Are clearance gaps bigger?

[Limey]

Are the clearance gaps between the cylinder and barrel entry on Black Powder specific revolvers bigger than on Smokeless specific revolvers?

I am guessing yes as I have been shooting some BP loaded cartridges in my Uberti Cattleman and after 4 or 5 shots the cylinder gets really hard to turn.....after a quick clean up of the front face of the cylinder normal smooth service is resumed.

Straight shootin'

Limey

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Not sure if a bigger gap is the norm, but a friend has two original colt 1860s, and the gaps a visually bigger then my modern smokeless wheel guns.

Your cylinder has difficulty turning after 4 or 5 shots! I have much better results then that with BP and I shoot in rather arid climates. What do you use for lube? What do you use for boolit alloy? What caliber is it and what style boolit? Also are you using actual real BP or one of those subs?

[44man]

The gap means little, it can be large or small. The problem is fouling. Use STP oil treatment on the pin and you can shoot longer.

[McLintock]

I think there's several things that come into play with black powder revolvers. Barrel cylinder gap, end shake gap, lube capacity of the bullet you're using and type of lube all play a part. My set of Ruger single actions with both .44 Special and 44-40 cylinders are a good example. With the Special cylinders, shooting 23 grains of KIK 2F and the "Big Lube" 200 gr .44 bullet designed for black Powder shooting, I can shoot 40 to 50 rounds per gun and not have to do anything to keep them free. That's with .008" B/C gap and .003" end shake clearance. With the 44-40 cylinders, 33 gr of KIK 2F and the Lyman 429666 (can't use the Big Lube bullet), same B/C gap and end shake clearance of .002" on one and .003 on the other, they bind up after one load of shells, with the tighter one the worst. A squirt of ballistol on the end shake bushing and all is freed up till the next load. Opening up the end shake helped both guns, but I think the Lyman bullet that holds less lube and the bigger powder charge of the 44-40 load makes the difference. I going to go to .004" end shake on the 44-40's and I'm thinking it may help a lot.
McLintock

[Limey]

Gentlemen.....

,....thank you for your feed back.

Yes, I'm using real Black Powder.....

The calibre is .38....I am putting 16 grains of PNF2 grade powder in, the bullet compresses the powder.

The bullet is the Lee 150 grain SWC, I use straight wheel weights which are water quenched, it's the only .38 mould I have so it's got to do but clearly the number and size of the lub grooves are designed for smokeless.........I guess I will have to look up that fella with ''Lube Grooves for Sale'' and get myself some better ones!!!!!.

I'm only shooting one BP competition a year with this revolver so it's a bearable problem but if I start to shoot more I will have to invest in a more BP sympathetic bullet design with megga lube grooves.

The lube is a home made brew of 50% bee's wax plus molybdenum disulphide grease, olive oil, vaseline and candle wax, the consistancy at room temp is soft and tacky.....I use the same lube for both handgun and rifle, smokeless and BP and this is the only gun/load where I get any stiction/fouling problems.

Straight shootin',

Limey

[2ndAmendmentNut]

You might want to try casting some boolits from stick on wheel weights or some other form of dead soft lead, and let them air cool. I personally have had best results with BP using as soft as possible lead.

[44man]

Yes, dump the hard boolits and a round ball might be even better.
I use Mathews BPCR lube over balls, it is tough enough to not blow away from adjacent chambers like a soft lube.
Ballistol was mentioned, it is great for BP. Work it into a BP lube, works great too.