cap & ball help.

C

Canardman

New member
I'm still very green to the whole black powder shooting. I got my first pistol for Christmas this year. I have fired it about 20 times and decided to take it hunting yesterday. So I loaded it up at the house and started through the woods. While walking along a creek I came up on a beautiful (had to be at least three foot) stump. At about 20 yards I levels off and squeezed the trigger..."fizzle" and what looked like a roman candle shot out of the barrel. I removed the cylinder to make sure the barrel was clear, reassembled and tried again. Boom!.. Boom...fizzle. again cleared the gun and tried again.
Out of the six rounds, three failed to fire properly. I'm wondering if while loading, the oil from the wad between the bullet and the powder could have fouled the charge. If so, what is the proper way to seat the bullet? Should there be an air gap or should the whole cylinder be packed tight. I think in seating the bullet I may be squeezing some oil from the wad and fouling the power.
Thanks, -B-
 
There should be no air between powder and bullet.
An air gap can be explosive with black powder.
Check the condition of the powder to see if it's moist.
Black powder attracts water all too well.
Remember the timeless warning, "Keep yer powder dry."
 
I'm assuming you cleaned and oiled it after you shot it before?

You probably had oil blocking the flash holes in the nipples, or
possibly excess oil in the cylinder chambers. I usually fire
a cap on each nipple before loading to clean the nipples if the
gun has been cleaned and lubed.

You using ox-yoke wonder wads over the powder? Never heard
of a problem with oil killing powder from them.

What are you using for powder?
 
I take a Q-tip and using alcohol to swab out each chamber, as well as soak my nipples in alcohol to remove any oil before reassembly.
 
Although I've read comments like these 100's of times, they still make me laugh. Now, I'm 57 years old, it should NOT make me laugh...but it does. :p
Thanks for the fun.
 
Well where else but a bp forum can you talk about soaking your nipples in alcohol and not have folks look at you funny.:D
 
Some "sparking" is normal for B/P, way more so than modern powders, but there is a limit to how much is "normal".
I'd suggest trying a different lot of powder, no oil in the chambers or on the wads & see how that works.
 
Thank you all for the replies. I did clean my gun and lubed it when I shot it last. I may have had some Remoil left in the cylinders. I'll fire some caps through next time before I load it.
 
If you use Remoil or any other petroleum based lube in the bore and chambers you need to swab it all out with alcohol before loading.
 
Hawg is correct. BP and petroleum oils don't play well together. Try Ballistol or any number of other products for final lube/storage. Even then, snap off a cap(s) to be sure the flash hole(s) are clear.

Birch
 
To get a fizzle report it sounds like oil tainted powder. Try shooting the gun with no wad at all or a wad with no lube in it. You probably squeezed out a bunch of oil from the wad when ramming the ball. Generally black powder ignition is all or none. You'll get a pop and no boom but a fizzle/sizzle sounds like powder that can't explode due to oil or moisture.
 
What Hellgate said, this sounds like yer wads have too much lube in them. Squeeze them out on a rolling pin or something and try again.
 
If you clean out the cylinders and still have the problems and suspect that the wads have too much lube in them try using some corn meal on top of the powder instead of the wads under the balls. just pour enough to cover the powder completely about the depth of a few wads. It will compact under the ball and will be lube free. This would let you know if the wads are the problem.
 
Use the 'nipple pick' that should've come with your gun. Sounds worse than soaking your nipples in alcohol, but it clears out your nipple orifice so you get a good flame from ignition. If you don't have a 'nipple pick', use a tooth pick to clean out opening when you get ready to shoot.
 
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