My first chainfire and sloppy Pietta quality control.

Mizar said:
Well, OP said so - I suppose he measured them in some way, because why would anyone claim something without the data to back it up...
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Well it happens all the time. People say the original Colt chambers were “tapered” as well but they weren’t. They had parallel chambers until just before the bolt slot and then rounded to the breech. As far as I’ve read. That’s after they blew up a bunch of the first model Colt 1860 Army that had straight bored chambers all the way to the breech face.
 
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1KPerDay said:
Well it happens all the time. People say the original Colt chambers were “tapered” as well but they weren’t. They had parallel chambers until just before then bolt slot and then rounded to the breech. As far as I’ve read. That’s after they blew up a bunch of the first model Colt 1860 Army that had straight bored chambers all the way to the breech face.
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I'll have to say that the originals I've had in the shop had cylindrical chambers, not tapered.

Mike
 
SomebodyMakeRiderRepro said:
Also It seems that in newer Piettas they beefed up that spot behind bolt notch or it is sloppy machining. I can't tell.
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that's not sloppy workmanship, it's a product of the reamer. They have a chamfer(a tapered lead if you will) at the end that doesn't cut. They won't cut all the into a square corner in a blind hole. It's a non-issue.
As far as using Brownell's chamber reamers, those are for reaming a cartridge cylinder mouth, not what you need. Use a chucking reamer as mentioned.
Good luck with your project, keep us in the loop
 
Now ya got me thinking, I have some gauges to measure bore diameters, I've always just measured at the chamber mouth and slightly deeper, like around a 1/4 inch. I will measure a cylinder or two and get back with you.
 
If you'd crisco'd or stuck some other lube OVER that bullet you would likely not have experienced a discharge.......I have a couple of cylinders that bear similar marks............likely done with the loading ram itself........but I use a crisco/beeswax plug UNDER the ball and one over.........only chain's I've experienced have involved rb and inadequate lube.
 
Jackrabbit1957 said:
Now ya got me thinking, I have some gauges to measure bore diameters, I've always just measured at the chamber mouth and slightly deeper, like around a 1/4 inch. I will measure a cylinder or two and get back with you.
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Measured a couple of cylinders today. Uberti pocket pistol shows a .010 taper front to rear of the chambers. Older production Uberti 1860 shows a very slight .002 difference front to rear.
 
Jackrabbit1957 said:
Measured a couple of cylinders today. Uberti pocket pistol shows a .010 taper front to rear of the chambers. Older production Uberti 1860 shows a very slight .002 difference front to rear.
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Are you measuring at the rear against the breech face? Or just in front of the bolt notch? Curious if they only taper from the notch rearward. Are you using good pin gauges? .002” is within a lot of crappier tools’ error tolerances. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
 
I share Elmer Keith's belief that loose caps cause chainfires and not sparks jumping from one cylinder mouth to another. If that were true, then the grease over the balls would prevent that or if the ball leaves a shaved ring, then it would be airtight such that no spark could pass. However, there is a valley which is not conducive to containing sparks but the additional safety measure of the grease would preclude spark jump.
 
4v50 Gary said:
I share Elmer Keith's belief that loose caps cause chainfires and not sparks jumping from one cylinder mouth to another. If that were true, then the grease over the balls would prevent that or if the ball leaves a shaved ring, then it would be airtight such that no spark could pass. However, there is a valley which is not conducive to containing sparks but the additional safety measure of the grease would preclude spark jump.
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I've got one that's prone to chainfire. It shaves a good ring and as long as I have over ball lube or a wad under the ball I can leave all the caps off except the one under the hammer and it won't chain. Leave off the wad and lube and it will chain with all the caps on.
 
hawg said:
You can still use lube over the bullets. Obviously the lube in the grooves isn't filling the scratch.
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Yes, I use lube on and over the bullet. Kind of "overkill" as far as chain fires, but it sure keeps the bore clean. "Lube pills" of course being the easiest and fastest way to load with lube. Also, if the lube is not too soft, like Crisco, it will not get blown away. There will still be lube over the ball or bullet when it gets it's turn to go bang.
DSC07656.JPG
 
I do a 50/50 beeswax crisco, spread in in a pan and punch out discs of appropriate caliber.................works for me.
 
hawg said:
I've got one that's prone to chainfire. It shaves a good ring and as long as I have over ball lube or a wad under the ball I can leave all the caps off except the one under the hammer and it won't chain. Leave off the wad and lube and it will chain with all the caps on.
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I've read that from geojohn. Much testing and no chainfire even with no caps. Think about it, theres not much fire at the back of the cylinder. Big fire in the front.
 
You will get all kinds of answers and opinions on what causes chain fires. What I've seen and experienced it happens at either end depending on conditions and whether or not you hold your tongue in the side of your mouth or sticking out. I have a Walker that chained a few times and was in the habit of blowing nipples out of the cylinder. I threaded the holes for 1\4 28 nipples, installed hot shot nipples and never had another problem. Colt thought chainfires came from the front so he added a small chamfer to the chamber mouth and this supposedly prevented it from happening. Tight fitting caps and grease or lube over the ball is the best way to prevent it. Shaving off a ring of lead from the ball has absolutely nothing to do with preventing a chainfire. I chamfer the chambers on my revolvers to swage the ball into them, essentially a press fit, add enough lube to seal the ball and chamber, good to go. No ridiculous little lead rings to bind up the cylinder.
 
I was taught by my Grand Father : to load powder charge , seat tight fitting ball and cover the expoased ball with bullet lube / grease ...
Never had a chain fire in 53 years of black powder pistol shooting.
That lubed conical bullet is your problem ... trade them in for round balls and grease
Powder - Ball - cover w/ Grease ... works like a black magic Charm !
Gary
 
kell said:
I've read that from geojohn. Much testing and no chainfire even with no caps. Think about it, theres not much fire at the back of the cylinder. Big fire in the front.
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Doesn't take much fire at the back of the cylinder to set off a slightly loose cap. Testing with no caps on the nipples doesn't prove much.
 
Got a smart phone?
Take a video of it chainfiring and post it on youtube.

As long as you keep your fingers and body parts away from the front of the cylinder chainfires wont hurt you or the gun.
 
SomebodyMakeRiderRepro said:
Today I experienced my very first chainfire using a new Pietta cylinder. Both I and gun are fine but the cause of chainfire is worth making public to hopefully warn others. The reason was directly me (for not checking all chambers thoroughly before firing) and indirectly Pietta for passing through their quality control a cylinder inherently unsafe to fire. I used lube but without a wad as I assumed bullets give good enough seal that no extra precautions are required. That assumption is roughly true so long as pietta does not pass through a chamber with a deep scratch inside. Bullets were significantly oversized (.456 dia) but it didn't help much. Chainfire on very first cylinder.

View attachment 1155015

So, sparks from adjacent chamber have a direct path to the powder and the result is... you guessed, chainfire. The cylinder was brand new, covered in factory grease. I take it all on me for not inspecting all chambers thoroughly but I post this to serve as a warning that each and every new gun must be THOROUGLY inspected before firing. Chainfire is not the worst thing that could have happend due to such sloppy quality control.

Anyways, I have unscrewed the nipple from the faulty chamber and intend to use it as 5 shooter only for the time being. Any ideas how this can be fixed are highly welcomed.
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Contact Pietta customer service !st, they may send you a new cylinder(may have to be fitted)!!
 
drobs said:
Got a smart phone?
Take a video of it chainfiring and post it on youtube.
Click to expand...

Not going to happen anytime soon. Since my wife died I don't want to do anything, especially stuff she enjoyed that we did together.
 
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