Cap&Ball - How many shots do you take?

[Lovesbeer99]

So I've been reading about cap and ball revolvers and I almost get the impression that you load each chamber once, fire, and call it a day.

What I'm I missing? I'd hate to just take 5 shots and have to clean my gun.

 

[Pancho]

Jump in here Dwave. Dwave's done some extensive work using lube pills and he can shoot 100 rounds without a swab out.

 

[Malamute]

In the US Army tests of the 1851 Navy Colt, it was mentioned that they shot the gun 1500 rounds in a day, and cleaned it once in that time.

 

[Macmac]

I have never counted, but it is a rare day I clean any BP gun before i decide to end the day because i want dinner.

When I want to punch paper 60 rnds isn't too much with my Brown Bess, or Nor West Gun in an afternoons shooting, and I never have to clean the gun to continue. 2 hours is plenty of time to blast 60 rnds into paper. On a easy days loading I can shoot 3 round a minute. I can shoot 5 per minute in a race, but can't sustain the rate for more than 15 minutes.

Suddenlly this becomes more interesting.

I wonder what a race between a BP six gun and my Bess might show, in say a 30 minute race.. All you can fire, target score isn't counted.

The six gunner to have a minmum of 5 years experience, so aledge he knows what he is doing.

 

[Im283]

When I shoot the cap and ball revolvers i typically shoot for about 90 minutes to two hours. In this time frame I take my time and enjoy the process of loading and shooting. I probably put about 50 rounds downrange. About the only cleaning I do during this time is to wipe the grime off the outside of the cylinder.
The revolver does not gunk up at all hardly. Using grease over the balls seems to be the key to this.

 

[bigbadgun]

When I go to the range I take 2 sometimes 3 guns depending how much time I have.
On average I can put 60 to 80 rounds downrange per gun and dont clean during the shoot. I have never shot to find out how many rounds I can fire before needing to clean, However after about 60 rounds in my walker I can feel the action getting tight but not unshootable.

 

[Z71]

I always figured that balls, caps, and powder don't cost much. Maybe a bit more than shooting a .22 per shot, but less than centerfire ammo usually. I shoot the revolvers until they lock up, clean them and shoot some more!

After the revolvers get tight, just pull the cylinder, wipe it all off and relube the pin. You can shoot all day long if you desire!

 

[Ed Ames]

Seriously depends on the gun in my experience.

New gun, lube not where it needs to be, everything tight, may only go 10 shots before needing some care. I've had guns jammed tight with fouling on the third cylinder out of the box. Cylinder wouldn't turn, couldn't disassemble the gun, etc..

On the same token I've had muzzle loading rifles that needed to be swabbed w/ grease after every shot at first. Miss a swabbing and you would have to dislodge a jammed bullet that wasn't down on the powder. After a while the grease residue and powder residue reach some sort of balance and you could fire a string without scrubbing.

Older gun, lube in the right places, a little more clearance where it is needed, can go all day without any cleaning.

 

[Z71]

I use Lubriplate white grease for my cylinder pin lube and my over bullet lube on the BP revolvers.

I've used other lubes, including some dedicated to black powder shooting grease's.

I can shoot a bunch before the gun gets tight. Then, like I stated, just break the revolver apart and wipe it off. Grease the pin/arborshaft(Colt or Remington) and go some more.

I've noticed that the Remingtons tend to take less shooting to get enough crud build-up to get hard turning.

I've also noticed that the size of the load makes a difference in how long the gun will run before getting too tight. A modest powder charge allows more lube on top the bullet, plus less powder to foul the gun. So the plinking loads run a lot longer than a full chamber load.

The revolver lock up because the blast of powder residue from the cylinder gap gets driven into the clearance between the pin and cylinder. It will stop the revolver after X number of shots.

