crazyjennyblack
Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2008
- Messages
- 391
OK, not quite what you think.... 
This is a follow-up to the cap guard thread, and Foto Joe's idea. I talked with a friend of mine, who gave me some of that aquarium piping. FotoJoe encouraged me to share my findings when I tried them, so I did a quickie experiment. I took four BP revolvers that I know to have reliable ignition, and I loaded them up.
Revolver #1 (a pietta brass frame 1858) was loaded with 30 grains of 777 and a round ball. No grease over the balls, no grease around the caps.
Revolver # 2 (a pietta brass frame 1851 colt .44) was loaded with 25 grains of 777 and a round ball. This one had grease over the balls only.
Revolver # 3 (an ROA) was loaded with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. This one used grease over the balls AND the caps.
Revolver # 4 (an ROA) was loaded with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. This one used grease over the balls, and the new cap guards.
For the test, I turned my shower on as hot as it could get, and steamed the bathroom up until the walls were dripping. After the hot water ran out, I put a pot of water on to boil on a hot plate on the bathroom counter, and I left the guns in there for a half hour. With the guns and everything else in the room pretty wet, I went out to the woods and shot them.
Revolver # 1 - nothing worked. put on new caps, and still no dice.
Revolver # 2 - 2 chambers fired, the rest didn't
Revolver # 3 - 3 chambers fired right, one hang-fired, and two failed
Revolver # 4 - 5 fired right, one didn't fire at all
So, this seems like a possible win for the cap guards, right? Well, I wasn't satisfied. TIME FOR THE EXTREME TEST!!!
I went back home and cleaned and oiled all four revolvers. The brassers I put back in the closet, the ROA's got subjected to a little more abuse. I loaded each one with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. Revolver A had cap guards on, with grease over the mouths of the chambers. Revolver B had cap guards on, grease around the cap guards, and grease over the mouths of the chambers.
With the loading done, I holstered them, steamed up the bathroom, and stepped INTO the shower with holstered guns (open top, not flat holsters). To make it clear, I only entered the stream of water for a couple of seconds, but just enough to get some actual water on them to simulate being caught in the woods in a rainstorm.
I went out to the woods and fired again. Revolver A fired 2 right, two hang-fire, and one failure. Revolver B fired 5 right, and one fired but seemed to fizzle a bit.
So, I'd say this one is a win for using cap guards AND grease. On revolvers with cap guards, I had less trouble with caps blowing off and getting stuck, although it still happened a couple of times. Keep in mind, this is all done in one day. I have no results (yet) for keeping these loaded for long periods of time. I have, however, had luck in keeping guns loaded for up to 12 months with 777 and grease over both chamber mouths and caps. In this situation, maybe half to two thirds of the chambers fired right, although I did have one revolver that fired flawlessly after a whole year of being loaded in this method (it was my stainless ROA).
Anyway, thanks to FotoJoe for the ideas!
This is a follow-up to the cap guard thread, and Foto Joe's idea. I talked with a friend of mine, who gave me some of that aquarium piping. FotoJoe encouraged me to share my findings when I tried them, so I did a quickie experiment. I took four BP revolvers that I know to have reliable ignition, and I loaded them up.
Revolver #1 (a pietta brass frame 1858) was loaded with 30 grains of 777 and a round ball. No grease over the balls, no grease around the caps.
Revolver # 2 (a pietta brass frame 1851 colt .44) was loaded with 25 grains of 777 and a round ball. This one had grease over the balls only.
Revolver # 3 (an ROA) was loaded with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. This one used grease over the balls AND the caps.
Revolver # 4 (an ROA) was loaded with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. This one used grease over the balls, and the new cap guards.
For the test, I turned my shower on as hot as it could get, and steamed the bathroom up until the walls were dripping. After the hot water ran out, I put a pot of water on to boil on a hot plate on the bathroom counter, and I left the guns in there for a half hour. With the guns and everything else in the room pretty wet, I went out to the woods and shot them.
Revolver # 1 - nothing worked. put on new caps, and still no dice.
Revolver # 2 - 2 chambers fired, the rest didn't
Revolver # 3 - 3 chambers fired right, one hang-fired, and two failed
Revolver # 4 - 5 fired right, one didn't fire at all
So, this seems like a possible win for the cap guards, right? Well, I wasn't satisfied. TIME FOR THE EXTREME TEST!!!
I went back home and cleaned and oiled all four revolvers. The brassers I put back in the closet, the ROA's got subjected to a little more abuse. I loaded each one with 35 grains of 777 and round balls. Revolver A had cap guards on, with grease over the mouths of the chambers. Revolver B had cap guards on, grease around the cap guards, and grease over the mouths of the chambers.
With the loading done, I holstered them, steamed up the bathroom, and stepped INTO the shower with holstered guns (open top, not flat holsters). To make it clear, I only entered the stream of water for a couple of seconds, but just enough to get some actual water on them to simulate being caught in the woods in a rainstorm.
I went out to the woods and fired again. Revolver A fired 2 right, two hang-fire, and one failure. Revolver B fired 5 right, and one fired but seemed to fizzle a bit.
So, I'd say this one is a win for using cap guards AND grease. On revolvers with cap guards, I had less trouble with caps blowing off and getting stuck, although it still happened a couple of times. Keep in mind, this is all done in one day. I have no results (yet) for keeping these loaded for long periods of time. I have, however, had luck in keeping guns loaded for up to 12 months with 777 and grease over both chamber mouths and caps. In this situation, maybe half to two thirds of the chambers fired right, although I did have one revolver that fired flawlessly after a whole year of being loaded in this method (it was my stainless ROA).
Anyway, thanks to FotoJoe for the ideas!
