Animal Mother
Member
My grandfather, who was an avid hunter and shooter, passed away about 15 years ago and left my mother a Euroarms copy of a 1851 Colt in 36 caliber, along with a thirty cal ammo can full of BP supplies. I've recently taken an interest in black powder shooting, so she brought the gun and supplies over to my house so that I could try to get his revolver back into action. I'm familiar with modern firearms but I am a complete novice when it comes to BP shooting, and while I've figured out a good bit by reading older posts I do have a few questions...
1. The 1851 Colt has a few spots of surface rust on it, normally on a modern firearm, I'd use some CLP and 0000 steel wool to remove the rust, but since you aren't supposed to use petroleum based oils on a BP gun, what would be a readily available good substitute for a light gun oil that I could also use in the revolver’s internals as a lubricant and rust preventative? I have some T/C bore butter on order but I don’t know if the only thing it would be good for would be bore lubrication, it seems like it would be too heavy for good internal lubrication.
2. Should I use some anti-seize compound on the nipples? I’ve got some Permatex anti-seize compound from the auto-parts store that I use on lugnuts when I change tires and thought that might work.
3. My grandfather left a nearly full can of Pyrodex RS. Although intended for rifles, can or should I shoot this in the 1851 Colt? The can is ancient looking, and could be from the 1970s, it’s a cardboard and tin container constructed just like the old boxes of Nestle Quik, it may not be any good, it smells clean but there is a big chunk of solid powder along with good amount of loose powder. Regardless, I picked up a pound of Triple 7 FFFg, to start with but I just hate the idea of throwing powder away.
4. On that related note my grandfather left a nice brass powder flask full of Pyrodex, is it okay to dump out all the Pyrodex and fill the flask with Triple 7? I'd love to be able to still use the flask. Since they are both black powder substitutes, I figure it would be okay, but I know I won’t be able to get every last trace of Pyrodex out.
5. If I use a lubricated cloth patch between the ball and powder do I need to smear Crisco or Bore Butter on the cylinder face to prevent chain fires?
6. I only have one gun shop in town that stocks percussion caps, I noticed that unless I'm mistaken it doesn't look like Dixie Gun Works charges a HazMat fee, whereas Cabelas and Midway USA charge a fee for percussion caps. Are there other online retailers that don't charge that fee?
1. The 1851 Colt has a few spots of surface rust on it, normally on a modern firearm, I'd use some CLP and 0000 steel wool to remove the rust, but since you aren't supposed to use petroleum based oils on a BP gun, what would be a readily available good substitute for a light gun oil that I could also use in the revolver’s internals as a lubricant and rust preventative? I have some T/C bore butter on order but I don’t know if the only thing it would be good for would be bore lubrication, it seems like it would be too heavy for good internal lubrication.
2. Should I use some anti-seize compound on the nipples? I’ve got some Permatex anti-seize compound from the auto-parts store that I use on lugnuts when I change tires and thought that might work.
3. My grandfather left a nearly full can of Pyrodex RS. Although intended for rifles, can or should I shoot this in the 1851 Colt? The can is ancient looking, and could be from the 1970s, it’s a cardboard and tin container constructed just like the old boxes of Nestle Quik, it may not be any good, it smells clean but there is a big chunk of solid powder along with good amount of loose powder. Regardless, I picked up a pound of Triple 7 FFFg, to start with but I just hate the idea of throwing powder away.
4. On that related note my grandfather left a nice brass powder flask full of Pyrodex, is it okay to dump out all the Pyrodex and fill the flask with Triple 7? I'd love to be able to still use the flask. Since they are both black powder substitutes, I figure it would be okay, but I know I won’t be able to get every last trace of Pyrodex out.
5. If I use a lubricated cloth patch between the ball and powder do I need to smear Crisco or Bore Butter on the cylinder face to prevent chain fires?
6. I only have one gun shop in town that stocks percussion caps, I noticed that unless I'm mistaken it doesn't look like Dixie Gun Works charges a HazMat fee, whereas Cabelas and Midway USA charge a fee for percussion caps. Are there other online retailers that don't charge that fee?
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