In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

Black powder pistol's and danger

mynamzmuddmynamzmudd Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
edited November 2008 in Ask the Experts
anyone know much about black powder pistol's? are they dangerous? I had a bad experience with a muzzelloader exploding on me so im a little leary about black powder firearm's. although they look like they could be alot of fun. any info is appriciated. thank you very much.

Comments

  • edharoldedharold Member Posts: 465 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have had an Italian made (Cabela's) revolver. It was fun to shot but soon the newness wore off and I got tired of the process of loading 12 rounds. I had two cylinders. The danger is no more, maybe less, than shooting modern hand loaded ammunition.
    Give it a try, they aren't expensive.
    Ed
  • mynamzmuddmynamzmudd Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I also heard they are a pain to keep clean. is that true?
  • Tailgunner1954Tailgunner1954 Member Posts: 7,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The 2 most common ways to "blow up" a smoke pole are 1) using smokeless powder (or as I had to tell my neighbor (several times) just because it's black in color doesn't mean it's black powder), and 2) leaving an air space between the powder and the bullet. IOW operator error.

    It's damn near impossible to "overcharge" one, as the excess powder blows out the end of the barrel

    Special caution for BP revolvers, either only load/fire just 1 cylinder at a time (no fun) or make sure that you grease pack each cylinder above the ball AND place a cap on each nipple. These pre-cautions are to prevent "circle fire", where the discharging cylinder sets off the adjacent cylinders.
  • BlairweescotBlairweescot Member Posts: 2,014 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    All firearms are dangerous!

    The powder must be used in the correct amount, and there must be be air space between ball and powder.

    if the muzzle loader exploded on you, do you know why? The answer cannot be for the simple fact that it was a muzzle loader

    Another good way to prevent 'circle' or 'chain' fire in a BP revolver is to use the correct diameter ball- it should shave off a circle of lead as it's pressed into the chamber.

    As for cleaning, how hard to clean is a machine that uses hot soapy water as a detergent? [;)] I take the nipples out of the cylinder, I put my BP revolver's barrel and cylinder and nipples in an old cooking pot with water and some dish detergent, and boil them. Then I take them out, let them cool, and go to town for 5 minutes with a toothbrush and the hot water on the cylinder, and use a cleaning rod, patches and the hot water on the barrel after the toothbrush treatment. Then I completely dry and spray with WD-40 (to displace water, not lubricate)

    While that mess boils, I clean the frame with hot water and soap, dry it, and oil it

    Once all that's done I wipe dry again, use gun oil on the barrel and cylinders as any normal firearm, re-assemble, and then that's that

    20 minutes to clean, no smelly chemicals
  • rsnyder55rsnyder55 Member Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Another possibility is a chain fire.
  • team roper ozzyteam roper ozzy Member Posts: 411 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    black powder is safe..depending on how you handle it and the selection of the item used for it...i have been shooting black powder for year's including full scale cannon .to hunt with black powder and bag a deer is a dream come true..i am not talking the modern version's inlines etc. but traditional...i am also a civil war re-enactor so we clean ours quite often...boiling hot water down the tube and patch it out then run an oil patch then a dry one..if you end up with a pistol remember to buy your lead ball slightly larger so when you seat them it shaves a small circle of lead when seating the ball into the cylinder then top coat with lube..this will eliminate any chance of a chain fire..black powder to me is easier than cleaning mil surplus corrosive ammo firarms due to the simplicity design of black powder guns...i say give it a try![:D]
  • gruntledgruntled Member Posts: 8,218 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't use boiling hot water. I just use the hot water in the bathtub, run it as hot as you can until the water comes out clean. The gun will be hot enough that it will dry itself off.
    Warning: Make certain Shewhomustbeobeyed doesn't see you do this. Also be certain she doesn't see you casting bullets on the kitchen stove. That is the greatest danger from shooting black powder.
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,183 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a couple cap and ball pistols. I have been shooting them for forty years. Never had one blow up on me.
    They are lots of fun, but are a real pain in the butt to clean. For that reason I don't shoot mine but once a year any more.
  • mynamzmuddmynamzmudd Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    well this is how it happened.....a friend of my father's had a muzzle loader he wanted to sell for $100.00. so i figured what the heck. when we went shooting I asked him if he grabbed the powder and he said yes. I figured him being a avid shooter knew what he was doing. come to find out after the gun exploded and after removing synthetic stock from body part's he had grabbed the wrong powder. he grabbed the powder he used for reloading shell's. so him and i have been a little gun shy about black powder. im not really scared to shoot one be he is a little worried. If Iwas to buy one i was thinking the 1861 navy revolver or the 1858 new army bison. any opinion's on these 2 pistols? (feel's dumb now) [B)]
  • mynamzmuddmynamzmudd Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    also, Is a gun show a good place to find one of these?
Sign In or Register to comment.