Cap n Ball revolvers loaded long term....

[Loosenock]

Cool story Doc, and good info. Thanks

Great stuff fellas, keep it coming.

'Loose

 

[JNewell]

I wouldn't bet my life on it NOT going off

I absolutely, totally, completely agree with that. If my life depended on the gun going "bang" on demand, however, I'd do like Wild Bill. "Could" and "will" are potentially very different condtions! YMMV.

 

[Loosenock]

"Wild Bill".....another interesting ponderance. He carried a pair of Colts 1851 Navys in .36 caliber. I never heard if he fired them at the end of the day then cleaned and reloaded them before he went to bed or what. Seems like someone wanting their name to fame would be on to that and catch him with unloaded revovlers. He could have a bullet worm to pull the lead, clean and reload. By doing that he could always have at least one revolver loaded and ready.

Smith and Wesson had their Model 3 in .44 and .45 cartridges available in 1870. Colt had Richards "Conversion" of 1851 revolvers (the model preferred by Hickock) available in 1871. That was 5 to 6 years before Hickock's death on August 2, 1876. If he was so concerned about it, why didn't he carry the Smiths or Colt/Richards?

I'd like to get myself one of Uberti's Colt Richards conversion revovlers. Nice pieces.

'Loose

 

[Chasing Crow]

Well, I'm a little of topic but I have left my flintlocks with hunting loads for a year and they never failed to fire. No caps to consider obviously.

 

[PRM]

I have been shooting 2nd Generation Colts revolvers since the late 70s. I generally don't leave them loaded over 2 - 6 months before shooting and cleaning. I have several and rotate them to the range. I have never had any problem with misfires or with the powder degrading (same with caps). The longest I have let one go was about a year (got deployed back in 03) - again with no noticeable affects.

I have never had a problem with rust as a result of leaving them loaded. Just make sure to meticulously clean them after firing.

In fact, I have shot 20+ year old powder with 20+ year old caps without any problems when I found some powder and caps I had stored in a foot locker and forgot about.

Never understood why some people think black powder or caps will degrade any faster in/on a gun than in its original container, given similar conditions.

I agree with madcratebuilder that the majority of the ole timer's most likely did not discharge and clean their guns on a regular basis - want proof, look at some of the originals. Many of them were fired and left for days without cleaning - pitted bores and cylinders are more common than not.

 

[button]

I have convinced my wife that my muzzliloader must be fired evey week or so to keep it in good workin order.
I dont want to change my stand now./QUOTE] Trog, all I can say is keep up the good work, This sounds like something i need pass on to my wife also! Thou i do not think she would beleive it!

I have never noticed that it was any worse than BP. With either, clean the gun ASAP after shooting. Don't let it set three days before cleaning or either will eat metal. Both have sulfur in the mix. 777, OTOH, may not be nearly as corrosive since it has no sulfur. That ruins the neat smell, but I'm learning the benefits of 777 lately. I like it a lot for just shooting. I'm not a reenactor nor am I nostalgic for the good old days. I was born in 1952. By the time I was of shooting age, they'd invented smokeless. I got into BP in the early 70s and by the 80s, I could not find BP for sale anywhere, so by necessity, I took up pyrodex. I see little difference, to be frank, except that shipping laws allow stores to actually sell pyrodex and make a profit.

Mcgunner, Thanks again for the helpful info. I guess I will switch to 777 instead of Goex.

 

[robhof]

I've left my ROA loaded for up to a year with no problems, actually I have spare cylinders and took out my loaded cylinder on the last day of B/p season and forgot about it til the next year, it fired fine.