how do you unload a cap and ball revolver without fiering it?

[ulfrik]

how do you unload a cap and ball revolver without fiering it?

sub questions-
-would it be ok if you used a cap and ball revolver as a "cap gun" by just putting percussion caps on with no powder and ball?

-what's the best way to clean a cap and ball revolver in the feild?

 

[Shultzhaus]

Remove the caps first-(very important). Remove the cylinder from the revolver. Unscrew the nipples. Dump the powder out of each chamber. Use a brass or wooden punch, and through the open nipple hole, carefully drive the ball out of each chamber. If you must use a steel punch, wrap a piece of tape around the punch, to protect the internal nipple threads.

 

[ulfrik]

thanks for the answer my good friend.

now could someone answer the sub questions please?

 

[mykeal]

would it be ok if you used a cap and ball revolver as a "cap gun" by just putting percussion caps on with no powder and ball?

yes

what's the best way to clean a cap and ball revolver in the feild?

That very much depends on the conditions in the field. What kind of equipment do yhou have, is there a source of water available, do you have cleaning patches; many, many things influence the answer to that question. The basics are the same as cleaning at home - remove the cylinder and flush the chambers and bore with clean water. If you have a cleaning rod and jags, use them with water. Then dry it out somehow, again depending on what you have available.


By the way, it's unlikely that you can just pour the powder out if you used any significant force in seating the balls. It will be compressed, packed together and will not pour freely out the nipple hole. Use a wooden dowel or brass punch to drive the ball and powder column out the chamber mouth.

 

[Pete D.]

sub

Yes, you can use it as a cap gun.
Cleaning in the field. There's lots of room for an answer here, depending on what you mean by "clean". If you mean clean like it would be done when you are at home and the gun is field stripped....I suppose you could do that if you wanted to carry enough stuff.
If you mean clean so that it will function, then taking the cylinder out and wiping it and the frame down so as to remove fouling is pretty simple. A small squeeze bottle of alcohol is a simple and effective addition. Baby wipes work too.
Pete

 

[ulfrik]

cool thanks. i still wonder how officers in the civil war cleaned there cap and ball revolvers in the feild, back in the old days?

 

[Voodoochile]

cool thanks. i still wonder how officers in the civil war cleaned there cap and ball revolvers in the feild, back in the old days?

Most officers had servents "for a lack of a better word" to handle the task of cleaning & reloading their weapons, most times it would be as noted by mykeal stated, with water & cloth material to flush the soot out & then dry it & most likely using some kind of animal fat or tallow material to lubricate it if any manufactured lubricant was not available.

Take Lee's 51' Navy which was still loaded since during the war but well after his death & he surely did not handle the task himself 99% of the time.

 

[Sagetown]

Most officers had servents "for a lack of a better word" to handle the task of cleaning & reloading their weapons,

I watched a Marine General being girded up with his belted handgun by a Marine Captain. So I figure that holds true for today as well.

 

[BHP FAN]

Back when I was fourteen I used hot water, a paper towel, a tooth brush, a pencil and a piece of string. A few spritzes of WD 40, and that brass frame .36 Navy was good as ever.It's more how much time you're willing to spend on it than what equipment you use. I used to tear that ''Colt'' clone down until no metal touched metal, and cleaned every thread of every screw.
Now that I'm almost forty years older, I own Remingtons, and I can clean everything I need to by pulling the grips, popping out the cylinder, and dropping the trigger guard. I detail clean about twice a year, but it's more from long standing habit, and for peace of mind, than for any need.

 

[azyogi]

I use air gun pellets and just primers [percussion caps] in my NAA super companion .22 cal cap and ball mini revolver for low power practise.

 

[nalioth]

I'm surprised no old BP vet has chimed in with the "fire a couple of caps through your cylinders before loading (if it's been sitting a while) to make sure the flash holes are clean" adage yet. . .


Yes, you can use it like a cap gun.

 

[ulfrik]

are the caps alone as loud as a .22 starter's pistol?

 

[junkman_01]

Just about as loud.

 

[Foto Joe]

I'm surprised no old BP vet has chimed in with the "fire a couple of caps through your cylinders before loading (if it's been sitting a while) to make sure the flash holes are clean" adage yet. . .

