Clearing A Revolver Chamber At The Range

[sraney]

Hello, all. I'm new to this forum and to black powder. I own an 1858 Remington New Army percussion revolver (Pietta). I use 30-grain pyrodex pellets with .451 balls. It seems that when I go to the range and shoot long enough, one or more of the chambers eventually will fail to fire, even after I use the nipple pick to ensure a flame path. About half the time, a second cap will fire the chamber. The other half of the failures, however, will not clear regardless of how many caps are used and how much verbal encouragement is applied.

For the latter instances, I just take the cylinder home, remove the nipples, and drop the cylinder in my pan of soapy water to soak the powder prior to further manipulation. After that, it's a simple matter to clear the ball from the chamber with a pin punch through the nipple hole.

I only own one cylinder, so the question arises, "Is there a better way to do this?" Does anyone have a safe technique for clearing a chamber on the range? I suppose I could just take a bottle of drinking water and the pin punch with me and pour a little of that into the back side of the chamber to try to render it safe for "punching." Any other thoughts?

(Once I use up the caps I inherited with the used revolver, I believe I'll try some of the Remington magnum caps--a little more flame can't hurt.)

Thanks.

 

[pohill]

A few suggestions:
I use loose powder, not pellets - 30 grs (more or less) of FFFG.
I use a larger ball - at least .454
I use #11 caps and pinch them to make them fit better.
I tried the new Magnum caps and, for me, they are not worth the extra flame. I found that they explode and shred more, causing more jamming problems. They're great for my Hawkins .50 rifle.

 

[MutinousDoug]

Have you considered removing the nipple at the range, sprinkling a little loose powder into the chamber from the nipple hole, re-nipple, verify the ball is still seated, cap and fire?
Additionally, I hold old caps in suspicion as well. My 10year old CCI caps result in 1 in 5-10 shots a misfire. Fresh CCI caps are MUCH more reliable in my ROA
HTH

 

[Mike OTDP]

That's odd...I've never had a bit of problem with old caps. But I store mine indoors at room temperature.

Back to the OP...

Ditch the Pyrodex, go with black powder. 3Fg, either Goex or Swiss. Use .454 RB, .451 is undersize for a Remington repro. Regular caps will work fine for shooting, but you might want some magnum caps for clearing nipples and fouled guns. Get a nipple wrench and keep it in your shooting box. If a round fails to go off after two or three caps, pull the nipple and put in more powder - you probably didn't put in any.

 

[Oyeboten]

Maybe replace those Nipples with "TRESO" Brand ones...better flame path, less hassles.


Otherwise, hmmmm...seems like an odd thing to have happen.


Does the Pyrodex leave a lot of debris behind?

 

[Pancho]

Oyeboten, Do the tresco nipples fit the#11 caps better. And can Tresco supply smale nipples suitable for my pair of 62 colt police.

 

[Oyeboten]

I have always heard very good reviews of the 'TRESO' Nipples.


Of my several Cap and Ball Revolvers, all .44s of different Models, one arrived with a missing Nipple, so I sent off for a set of 'TRESO' ones...and installed those...it is a Dargoon.


I got them from 'The Possibles Shop' if memory serve, where, they offer different size 'TRESO' or 'AMPCO' Alloy Nipples, for different make or model C & B Revolvers.

The Nipples I got seem to be very happy with Remington No. 10 Caps.

These Caps happen to seem perfect for all the others I have also, even though they all have the Nipples they came with.



How one would decide Cap make and No., for any given Nipple, I do not know, other than luck, or, by trying different sizes of different Brands.

I have some Remington No. 11 Caps but have not tried them yet to see how they may be different than the Remington No. 10s I have been usig so far.


Others here should be able to report what make and size Caps, they have had satisfaction to use with the 'TRESO' Nipples they may have installed, on specific Model Revolvers.


Have a look here -

http://possibleshop.com/s-s-nipples-cb.html

 

[mykeal]

There is some information on cap sizes and Treso nipples in the Black Powder Essentials sticky thread that might be well worth the time to read:
Click on this link

 

[AbitNutz]

Is it possible you're using some kind of oil, lubricant or preservative that hangs around and really kills the ignition?

The only downside of Treso nipples is the ignition hole is very small and normal sized nipple picks won't fit.

I just can't imagine having this kind of ignition problem unless there was something wrong with the nipples, powder or caps. I have had misfires on my ROA but it was always my fault. I would get to the range and forget to clean the Ballistol out of the nipples. But it always fired with a second cap. I use Treso nipples, hit them with a nipple pick and then blow some air through them. Then I don't load it and fire a cap on all the empty chambers.

