How Long Have You Kept Your BP Revolver Loaded?

[Blaine]

I've got this attitude lately that all my guns should be loaded, and, I'm looking at my SS Ruger Old Army with ????s

[Mescalero]

That is something I always wondered about.
I want to say a year.
But I have no data to support this.

[Griff]

Probably no more than just overnite. I have other guns that are mch more practical to keep loaded.

[Blaine]

Probably no more than just overnite. I have other guns that are mch more practical to keep loaded.

I'm not clear how one might unload...by shooting them? The local community Nazi would take a dim view of that

[3leggedturtle]

Are you able to take nipples out to drain powder, then poke balls out with piece of cleaning rod or?

[Hobie]

Properly loaded a cap and ball revolver will work after as much as 12 years based on my personal experience. I was sure to load with felt and grease over ball and wax or those little plastic seals around the nipples. Every chamber fired just as good as freshly loaded. While the gun lived through humidity and temperature changes it didn't have to endure rain or a dunking in water. I did this just to see for myself.

That said, a poorly loaded revolver might not go off immediately after it is loaded.

[Blaine]

little plastic seals around the nipples

Please elaborate...

[Griff]

Probably no more than just overnite. I have other guns that are mch more practical to keep loaded.

I'm not clear how one might unload...by shooting them? The local community Nazi would take a dim view of that

In my instance, it was day one of a two day shoot. I charged them thinkin' I was going to use in a side match. That didn't materialize. Just left 'em uncapped until the next am.

Are you able to take nipples out to drain powder, then poke balls out with piece of cleaning rod or?

I have charged a 'dry hole' by removing a nipple, I've only shot them to unload, or used a ball screw.

I have read of cap 'n ball arms that have been loaded for years with no firing issues. But, I think that would have to mean extreme confidence in your loading.

[M. M. Wright]

They, (whoever that is) say that Hickock fired his Navies and reloaded every day. Probably a good idea for him. I've left an 1860 Army loaded for at least 6 months and an original Remington for over a year and all charges fired normally.
The trick is to dry the chambers with alcohol and blow them dry with compressed air. Load normally and cap with caps that fit. Then light a candle and let a drop of candle wax drip on the cap and run down all around. I learned this from old timers when I was a teenager.
Now days you need Treso nipples to get the caps to fit. I've never understood why the Italians make their nipples so small. Well, they are just like the originals but you could buy the right size back then. You could even get the pistol caps up until about 1970 but I haven't seen any for years.
So dry the chambers, load her up and seal it. Should last a year anyway.
I remember an old story, (from Osborne Russell's Journal?) where a trapper lost his Navy in the snow and didn't find it until the next spring. All charges fired normally.
Probably not Russell since he quit trapping and went on to Oregon by Civil War times. You need to read his journal though.

[Pete44ru]

little plastic seals around the nipples

Please elaborate...

The little pink-ish soft plastic sleeves (called cap guards), which you can cut for yourself from surgical tubing, are slipped down over the seated cap to seal the joint betwixt cap & nipple.

The black finger protectors ( ) are for use on the muzzle of a rifle or shotgun.

I use them mainly for hunting in the rain.

http://www.oldsouthfirearms.com/traditi ... uards.aspx




I've never left a C&B revolver loaded, but there's multiple historical assounts that 19th Century gunfighters (Like Hickock) unloaded/reloaded their shootin' irons daily, to ensure reliability.


.

[wolfdog]

I have left my 1858 copy loaded in climate controlled house for a year with no problem, and carried it for a week during muzzle loader season in FL(damp cool weather to hot muggy weather, no rain though) with an overpowder wad, tight fitting ball, and the caps sealed.

[Blaine]

little plastic seals around the nipples

Please elaborate...

The little pink-ish soft plastic sleeves (called cap guards), which you can cut for yourself from surgical tubing, are slipped down over the seated cap to seal the joint betwixt cap & nipple.

The black finger protectors ( ) are for use on the muzzle of a rifle or shotgun.

I use them mainly for hunting in the rain.

http://www.oldsouthfirearms.com/traditi ... uards.aspx




I've never left a C&B revolver loaded, but there's multiple historical assounts that 19th Century gunfighters (Like Hickock) unloaded/reloaded their shootin' irons daily, to ensure reliability.


.

I hunted with my .54 T/C Renegade for a couple years in the early 80s.....I was doing something wrong...I'd seal the muzzle like that, and do the wax on the cap, and still had problems....clearly, I was leaving or depositing oil from the patch, but, I don't see how

[Chuck 100 yd]

Several years back in the American Rifleman there was a report on a .31 pocket pistol that was known to have been loaded since the Civil War. They pulled the corroded bullets and replaced them but the caps and powder was alright and all chambers fired when tested.