Okay, I'll bite. But here's the reason.

On my CB's that DON'T have stainless or Ampco nipples on them, after cleaning I will usually put a drop of Ballistol down the nipple to neutralize anything I've missed in the cleaning. I learned the hard way that if I've done this, fire a cap through BEFORE loading or risk having to pick compressed powder out with a nipple pick hoping that I didn't create a spark with that steel pick in a steel cylinder and find one of my fingers misplaced, or worse. I've also learned the hard way to run a nipple pick down those little buggers every time before I reload.

As an interesting side note. I've been doing this now for almost a year and my wife is having a sense of humor since she started the whole thing last Christmas. In the last almost year, I've managed to send well over 2000 RB's and bullets down range in front of a plume of smoke. Not counting the first couple of weeks, I've had exactly one mis-fire, which happened last week. It appears that I found a bad cap, as the Dragoon failed to ignite upon a less than normal bang from the cap. It sucked sitting there for over a full minute not wanting to pull the hammer back and risk it going off before the chamber cleared the barrel.

 

[wittzo]

I've read here before that they had a pot of boiling water with some lye soap in it so when the cavalry came back to camp, they would dip their pistols in it and swish them around some to loosen up the residue. They also didn't fire more than 6 shots from individual pistols, they had multiple pistols. They would fire them empty and grab another one for the second pass, so they didn't have the heavy deposits we usually have from multiple cylinders or loadings.

 

[grimjaw]

As far as the unloading without firing question goes, you can also use compressed air as long as you can get the cylinder pointed in a safe direction, such as into a bullet box. A couple of times now I've had ball in my GPR that got stuck over a stubborn charge of powder, and a ball puller wouldn't take. Removed the nipple, applied a nozzle with electrical tape around it and a good jet of air pressure. Usually works like a charm.

Ramming with a dowel is probably the preferred method for revolver cylinders, though.

jm

 

[Dr.Rob]

Real weapons should never be treated as toys. So while you could use a CB revolver as a cap gun, you definitely should NOT. Ditto for using one as a starter pistol or 'prop gun.' There are plenty of blank firing 'non guns' on the market for novelty and tv/film use that can serve this purpose without the dangers of using real weapons.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Interesting thread, I've been interested in C&B weapons for a while, Ulfrik check your messages.

 

[Pulp]

Another method for unloading is to remove the cylinder, drill a small pilot hole into the bullet, then run a screw into the pilot hole, then pull the bullet with the screw.

 

[TheRodDoc]

invention i made in the late 60's.
tool for removing balls from cylinder. made from drill rod. when ever i get more of my equipment unboxed from storage and find this i will show real one.

outer part screws into nipple hole, then just turn in the inner T handle part to push out ball.

View attachment 130178

 

[Dr.Rob]

While it's a minor consideration with careful handling, black powder tools are usually brass to eliminate the chance of creating a spark.

 

[husker]

After pulling the nips & dumping the powder I use a battery powered drill with a dry wall screw. drive the screw in & use a pair of pliers to bull the round ball out

 

[Fingers McGee]

cool thanks. i still wonder how officers in the civil war cleaned there cap and ball revolvers in the feild, back in the old days?

Most officers had servents "for a lack of a better word" to handle the task of cleaning & reloading their weapons, most times it would be as noted by mykeal stated, with water & cloth material to flush the soot out & then dry it & most likely using some kind of animal fat or tallow material to lubricate it if any manufactured lubricant was not available.

Only General Officers and Colonels had 'Servants' - which were otherwise known as Aides - that took care of their uniforms, food, and weapons. That is, if they had been used at all. Colonels and Generals didn't usually fire their pistols. Company grade (Lts and Cpts) and field grade officers (Maj & Ltc) usually did it themselves.

Company and Field grade officers usually used alcohol to clean thier pistols - it was usually available to them and made a good cleaning agent; while Sergeants and lower usually used the communal pot of boiling water and lye soap that was also being used to do the laundry. [How the Colt Navy .36 Revolver was Gunsmithed and Fired in the Field During the Civil War - D.L. Rhae - 1985)