to grease or not

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  • Last Post 18 February 2012
Charliel posted this 07 August 2011

ude:Need some experience here, thought I would try my hand at black powder, Purchased a 44 cal revolver, the salesman told me to charge the cylinder, put a patch and them seat the ball, he said there is not need to put grease on top of the ball as the patch will prevent chain fires, Need some advice from people who shoot black powder thanks don't want to blow myself up quite yet

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nimrod posted this 07 August 2011

It might but the grease on the front of the cylinder helps to keep the fouling soft. If you want to make your own instead of buying the expensive stuff make up some Emmerts lube and add some lanolin works great.

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Maven posted this 07 August 2011

"...the salesman told me to charge the cylinder, put a patch and them seat the ball, he said there is not need to put grease on top of the ball as the patch will prevent chain fires,"

 

Charliel, That's not correct at all:  You don't use a patched roundball with BP revolvers period.  Grease over each chamber perhaps, but that's to lube the cylinder pin NOT to prevent chain fires.*  What you need is roundballs that are of sufficient diameter (See manufacturer's recommendation) so that a ring of lead is shaved from each ball as it is seated.  I.e., you will be seating 6 unpatched, pure lead balls, 1 per chamber for each firing cycle.  After firing several times, the cylinder will begin to bind because of black powder or Pyrodex

fouling on the cylinder pin and cylinder face.  You'll need to disassemble the piece and clean each and re-lube the pin with a BP-compatible grease, e.g., T/C Bore Butter or Traditions 1000.  Btw, after you charge each chamber, a pre-cut, sized by caliber, a  greased felt wad is seated.  The naked ball goes atop that.  Said wads help manage powder fouling in the bore.  Track of the Wolf, et al., carry the wads, balls, etc.

*Chain fires begin at the rear of the cylinder, not the front as is widely believed, and are due to poorly fitted percussion caps.  Again, see what size the manufacturer of your revolver recommends.

 

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Charliel posted this 08 August 2011

Maven: If I understood what you are saying I first put in the powder charge, then a greased felt wad and then seat the bullet and then fill with grease over the round ball.

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Maven posted this 08 August 2011

Charlie, If you use the greased felt wad , and then seat the ball, you won't have to grease the front of the cylinder.  On the other hand, if you omit the felt wad, you WILL need to grease the front in order provide lube for the roundball and the cylinder pin (and face).  Good luck with the revolver; they're a lot of fun to shoot!  Be sure to clean it thoroughly when you get home.:)

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Charliel posted this 08 August 2011

Thanks for the information, always wanted to try black powde, should be fun

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2frogs posted this 17 February 2012

When my son and I are shooting ours we put the charge in..Usualy 3F powder,then a lubed felt wad and then the ball...We never put grease over the balls..Never have..We never had any chain fires..Not that we might not have some time,but to date haven't..

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R. Dupraz posted this 17 February 2012

Using patches in a revolver!! That's a new one.

Your question has been pretty much covered, I'll just add the following.

Powder, grease wad, round ball or soft lead bullet

                           or

Powder, round ball or bullet, and grease over the ball

While the grease wad is more convenient, you don't need any expensive BP lube or even the wad for that matter. Just pick up a can of Crisco the next time you go grocery shopping, This is a vegetable based shortening and works just fine for an “over the ball “lube in BP revolvers.

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2frogs posted this 17 February 2012

Just wanted to add this--------I have had several people tell about crisco..My mind tells me there is SALT in it.Now it seems this might be an issue...What do you guuys think about it...John

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Brodie posted this 17 February 2012

Back in the 60"s when I first played with BP I used Crisco.  The salt was not a problem.  It did not cause any rusting that I could see, but in HOT weather the dang stuff ran down the front of the pistol and would not stay in the chambers.  I quit using it in favor of an over powder wad.

