Loading a percussion revolver the old way- how to?

[PHI]

I just bought my first muzzleloader. A Rem 1858 ( 44cal).
I have shot it yesterday and I am very happy with it and exited!
I tried 20 gr Pyrodex, approx 15 gr corn meal and a 454 ball and crisco to seal the chamber.
As a second option , I used 30 gr of powder, a felt wad, ball and crisco. Both shoot well.
However I am asking myself, how the revolver was loaded origionally. As I understand you need lube over the chamber to seal the chamber and keep the fouling soft, however after one shot the crisco of all chambers is gone and on top of it I can't see that you could carry the revolver that way as the crisco will melt or just "fall" out.
I also asume that they didn't carry corn meal and would have used a full charge. Are felt wads historicly correct?
How did they load them safely

 

[biliff]

Colt's original loading instruction was just powder and ball. No wads, lube, cornmeal, etc..

 

[MSW]

Thanks for the post ... i wondered about that ... of course, i do wonder about rather esoteric stuff from time to time.

 

[PHI]

Did they have problem with chain fire.....
I believed you have to seal the bore to prevent them.
Thanks

 

[Swtodd]

Yes, chain fire can happen. If you use the felt wads or grease over the ball (crisco ain't the best) it won't happen very often.

steve

 

[Bill Hall]

I always figured since revolvers were meant to shoot at an enemy, or a bad guy, chain fires weren't considered a big problem. If you're scared enough, you might not even notice it.

I carried an 1851 back in my reenacting days, 1970's, and was taught to just load the ball over the powder, but to always use crisco over the balls to prevent chain firing. Seemed to work, as I never had a chain fire using the crico. When I was older, I had the gun in my truck, without the crisco, as I didn't want it to run all over, and decided to shoot it while in some N.C.swamps. BOOM, three chambers went off! One in the barrel and two on the right side. Didn't hurt a thing, just smeared lead on the wedge and scared the manure outta me. If I had been shooting at a man, it still would have done its job, with maybe a little extra effect. Bill

 

[biliff]

If you're using a correctly sized ball (one that shaves a nice ring of lead off when you load it) the chambers are sealed.

 

[Maven]

Actually, chain fires occur because of poorly fitting percussion caps rather than "unsealed" chamber mouths. Your favorite grease, or better yet, lubed felt wads, are a good idea as they help keep BP fouling soft while they lubricate the cylinder pin (arbor?). Btw, the Bevel Brothers in the NMLRA's "Muzzle Blasts" established quite clearly the poor cap-to-nipple fit as a major reason for chain fires.

 

[crockett]

I am operating from memory here so my dates may be a year or two off but almost as soon as Colt invented the revolver he also made combustible cartirdges to be used with it. There were several different cartridges tested but at least one had a thin cork wad on the base of the bullet. General Robert E. Lee also had the chamber ends of his Colt Navy 36 sealed with a red wax of some sort. Seven years after his death the revolver was fired and all chambers went off fine. In any event chamber ends being sealed is PC. The Crisco is a bad lube. Personally, I used a lubed wonder wad- that eliminates the crisco and seals the chamber. So, powder charge, lubed wad, and ball. Neat and clean- no mess.

 

[Stophel]

Bill and the others are right, a spark is not gonna get past the ball fitted into the chambers.

I tried once years ago with a Remington putting grease over the chambers. Holy manure, what a mess. Grease flyin' everywhere. I swore I'd never do that again! :shocked2:

With another one, much later, I used wads under the balls. Shot like manure. I decided to ditch the wads. Shoots like a dream! Ok, so it's a little harder to clean (not much, though).

I shot some not too long ago with a Dragoon with wads put over top of the balls for lubricant purposes. I just fired a few times so I don't really know how well it shoots that way.

 

[bob308]

the only time i ever had a chain fire and it happened twice. was when i got sloppy and lose caps fell off the nipples.

