spit patch to clean the barrel of crud.

The cylinder goes back in the gun, and how I load powder determines what happens next. If I am using my horn, and adjustable measure, I sit down on the ground, cross my legs, and cradle the gun in the crook of my knee, muzzle up, while I pour the powder from the horn into the measure. If I have a flask with a precut tube in place, I do as you have described. However, I was using reduced charges, and a filler of corn meal on top of the powder in my last revolver, so I use the flask for the corn meal, and my horn and adjustable powder measure for the charge. powder went into the chambers, all six, then I used the flask to put corn meal to the top of each chamber. Finally, I put a ball in one at a time, move the cylinder to put the ball under the rammer, and used the rammer to compress the corn meal and seat the ball just below the surface of the chamber. When all six chambers were loaded, I would use grease to put around the edges of each ball, to seal the individual chambers, and provide some lubrication to keep fouling soft as all six rounds are fired through the barrel without cleaning. A new lube that reduced group sizes for an experienced revolver shooter is: 1/4 WD40 oil; 1/4 Mobil One Jet Engine Oil, 1/2 melted beeswax. mix the three ingredients together when the wax is liquid, and let it cool. You will get a soft lube you can use to circle the balls in each chamber, that will resist melting or burning from the flames of the adjoining chambers, lube the barrel when that chamber is fired, and provide better accuracy.
 
How do y'all handle a revolver, a measure, a flask, and do it in the field without a loading bench?
Click to expand...

It ain't politically Kosher, but I use a 9mm Luger case with a piece of coat hanger wire silver soldered to it as a measure and pour from a little Colt bag flask or Zouave flask into my .36 Navy. I usually have a haversack or surplus musette/gas mask bag/belt pouch as a place to carry all my fixins.
 
After the scolding about loading from the flask, I went out and blasted a few skinny dead trees yesterday. Knocks the snow off if ya hit 'em. Between shots, of course, I blew down the barrel as accustomed too. Got to thinkin' about you guys, so blew down it again for safeties sake. By then the barrel had cooled off, my lips froze to the muzzle, and ripped off skin gettin' loose. So then, at arms length, I proceeded to dump powder down the barrel. My old pappy is a retired firefighter. He said, "where there's smoke, there's fire". No smoke, no fire. So there I stand, lips a bleedin', cussin' you guys, gun as far away from me as I can get it, pondering, who's right, and how much easier this was yesterday when I was ignorant of such things. Now I gotta build a measuring device to carry along with all the other stuff I carry in my purse as my 3 year old calls it. Maybe I'll get one of those newfangled bullet guns, but, I know after being here, I'll never be able to just load and shoot the same as I use too. Band-aids taste funny. Pahaska
 
Mornin Pahaska
You don't need to put your lips on the barrel to blow down it, nor do you need to put your face in front of it, You can blow down it from the side and bout 6 inches away ,, I'm not sayin to do it, just sayin that's how I do it,
 
Hay i'm not telling you what to do but you might want to buy a lottery ticket just my 2 cents Dave T. :rotf:
 
Hey Pahaslsa,
Try getting your wife or girlfriend (one at a time-never-together) to blow down the barrel and carry your gun and shooting purse. Nice to be with someone shooting, might as well give'em something to do.
Suggested this to the wife, can't type her response on the forum or repeat it in church!
Keep your gun and replies clean!
:hatsoff: Deacon
 
i have never been hit by a car either but that does not mean i am going to play in the street.
 
blowing down the barrel was not to blow out a spark. it was done to keep the fouling soft from the moisture in your breath. i don't think anyone can blow hard enough to put out a hot spot at the end of a 30+ inch barrel.
 
WOW REB yer 2 fer two...! course ya can blow out the hot ember at 30+ inches...it'll come right out where yer mouth used to be... :shocked2:
 

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