How many shots can you make before a BP revolver needs a strip and clean?

[TCoops]

Again its something I've heard widely conflicting claims about. I've heard some people say that even a dozen rounds is enough to seize up the cylinder and foul the barrel so much, that it not only shoots inaccurately but may also be a safety risk.

Taking this topic up with a couple of black powder shooters, they say that they can do a full day's shoot (perhaps 60 or more rounds) with no problems at all, and little or no degradation in accuracy.

Ofcourse, any firearm should be cleaned prior to and after any range session, and also when time permits (between serials). That's a given. However, I'm interested in exactly how dirty black powder is and how quickly it can degrade the average black powder revolver.

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately its hard to find BP enthusiasts to talk to in humble little Aus (heck I'm virtually an outcast for looking at anything that doesn't take a 10rd magazine!)

 

[dwave]

100 with my colt: 100 shots with lube pills

The colt has groves cut to allow lube to keep the cylinder running good.

My remington can only get around 36 shots before the cylinder binds up.

 

[Tommygunn]

I have never had a problem with a colt revolver except for the small .31 caliber. Probably due to the larger cylinder arbor with grease grooves.
The Remington design has a smaller arbor. It has a flat side for grease, but unfortunatly this doesn't work as well as the Colt design. The Remmies do bind up after a few cylinders of bullets go downrange.

 

[Gibbles]

My peita 1851 navy .44 can make it about 12 shots with out cleaning, thats assuming a piece of a cap does not fall into the action.

 

[rifle]

I use the "Junk Yard Dog Lube Pills" (my wife sells them) and get 200 shots with Colts or Remingtons with no barrel or chamber fouling and don't need to get a few drops of solvent on the front cylinder around the arbor for lots of shots. The lube pills blast out of the cylinder gap and splash wax/lube on the arbors and keeps powder fouling out for a long time. Anywhoooo....a days shooting fer me usually is 200+ shots and the guns just keep going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny. The recipe fer the Lube Pills if ya want to make yer own and not buy them from Junk Yard Dog (1-740-824-5566) is "equal parts of bees wax,paraffin wax,mutton tallow. Punch them out from a thin 1/8th deep wax sheet made from pouring melted lube in a shallow pan and after it solidifies go to punchin them out with a brass tube pill puncher. Wife sells them too. Hope this helps. Side note....I have a habit of packin the inards of my cap&ballers with Rig gun Grease and even though it turns black with fouling it stays slippery and lubey and the parts keep working. Wonder Lube does the same if slobbered in large amounts inside the gun. In the summer some lube/grease can come out of the trigger slots in the frame. A person can use it a little more sparringly than I do and still get enough lube around the inards to keep them workin in soft black gunk. Side note.....a person can keep a visine bottle of solvent or water or Ballistol in the pocket so ifin the gun starts draggin some drops of the liquid in the right places frees it up like new and the shootin commences once again. I guess I'm sayin the guns can be kept going forever dang near ifin ya do the right things to overcome the fouling problems. Anywhooo....if a person uses Lube Pills or wool wads saturated with the right lube "on the powder under the balls" in the chambers the guns will out last the average shooter as far as draggin or chokin on the fouling. The lube just has to be suspended within a medium of wax so it doesn't foul the powder. A lube recipe of equal parts beeswax,paraffin wax and mutton tallow works fer me. See ya Buds!

 

[mykeal]

I'm a little surprised nobody has mentioned this: it also depends on the individual gun - tolerances on the clearances between close fitting parts can and do vary from gun to gun and with time as parts wear. Some guns can bind after just a few shots while others of the same make and model go dozens of rounds with no problem. The one sure thing is that lubrication helps, whether in the form of lube pills, lubed wads or little squirt bottles applied as needed. And which method works best can also depend on the individual gun - what parts are binding and how best to lube them.

Did I mention that one of the fun things about this obsession is that there are lots of excuses to go shooting - to "try things out", so to speak?

 

[Vairochana]

Where are you- I know that Brisbane has a healthy crop of BP fans.
One or two lurk on other forums including Australian Hunting forums

 

[4v50 Gary]

Continuing on what mykeal says, humidity and quality of powder contributes to the functioning of a blackpowder revolver. BTW, except for percussion caps that fell apart, I've never had my Ruger Old Army bind.

 

[Bryan James]

out of my peita '51 I usually shoot around 40~50 rounds through it with no problems, like with gary said, the only time I've had to take it apart at the range was do to a cap that binded things up.

my peita '58 I shoot about the same, though after ever cylinder load or two, I wipe down the cylinder pin. I've never had the cylinder lock on it, but had to use a mallet a couple of times, to get the pin out. so it's just easier two wipe the BP foul off before loading.

 

[Rangr44]

It's funny, how you almost never see a BP revolver being cleaned - in all those movies, going back 50 years or so.

 

[Wwalstrom]

never see a BP revolver being cleaned - in all those movies

Ever see the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? Technically it was a cartridge conversion ... but still good 'ol BP.

 

[hildo]

This what causes the problem with the non rotating cylinder. BP residue is blown between the cylinder and the arbor. I had to remove the cilinder after each 6 shots because it literally would no longer rotate.

This is one of the better solutions. Bullet lube pills. I melted the ingredients together, poured it into my barrel, let it cool down, pushed the lube bar out and cut them into a more or less correct length.

Here you see the bullet lube pills installed, directly on top of the powder.
It works better than smearing lube on top of the ball and is less messy too.

Then press the balls on top of the lube pills.

Here you see the inside of the barrel of the Colt Walker after 40 shots.

In fact I think I could shoot all day long without ever having to clean or lucricate the gun.
When shooting the lube pill melts and lubricates the arbor. It also sprays lube inside the barrel that keeps BP fouling soft. With the next shot you blow the soft fouling out of the barrel.
Take a look at Rifle's post for the ingredients, he know's what he is talking about. Other ingredients may work for you too.
I found different BP brands to give a softer or harder fouling.

 

[TCoops]

Thanks for the recipe. I've been asking around about lubes and it seems people only use bore butter. I'll be showing off my own lube pills pretty soon, and hopefully it'll be a trend setterThe pistol cleaning itself with each shot? Cant wait to try that!

I'm in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a pretty small black powder contingent called the Southern Rangers. Not sure how large a following it is. At ranges that facilitate black powder competition, so I'm told, the turn out isn't very big.

I had to drive many miles to find myself a BP revolver.. But holding that clump of steel in my hands was well worth it : )

 

[Bad Flynch]

Well, my solution to this whole problem is to do the following:

1-Lube the base pin of the revolver with one of the incarnations of 1000+ black powder lube. Anybody who calls their lube 1000+ gets it from Ox-Yoke, so any brand is OK. I like the stuff in the tubes better on revolver base pins.

2-Cover the loaded ball hole with 1000+. Here, I use the variety that comes in the jar because it is a little stiffer than the tubed stuff, but the tubed stuff will work fine, too.

That should get you quite a ways down the road to happiness.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

With my walker I can get between 6 and 8 cylinders max before I have to clean it to keep it running.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Take a rag and wipe off the outside of the cylinder once in a while on a Colt and you can shoot them all day. I use wonder wads in mine.. no 'wet' stuff of any kind over my powder charge (though T/C made some 'bore butter buttons' that worked very well and helped keep the barrels a little cleaner than wonder wads)

I don't think I have a specialty 'bp' grease for my cylinders, I just use gunslick.