I want pure lead!

[Fly]

ya, yea, yea. I saw a video were a guy left every other cap completely off fully charged cylinders & fired the other 3 with caps on with out a chain fire.
Go figure? As I said above no one will ever win this debate.
Fly

[KCSO]

Check and see what size balls will really fit in the cylinders, if you are trying to shoot say a 457 in a 451 chamber it will be hard to load. In my cap and ball guns I just use range lead with no problem but I just use balls a couple thou over the chamber mouth.

[dondiego]

I think that chain fires are caused at both ends but there sure is a whole lot more fire at the front of the cylinder!

[dondiego]

I’ve seen threads where people have claimed to prove it come from the nipples. But this is the apparently the article I have a hard time buying. Why wouldn’t the dense heavy lead projectile push any powder grains deeper into the chamber instead of giving way to a much less dense substance? It just doesn’t stand to reason to my thinking, and in the one instance I was around a chainfire it would have had to have passed the ball and a wad, which again just seems impossible as there’d be a long gap between it would have to jump to reach the main powder charge.

I’m not saying I’m right and I’m not looking to argue. As I said it seems about impossible from either end without something like ill fitting caps or imperfections in the chamber.

According to the article, the lead ball crushes the powder grains against the side of the cylinder leaving a fuse of sorts.

[rodwha]

Check and see what size balls will really fit in the cylinders, if you are trying to shoot say a 457 in a 451 chamber it will be hard to load. In my cap and ball guns I just use range lead with no problem but I just use balls a couple thou over the chamber mouth.

I seat .457” balls in my Fly reamed and chamfered .449” chambers quite easily. Same with my .456” bullets.

Thanks again Fly!

[rodwha]

According to the article, the lead ball crushes the powder grains against the side of the cylinder leaving a fuse of sorts.

But to do that it also has to engrave the lead, which is where I have a problem following. Lead is much harder than powder. I guess it’s one of those things I’d be like a Missourian and need to see it to believe it. Regardless it clearly does happen no matter how hard to believe it may be.

[Gtek]

I would think the best place to start is an accurate cylinder size then groove, stuffing a .457" into a .446" hole might be a little aggravating. In my experience the imports are all over the place with both but guessing sometimes works. For whatever the reason the cylinders are usually/always smaller then groove. Make the cylinder match the barrel, choose correct ball, close the barrel to cylinder gap down correctly, clean up timing and then go have fun. Yes the imports are less expensive and will make smoke, but if you really dive into them you will find and understand them as a kit gun.

[dondiego]

But to do that it also has to engrave the lead, which is where I have a problem following. Lead is much harder than powder. I guess it’s one of those things I’d be like a Missourian and need to see it to believe it. Regardless it clearly does happen no matter how hard to believe it may be.

Well, case lube is softer than brass but if I use too much on the neck of my case it crimps the brass cause there is no other place for it to go. Lead is softer.

[rodwha]

But the powder has a place to go...

[dondiego]

But the powder has a place to go...

So does the lube! The powder leaves a little trail and that is the fuse. Look, this has been proven and is repeatable.

[rodwha]

I’m still trying to grasp this. To my thinking something fragile compared to lead cannot win in that battle. But then when we consider a sphere it’s not exactly pushing like a flat based bullet. So maybe I can sort of get how a grain can get trapped and crushed. Seems far fetched, but then none of it seems all that easy. It’s clearly happening to some. I’d love to see it repeatedly done though.

What I’ve seen with people out to test it is nothing is provable and nothing is repeatable every time.

[Drm50]

To be sure of " lead" you are using I would get some known pure lead and cast some balls. If they load properly you know the flange lead is alloyed. Most of the old roofing lead is close to pure, some still is but some is alloyed with zinc.

[rbuck351]

In my case using plastic capgun caps, all 6 cyls went off. I'm thinking one would have to be very unlucky to have grains of powder stuck between the ball and the cyl in at least the 5 cyls not intentionally fired and to have them all go off from the front. I also use balls several thousands over cyl bore size which cuts off a fairly thick ring. I can see plastic caps being dislodged and fired by the blast as they leave the nipple and directing fire into the nipple. I can also see cyls firing from the front but all 6 cyls going off at once would have to have some very poor loading practices or very deliberate practices designed to cause a full chain fire. Using plastic caps is asking for a chain fire, hind sight being 20/20. I'm not planning on repeating the plastic cap thing to prove it's a bad plan. I don't believe the full chain fire with a one time use of plastic caps was a coincidence or that it was lit from the front.

[TheOutlawKid]

Trick to using plastic toy caps and roll caps is in how you use them. Best is to make your own cap hulls out of .005" thick sheet aluminum/brass/copper