help w/ my new 1851 Navy

just-shoot

Well I took my first black powder pistol to the field, and I thought loading magazines was time consuming. Had a good time, but the problem I ran into was on some of the rounds, the percussion cap would not fire. I would complete a full rotation of the cyclinder, then pick the 2 or 3 chambers that failed to fire and re-drop the hammer on those. The gun was new, so the nipples wern't dirty. I'm hoping the solution to this problem is that I purchased cheap precussion caps. (CCI No. 11) You opinions & ideas of what the problem could be are welcomed.

gunnut505

Let me get this straight; the caps did not fire? Or did the caps fire, but the powder charge didn't?
CCI #11's are good stuff, usually go off every time. Did you pinch/crimp them onto the nipples?
New guns may have a small amount of milling/machine lube or metal chips in the flash holes; did you stick a piece of wire in each one to check for debris?HTH

If you know it all; you must have been listening.WEAR EAR PROTECTION!

mohavekid

Are you sure the caps didn't fire? Most often the caps will fire and the charge won't discharge. Are the caps sitting correctly on the nipples? If they are take a needle and clean out the vent hole to make sure that there is a clear passage. Good luck!

just-shoot

It was the caps that wouldn't fire, cause I would drop the the hammer on the same cap. At first I thought that maybe I was pinching the caps too much, so I tryed not pinching at all, at time some still didn't fire. The same cap would fire on the second try. I have since cleaned everything real good, so wish me better luck next time out shooting it. Thanks

ndbilly

Next time you go shooting, try this. With an UNLOADED cylinder, follow the suggestion of running a needle or a piece of wire through each touch hole. Then place a cap on each nipple and fire. This will blow out any oils or solvents that might have accumulated in the nipples and touch holes. Also, get a nipple wrench and remove the nipples when you clean the revolver. You can turn them upside down on a paper towel and drain dry before replacing them. That way, you'll be sure no moisture has accumulated.

BTW, I think the 1851 Navy is the best point-and-shoot design ever. Hope you're having fun.

rhmc24

If the above suggestions don't fix it, check to be sure the hammer is hitting the cap hard enough. This assumes the problem is always with the same chambers (nipples)and production tolerances could be that those nipples just don't stick out far enough to receive the full blow of the hammer. Quickest check might be to back out about half turn the offending nipples and try to fire a cap on empty chambers. If that gives ignition, you might get a fix by replacing those nipples. Another thing could be the hammer fall is arrested by a chip or something between it and where it comes to rest against the frame, near where the center pin can be seen when the pistol is cocked. If that area is clear, you might remove the cylinder and dry fire the hammer about 50 times to get it to 'pound in' a bit which will give a little more stroke and hit the nipples a little harder.

gruntled

One problem that can occur is if there is too much cylinder play.
If the cylinder moves forward when you fire it will reduce the impact on the cap. This could happen if the cylinder wedge pin is not in far enough. I have also heard of the problem occuring with some of the cheaper brass frame guns after they have been well used.

gskyhawk

check to make sure that you're not getting a small piece of brass from a split cap down in the slot where the hammer falls , if this happens it can keep the hammer from hitting the cap , one way to lessen the chance of this happening is to tilt the barrel up before you cock it for the next shot

jjmitchell60

If the cap does not fire on the first time the hammer hits it but fires on the second or third time then the cap is not seated all the way down on the nipple or there is some play in the cylinder that is allowing the cylinder to move forward upon indexing. As an old trick, on percussion rifles we used to dry fire the hammer onto an empty nipple to flatten the top of the nipple. This allowed the cap to stay on tight. Many of the new nipples today are too hard to flatten and that is why you should crimp the side of the cap a little to keep the cap on the nipple. If you still have problems try to find some No. 10 caps and see if they will seat all the way down and go off on the first hammer fall. Lastly check to see if the cylinder has excessive forward movement. My 2 cents worth.

ndbilly

Doesn't all of the above make you wonder how the devil anyone ever fought a war with these things?

just-shoot

New discovery, I think the cyclinder is worped. The cyclinder has some play, the thickness of about 2 sheets of bond paper. With the hammer down, the cyclinder can be moved, but only on 3 chambers, I rotate the cycliner to chamber 4,5,& 6, and there's no play at all. With the hammer cocked back, there is no play at all on any of the chambers. This pistol is a Navy Yank, made by F. LLIPIETTA, Made in Italy, which led me to think it should be of considerable quality. I can only wonder if some slop between cyclinder and barrel is allowed? Next time out I'll take more notice on the placement of the caps and which chambers fail to fire on the first try. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.