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.
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.