If I do that....I never have a misfire. I use almost any cap. My favorite is RWS "1075 plus" but those are expensive. Next best are Remington #11's and they work fine. CCI/Winchester don't fit, they're too tight and won't seat but I just found a local place that had some Winchester #11's and they fit really well.

I use all the worst powders. I favor Triple 7 maxed out. Pyrodex Pellets are nice and easy to load but oh god they are expensive. APP and Shockey Gold work fine too.

 

[Gambit88]

I cleared a colt copy once with a drywall screw and a pair of pliers. The lead was soft enough to screw into, I don't think I used a screwdriver. Then pull it out with the pliers. I didn't wet anything down though

Gambit

 

[sraney]

Thanks to all for the responses for a newbie. To respond to some of the questions: I'm using a brand new set of stainless Pietta nipples, the pyrodex doesn't leave much residue (except when it doesn't fire at all and I throw the cylinder in the pan of water), I probably use too much oil when i clean the weapon after shooting. On the last, however, the curious thing is that the "hung ball" failures to fire don't occur at the beginning of the sessions--only after a few rounds have been fired. Also, as noted in the original post, I use a pick to ensure the nipple is open before trying a second cap. Curious. Before the last outing, I cleaned the cylinder and just blew it dry with compressed air with no lubricant at all. That didn't make much difference, as I ended up with two chambers stuck after about 15-20 rounds. (Yes, there really was powder in the chambers.) It may be that a different brand of cap will do the trick. Being cheap, I won't find out until I've used up what I "inherited" with the revolver.

I imagine this paragraph will ignite a Republican/Democrat, what's the best motor oil, gasoline, [fill in the blank] storm of opinions, but, nonetheless, here goes. I note that a couple of the responders suggested using loose "real" black powder rather than pyrodex 30-grain pellets. I "inherited" the pellets, and they sure seem convenient. What's the advantage to the loose powder?

I'll take cover as the opinions fly!

Steve

 

[Oyeboten]

Well...having to put up with all those problems, in order to enjoy the relatively small 'advantage' of having got some free Pyrodex Pellets...would seem to be detracting from the pleasures and ease and reliable Ignition, which shooting Cap & Ball Revolvers could be about.


So, with that in mind, I would say, set aside the Pyrodex, get some real Black Powder, and see how things go then.

Maybe those 'pellets' are old, or have deteriorated somehow from prior exposure to Air or heat or who knows, and are no longer at their best.

 

[AbitNutz]

I use Pyrodex pellets at times but they are definitely more difficult to ignite. I have fewer problems if I use RWS 1075 plus caps. However, I did the math once with Pyrodex pellets, RWS caps and Buffalo bullets. It came to something over 63 cents per shot.

Almost anything else will be easier to ignite than Pyrodex pellets...not to mention, ultimately less expensive. No matter what you choose.

One thing about Pyrodex pellets is that they warn you not to jam the ball down and break the pellet. I suspect that hole down the center of the pellet has to be intact for good ignition.

 

[Ratdog68]

I use Pyrodex pellets at times but they are definitely more difficult to ignite. I have fewer problems if I use RWS 1075 plus caps. However, I did the math once with Pyrodex pellets, RWS caps and Buffalo bullets. It came to something over 63 cents per shot.

Almost anything else will be easier to ignite than Pyrodex pellets...not to mention, ultimately less expensive. No matter what you choose.

One thing about Pyrodex pellets is that they warn you not to jam the ball down and break the pellet. I suspect that hole down the center of the pellet has to be intact for good ignition.

Aren't you supposed to use them "this side to cap" too? Or, is that just with the rifle ones?

 

[azyogi]

I too 'inherited' some pyrodex pellets that were problematic in the ignition dept. my solution was to drop in a scoop of FFFFg before loading the pellet. The scoop is from my NAA companion so IIRC it's 2 grains by volume. It probably won't help you but since l already had the FFFFg for the Companions it worked for me. I prefer the Holy black but also inherited some loose P and some 777 that I will have to try in my ROA and my Dad's Howdah.






p

 

[Smokin_Gun]

Use loose black powder and refer to reply #2 pohill...
to clear it at the range, clear nipple with nipple pick, re cap and fire. Last but not least remove nipple add a lil' loose bp reinstall, cap and down range...try a couple times...after checkin' hammer trouth for a cap jammed. Then last remove nipple dump the powder or dig them pyro pellets out...and tap the ball out the front of the chamber.
Do yourself a favor and find some bp or order it from
Powder inc...google um. I get 10lbs at a time ann d the price ain' bad.
http://www.powderinc.com/

 

[scrat]

Agree with smoking gun for sure

 

[wobble]

What Smokin Gun says -- remove nipple, add loose BP, reinstall nipple, add cap, and fire. It's worked for me.