[horsesoldier03]

I would say your good to go as long as you like, PROVIDED YOU LOAD WITH BP and not a substitute.

[Sixgun]

Other than the percussion cap, I see no difference between that and a loaded round and I've fired factory BP rounds that were well over a hundred years old...many times. I have found factory blackpowder rounds to be almost 100% reliable, unlike old factory smokeless.

It's all in how the revolver is stored and if kept dry and free of oil, I see no reason why it would not work 100 years from now.------6

[Griff]

It's all in how the revolver is stored and if kept dry and free of oil, I see no reason why it would not work 100 years from now.------6

Load one up and bring it on down to TEXAS and we'll sit around tellin' stories an' drink beer. Test it out and report back to the Forum.

Probably take us ½ that long to get thru our stories... EACH!

[Ben_Rumson]

Area was California coastal climate...Kept my Lyman 1858 Remington copy in my house loaded for a year and change... Load was Lawrence 45 cal chilled shot seated directly on the recommended charge of 3f. Chamber mouths sealed with Vaseline. Candle wax dripped around the caps. Went bang like I had just loaded it.

[Sixgun]

Load one up and bring it on down to TEXAS and we'll sit around tellin' stories an' drink beer. Test it out and report back to the Forum.
Probably take us ½ that long to get thru our stories... EACH!

Yes, maybe so. The only difference is that my stories will be true. I find that everything is much bigger in Texas, especially the lies.


Ha! I can say these things when I'm 1,500 miles away.

[Malamute]

I used to keep a brass frame 44 navy loaded in my truck and shoot it about once a year, it always worked ok, if perhaps a fast hangfire a couple times. Once, I thought, its about time to shoot that gun again. I got it out, and had fired it the year before and forgot to clean it. It cleaned up pretty well, nothing like the horrid rust pile that legend would have us believe. It was a very dry climate though.

I've left an Uberti Navy loaded for a couple years, one year isn't unusual. It's had a fast hangfire or two. I have a Colts 3rd Dragoon that I loaded right after I got it, about 5 years ago. I keep thinking I should go shoot it, and never remember.

I've never done anything to seal the caps. I use powder, ball and grease over the ball. When I shoot them, they usually get cleaned, dried, and loaded, no oil gets in the chambers or cones.

[Lastmohecken]

I have a Ruger Stainless Old Army, that I sometimes carry for backup when hunting during our muzzleloader hunting. If I don't fire it I keep it loaded with all caps in place. It's been loaded for probably 5 years, but I would expect it to shoot if I needed it. I have left it loaded for 3 years before and it always fired right off with no lose of power or slow ignition that I could pick up on. I have a good Lawrence holster with a half flap that it stays in.

If my life was really depending on it, I might do like Hickok did and fire it out most every morning. He may have done that to keep in practice as much as the reliability, plus it probably worked in his favor, as to his reputation as a gunman, but maybe to the point of getting shot in the back of the head, instead of a face to face confrontation. Also, did you ever notice that most of the time, known killers or gunman with reputations somehow managed to avoid face to face shoot out most of time, in the old west, with a few exceptions of course. Even Harden got shot in the back of the head, by a lawman, it's safer that way.

[jhrosier]

I kept a c&b revolver loaded for about a year.
It fired with no problem but the chambers were corroded where the powder charges made contact.

It might be a good idea to find a way to electroplate the chambers or coat them with something that would not corrode.

Jack

[Malamute]

Was it black powder or one of the substitutes?

I've not heard of the powder itself being corrosive. Fouling, yes, but not the powder.

[jhrosier]

Was it black powder or one of the substitutes?....

It was BP. I can only guess that maybe the powder had absorbed some moisture in the flask before loading.

I have been waiting for years for someone to make an 1860 Army in stainless.


Jack

[Blaine]

Was it black powder or one of the substitutes?....

It was BP. I can only guess that maybe the powder had absorbed some moisture in the flask before loading.

I have been waiting for years for someone to make an 1860 Army in stainless.


Jack

After I got my Ruger Old Army, I was on a site, and someone mentioned that leaving it loaded would corrode the chamber.....And, I don't remember if it was blue, or stainless ....mine's stainless.....

[Griff]

Was it black powder or one of the substitutes?....

It was BP. I can only guess that maybe the powder had absorbed some moisture in the flask before loading.
I have been waiting for years for someone to make an 1860 Army in stainless.
Jack

Colt made stainless versions of their percussion guns during the production of their "2nd Series". There were >1500 1860s produced.

Both Pietta and Uberti make a stainless 1858 clone.

[Paladin]

On the explosive side BP gains in strength over time if dry will detonate with no problem over the 100 year mark. I have detonated cannon balls dug up and filled with BP.

