how good were they, really!

[ken s]

OK, I've posted this before and though you would all like a laugh..
20 years ago, I owned an original Colt .44 1860 Army and shot it regularly.
I went to the range, and WHILE TAKING TO A FRIEND, loaded the thing up, all six chambers, with 35 grains of FFFg, a round ball, and caps. (notice the crisco is missing?)
I fired the gun and ALL SIX WENT OFF AT ONCE. Classic chain fire. not one two three, but ONE BIG BANG...
lets do the math...
210 grains of fffg
870 grains of pure lead
and NO, they don't call me 'stumpy', just very lucky.

the one in the barrel went out the tube, the two on each side went left and right, and the one under the loading rod,,,went 1/2 inch and buried in the tip of the lever.
The gun??? just fine...the lever screw was bent a little and was an easy fix...
I fired it again, when I stopped shaking.. and it's was ok...

DON'T TALK WHILE LOADING...AND DON'T UNDERESTIMATE SAM COLTS FACTORY IN 1860... he made them right!
lucky Ken

[newton]

Yep, lucky. Heard of that happening, always wondered what the outcome would be.

[missionary5155]

Good morning ken s Nice Photo.
1st Thanks for that story ! 2nd I rejoice you can type this ! That would be an unforgetable memory.
The origonal street sweeper was my first thought.
Were they loose fitted balls ? Loose fitting caps ? ( I think the main cause of chain fires but only my opinion). But I totally agree... the design works well! Actually fantasticly !
Mike in Peru

[waksupi]

I still go with grease the chambers, I still do not think it happens through the capped nipples. The only instances I have been around have been from no grease. I personally, and know others, had always loaded all six cylinders, and left one uncapped for under the hammer. Never had a cross fire.
Glad you're okay, and you now have a new experience to warn others about!

[Fly]

Well the question was how good were they really?As good as the means they had to make them in the day.
I,m a 68 year old retired tool & die maker.I know metal working as well as most.Maybe thats what I love about
the old guns.

Heck those gun makers did not have the machine tools we have today.I love looking at those ole guns
& with my back ground, I aways look at them, in the mine set of how did they make that then.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!Machinist evolved from blacksmiths.I remember when I was a kid learning the trade
if you screwed up, you were called a blacksmith (put down, by your boss).Later on I found out to just
how much talent was involved in being a black smith.The stuff those guy's could do with fire & metal
was amazing.

If anyone ever calls me a blacksmith, my reply will be (thank you very much).But really todays guns
are much better.CNC machining, & CMM QC machines can out do any man, I hate to say that.It is just
fact.But we can still love this hobby with the same guns, but much safer.

Fly

[FLINTNFIRE]

Bought a 58 army kit when I was 15 , shot it all the time , greased over the balls with everything from crisco to old axle grease , I shot it with no lube a few times to try it ,(something about that experimentation ) that is the only times I have experienced chain fire , never all 6 usually just 3 or maybe 4 , I also had squeezed caps togetherto fit tight , never did it when cylinders were greased , got to say those were the days , lots of fun , cheap shooting and I had a pistol , that is what got me started me casting , Lyman pistol my brother bought had a mold , got the handles and away we go , 30 some years later and I still love the black powder and casting is still a lot of fun and this site is main place to go on the internet .

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Have to say chain firings are a mystery to me. Everyone I know greases the chambers yet maybe once a couple years someone has a cross firing. Usually it is the next chamber in line to fire.
I am of the grease the chamber group also and have never had a cross fire.
I do not load six and cap five. Was taught to leave that chamber completely empty. But I guess that would be a good way to run an experiment. Load all six cylinders (well greased) and cap one nipple at a time and fire it. If 5 cylinder fulls never have a cross/ chain fire it would seem to near eliminate that. Have to put that on my "Next time North" list.
Could humidity or atmospheric pressure have a gremlin acting there also ?
Mike in Peru

[dondiego]

I had the same experiences as Waksupi and Flintnfire. The ONLY time I ever had a chain fire was when I was experimenting to see if it was true (lazy teenager syndrome) and didn't grease the face of the cylinder. That cured me! I always grease now. Seems like if it were occurring through the nipples, we'd be seeing a lot more instances of this happening.

[Hanshi]

I've only owned two c&b revolvers, a 1858 Rem and a Rogers & Spencer. Both were easily as accurate as their typical modern counterparts. I used grease but later on switched to .45 Oxyoke felt wads which were more convenient. The only problem was they took up some of the usable powder space. Never had a chain fire.

[repawn]

I have fired 1000s of rounds through my Uberti 1851 London - I use homemade felt wads and have never chain fired. I do get a lot of caps stuck behind the hammer though.

[Hellgate]

I suspect some of the rear chain fires are due to brass framed Colts that have the recoil ring (raised ring on which the cylinder rubs against as it rotates around the arbor) battered in which allows the cylinder to move farther back to where a nipple or two strike the recoil shield and cause a chainfire. I just can't see flame getting around and under the cap inless they were about 3 sizes too large and pinched way out of round. I don't see how the flame time would be long enough to set them off but crushing the priming compound against the recoil shield will surely set them off. The controversy continues I guess.


Repawn,
Fill in the little safety notch on the hammer face and you'll get a whole lot fewer caps dropping into the works.

[repawn]

Repawn,
Fill in the little safety notch on the hammer face and you'll get a whole lot fewer caps dropping into the works.

Thanks for the advice - what would you recommend to fill it in? Something line jb weld or epoxy?

[Hellgate]

Yup. I use JB but it occasionally gets hammered out. What I do is to thoroughly degrese the area, polish with a rotary wire brush (Dremel wheel) then I cock the gun put it in a padded vise, place a masking tape dam around the hammer face to contain the JB and fill in the notch. I use a toothpick to poke it in and around where I want it. Let it set overnight then remove the tape and get your chisel out and carefully shave away the JB or use the Dremel wire brush wheel to remove the excess slopped JB. I then carefully shape the fill to creats an ever so slight concavity to the fill. That way the JB is not directly impacting the nipple face or cap where it can get knocked out of place so easily. I also slightly round the bottom edge of the fill so it is not a sharp edge that can chip. Brazing or welding would be more permanent. Solder won't stick to th case hardening.