B.E.Brickey

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gnoahhh posted this 17 February 2012

Doesn't really matter if there's salt in it or not. You're going to clean it anyway after shooting. I've been using Crisco for years with no issues. To clean, I remove the grips and cylinder, scrub-a-dub-dub with hot water, dry thoroughly (an oven on its lowest temp setting for a few minutes speeds things up), spray liberally with WD-40 (to displace any remaining water), wipe off, use a good gun oil for long term preservation/lubing, reinstall grips and cylinder (which has been cleaned also). Sometimes I even take BP guns into the shower with me and clean them while cleaning myself.

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onondaga posted this 17 February 2012

Charlie, The Cap and Ball revolvers are fun. You have gotten good tips. It is VERY easy to recognize when the cylinder pin is fouled. You will definitely feel the difference when cocking the hammer.  STOP and clean.  BP and Pyrodex foul the pin before the second six are fired. I clean every loading. It isn't a hard drill to get used to. You may wish to try the non-Sulfur black powder substitute  Pioneer Powder 3f. It fouls very little and doesn't give Asthma attacks. Pioneer ignites just fine with regular percussion caps. Some of the other non-Sulfur substitutes require much more ignition but the Pioneer lights right up with standard caps and cleanup is much easier. There are also round nose conical bullet molds for your revolver and I simply use Lee Liquid Alox tumble lube on those. The multiple bearing bands and lube grooves and “shaved” fit loading works great to prevent multiple discharge from the front. My 1860 Colt reproduction really liked the conical bullets and was my favorite Rat gun at the college dumps in the 70s in Southern Maine.  If you really enjoy the revolver, consider getting a second cylinder to keep in a pouch on your holster. I like having an extra cylinder ready to go. My revolver liked .451 round-balls and bullets from this Lyman 450225 that drops .455” at 157 grains soft lead;  These don't weigh much more than a round-ball but are much more accurate. I never used any wads but I did try some upside down 3/4 jackets to seal the charge behind the bullet. They gave a stupendous velocity and recoil increase. Gary 

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corerf posted this 17 February 2012

On my colt repros, the wedge is pretty tight and too tight just to remove by hand to change cylinders. I have the extra cyl, just don't use it (more a backup if one has a problem).

On a remington, thats the cats meow option.

I use my homemade lube to plug the cylinders rather than crisco or even bore butter. Its a bit stiffer and doesnt run at any reasonable temp, although slightly more expensive.

if cheap is the game, crisco is it.

Try the emmerts lube recipe for an all around great BP lube thats useful for patch, cyl, cleaning and general lube.

BTW: Crisco HAS NO SALT, unless the buttery flavor version does. It's sodium free, pure as the driven snow vegetable fat and maybe has a stabilizer in it. Thats it. Its as corrosive or water absorbing as vaseline. Just check the label!

I have used it as an exterior coating to prevent rust (emmerts) and due to the beeswax, it sticks pretty good!

Emmerts is 60/40 fat/beeswax, prefered fat is crisco, may need to add a pinch of canola oil or such to make it the consistency you like. Or you can go upside down and reverse the 60/40, make it 50/50 or any other ratio, etc. But in any case, it dips easy at 75 to 80 degrees on your finger and fills the cylinders good. A good tight fitting ball makes a big difference when you get the thick shaved ring, if the mold your using to cast RB is fat enough over your cylinder mouth.

Just my experience.

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2frogs posted this 17 February 2012

Thanks for the tips on the crisco..I have tried it myself but it will be a mess in hot weather..Sorta like that Yello bore bullet..It works great for keeping fouling soft but aint worth a dime in hot weather like the crisco...I been thinking about smearing some on my cast bullets for the 45-70...

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corerf posted this 18 February 2012

Add that beeswax to the crisco, a little will last a long time and it will fix the dripping crisco issue, while keeping fouling very, very soft.

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2frogs posted this 18 February 2012

I never thought of the wax...like maybe a 50 to 50 mix?

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