 

[holdover]

C & B revolvers

Like Z71 said, lube the cyl pin! I shoot these things in competition(58 rem.) at NSSA, and use lubraplate on the cyl pin, no problem going 24 shots , by that time accuracy has fallen off some and I pull the pin, wipe the barrel and cyl, re lube and start again. BTW in my ransom rest they shoot 1 to 1 1/2" at 25 yds, in my hand, well that's a different matter.

 

[dwave]

I fire anywhere from 50 to 100 shots in a shooting session with BP. I don't go out to fire 5 shots then go back in. Shooting is a hobby for me that I love to do. I go 2 to 3 times a week and spend no less than 30 mins. shooting up to 5 to 6 hours. Anyways, I normally shoot 50 to 100 shots, and that is one gun.

 

[DuncanSA]

These weapons were designed for combat use. Shoot it until it starts dragging, then do a field clean, which basically means wiping off BP residue from the cylinder bar.

Then you are back in business - civil war pistols, and their replicas which we shoot, were pretty tough items. With basic care they can go on shooting indefinitely (broken springs and mechanical defects excepted).

 

[scrat]

The last time i went i shot almost 180 rounds through two bp revolvers. Did not clean at all. In the end i was shooting steel out at 100 yards. bench rest. Still hitting steel. Id say thats pretty good shooting.

 

[junok]

Cylinder pin clogging

If you look at a Colt Army Model you will see a thread chased on the cylinder pin- this can be greased and will slow down clogging. I you have a REPLICA Remington you can do the same thing and extend the shooting time before cleaning considerably.
Frank

 

[.50cal]

On some weekends during the summer and fall I have shot rabbits and targets all weekend long and only field cleaned them with window washer fluid and a rag until I get home ( probably 100-150 shots) Is this what the original question referred to???? I only field clean when the cylinder starts to 'drag'

 

[Perk]

.50cal -

"On some weekends during the summer and fall I have shot rabbits and targets all weekend long and only field cleaned them with window washer fluid and a rag until I get home."

Okay, there's no problem with envisioning window washer-cleaned targets. But, - and, now tell the truth - are window washer fluid-cleaned rabbits still tasty?

As one might imagine, I’m just yanking another string of clasped metal ovules. The type of thing one might expect of someone, who is unable to execute a proper quote, in their reply.

Still working on the field kit, and your help is, truly, appreciated. Thank you, sir.

 

[.50cal]

If I were to clean a rabbit with washer fluid I would feed it to the neighbor's ever constant barking dog............. Rabbits out here most of the time have diseases and almost no one eats them. Field kit,,,tooth brush, Q tips,cleaner,cylinder lube, paper clip (to clean flash holes in nipples) gun oil, 3 shop towel rags, pipe cleaners, all in a small fist aid type bag from a surplus store. My ammo bag is powder flask,caps,balls,lube pills or lubed felt wads, some times over ball lube. all in a similar bag to the cleaning kit.

 

[Perk]

Send me the giblets. Got one me of those yappy-type of pooches, right across the way; sorely testing my patience, upon occasion.

Wouldn’t be for me to ultimately decide, but it sure sounds like your kip is in order. Tend to be of a mind to add the logistics for a back-up, myself. Never know what kind of critter’ll get upset aBout being shot at, out there. And, deep, ragged, scratch marks take FOREVER to heal, it seems.

Sorry ‘bout your rabbits bein’ so under-the-weather. Have the occasional yen for fresh bunny-meat, myself. The store-bought kind just ain’t the same thing.

Not to be OT, mind you. A feller's kip says a lot about why he's able to be out there, shooting, instead of at home, cleaning.

 

[Plum Loco]

50 to 60 shots , about 10 cyl full , is usually when my 1860 colt rev gets to dragging and slowing down , and needs cleaning . Its so much fun with BP

 

[AirForceShooter]

about 10 cylinders with some applications of Windex along the way.
It's just flat fun and the reaction of other shooters is worth it.

AFS

 

[Pulp]

I've shot 30+per day in mine at Cowboy Action Matches. The cylinder on my '51 will spin as smooth at the end of the day as the first of the day.