 

[shortbow]

Until I recently got on to mink oil, I use the same basic lube for ml rifles, revolvers and bp cartridge guns. The only variation was in the ratio of beeswax to olive oil. For the percussion revolver I just add enough oil to the melted beeswax to allow the lube to be workable when cold. This thicker lube stays on the chamber mouths no problem.

 

[Swtodd]

I've had chain fires from wind blown/spilled powder over the top of a "sealed chamber" more than once. Maybe it came through the cap? It hasn't happened to me in a long time, but i've been using the lubed felt wads over the powder.

steve

 

[CaptainKirk]

Tight fitting caps is the answer, here.
Squeezing a #11 so it won't fall off does not constitute a 'tight fitting cap'.
Use a #11 only if #10's will not go on, or fail to fire due to not being seated.
Felt wads over the powder work much better than Crisco on warmer days. Crisco makes enough of a mess as to turn off some people to BP revolvers. The wads make it a breeze.
The other posters are correct about the lead ring as well. If you're shaving lead, you won't chainfire.

 

[Greg Hardy]

I used to carry a small chunk of pure beeswax with me and I would carefully do the cookie cutter thing with the caps. Just enough to get a little wax on the edge of the cap, then put the caps on. This was to make them somewhat more water resistant when I was working on the property in high humidity or possible rain. Never had a problem with ignition or chain fire. In fact the only chain fire I ever had was because of a poorly fitting ball. One was enough!

 

[TFoley]

Colt's original loading instruction was just powder and ball. No wads, lube, cornmeal, etc..

Yup, and don't forget to 'exlpode a cap' to clear the nipples after cleaning and before firing [a typo on my original Colt box instructions].

tac

 

[CoyoteJoe]

There is a lot of theory and speculation but I don't believe anyone absolutely KNOWS what may cause chain fires. Certainly there are mistakes made which greatly increase the likelihood of trouble. Undersized balls loaded without any lube over or under the ball, oversize of missing caps are likely causes. But it's a fact that chainfires have occurred even to folks who know what they are doing and take care to do it right every time. I've been shooting C&B revolvers since 1960 and have never had a chainfire, but that doesn't mean it won't happen tomorrow. :haha:

 

[crockett]

We did a big talk on this a while back. And did a poll. If I recall almost all (or all) chain fires occurred on the first cylinder of the day. Why seemed important. The idea with some folks was the cylinder didn't go through the procedure of firing a cap on each nipple to burn off any grease, etc. The nipples might have jarred loose on the recoil.
One guy passed a propane torch over a cylinder end loaded with just wads- no balls. And- no chain firing. He then passed QUICKLY the same torch over the other end with caps off the nipples and a chain firing about every time.
The general conclusion was that everyone was right to some extent- a chain firing can likely occur at either end but that poor fitting caps were a definate hazard- fire a round and a cap gets loose- YOU DON"T KNOW IT- fire the second shot and the hot gases fire the intended chamber plus the one where the cap worked loose.
Historically- I believe chamber ends were greased or waxed when time permitted but certainly- in a war or gun fight- this timely step was skipped and yet chain firings didn't occur that often- and, might have been from hurrying while putting on the caps.

 

[crockett]

On the chamber end chain firing- Mark Twain in ROUGHING IT speaks of shooting a pepperbox where all six cylinders went off at the same time- the caps are wide apart on that type gun so I would think such a chain firing likely came from the chamber end- like I said- I think they could occur both ways.

 

[reddog]

On the chamber end chain firing- Mark Twain in ROUGHING IT speaks of shooting a pepperbox where all six cylinders went off at the same time- the caps are wide apart on that type gun so I would think such a chain firing likely came from the chamber end- like I said- I think they could occur both ways.

Never having loaded , or even SEEN loaded a pepperbox, I don't think the balls were out to the end of the barrel(s). if that is the case, it seems that it might be hard for the fire to go down the barrel to get to the other charges. Like I said, just guessing, when it comes to p-boxes I am clueless, as far as the cap end, it only takes a little flame going under a loose cap to set off the priming compound, and yep, it's lit!! Flame flow doesn't normally change direction on it's own. Otherwise, your muzzleblast might come back and curl your sideburns