[Old Ironsights]

On the explosive side BP gains in strength over time if dry will detonate with no problem over the 100 year mark. I have detonated cannon balls dug up and filled with BP.

Do you remember from a dozen or three years back there was an incident near Redstone (IIRC) where a house blew up and the investigation revealed that it was caused by the "iron cannon ball" stacks that were on either side of the fireplace hearth?

Turned out that the Civil War Era cannon balls that had been dug up and WELDED TOGETHER were actually thehollow BP filled type... but the BP had absorbed ambient moisture for 100 years so didn't go off during welding.

Then, after a couple of decades of being hearth-baked, they decided to go Boom.

Funny stuff, BP.

And, FWIW, the cylinders for my 1858 have been loaded for at least 16 months now...

[AmBraCol]

Once upon a time in another century my "pillow gun" was a stainless Ruger Old Army. It didn't get taken out and shot much, but some experimentation did take place over time. The original loads that were left in it were double ball over whatever charge or FFFg would compress properly under them. These never gave any problems. The time I DID have a problem was after I'd loaded it with a "non-factory recommended" powder of the smokeless variety. This was a great powder in the Old Army. It was loaded under a cast Lee ROA bullet and lubed with Wonderlube (poor choice there as you'll see). This load gave tremendous penetration and a most satisfying recoil. Anywho, we were going on a fishing trip and I wanted to reload for the occasion. So I stepped outside and shot down into the ground - but the only heard "click" through the ear muffs. After cocking the gun again I pulled the trigger and WHOOM! A heavier than usual recoil. And now the gun would not cock. The loading lever was hanging down below the barrel - and would not latch in place when I attempted to replace it. So I stepped back into the light - and found that the second bullet had "exited stage left" - through the side of the barrel. Apparently the lube contaminated the powder of the first chamber - but the cap carried enough power to move the bullet into the barrel albeit not enough to produce enough sound to warn me. The second bullet, propelled by a "healthy" dose of non-factory recommended powder encountered the rear of the other bullet at which point the pressure had to see SOME kind of outlet and that was to the side. The barrel was trashed, the lever latch was never located, the other chambers of the cylinder were emptied by means of a screw and the pistol made its way back to Ruger along with a check for a new barrel. It was as good as new when it got back. I've always wondered about the conversation in the repair room when they unboxed that old sixgun.

Anyway, if you load with appropriate components using modern caps I'd have no question about leaving such a sixgun loaded, especially if kept indoors. Stay away from "soupy" lubes like Wonder Lube. If I were to leave my Old Army loaded "in case of need" I'd rather use a conical with a beeswax type lube than a round ball. I'd NOT use candle wax over the primers as some recommend out of fear of the oils in the wax migrating and killing the priming compound - but that's me. Mine always answered admirably well after being loaded for months at a time as long as "Holy Black" was used. It wasn't until I'd switched to the "non-recommended" powder that I ran into problems - and those were traced back to the lube.

There are many accounts of old black powder firearms being loaded for decades - even over a century - and still firing. Mark Twain wrote something about old muskets being the most accurate killing devices ever invented. A kid that couldn't hit the side of a barn with him inside it could take out his grandmother at a quarter of a mile by pulling an old musket out of a trunk and firing it into the air. But there are more reliable sources as to the matter of long term loaded black powder firearms still being in firing condition after looooong periods of storage.

Use fresh, dry powder, nonrunny lube and the projectile of your choice with fresh, tight fitting caps. Tuck it away "in a safe place" and the executor of your will will be surprised when he ears back the hammer and "dry fires" the old sixgun and finds it really DOES go BANG after decades of being loaded.

[piller]

I think I need to get a black powder revolver and learn how to use it. I have other guns for other powders, so good old black powder sounds fun. Besides, some of them can be had with conversion cylinders for the times when I want to use any substitute. I have a .44 Magnum and a couple of other revolvers for when I want to go up in power, and the bp, when used with appropriate loads, should be a lot of fun. Don't tell PillHer that I am even mentioning getting another gun. She might just have something to say about it if she finds out.

[Old Ironsights]

They're not "guns"... just ask the ATF.

[JB]

Probably no more than just overnite. I have other guns that are mch more practical to keep loaded.

I'm not clear how one might unload...by shooting them? The local community Nazi would take a dim view of that

Unload it at the shooting range. Then don't load it again until you actually plan on shooting it.

[DPris]

I left a repro .36 Navy loaded with BP for two years while out of the country '73-'75.
When I got home, 2 or 3 chambers wouldn't fire, seems like one was weak when it did go off.

Stored dry.
Can't recall which caps.

I don't see any real point in leaving one loaded all the time, unless it's all you have.
Denis