Dry-firing Percussion Revolvers

A

AKexpat

New member
I have never owned one, so this question may be absurd:

Will dry firing harm the nipples, hammer, or anything else? :o
 
dry fire

yes.
If you want to dry fire, lay a thin piece of leather. or rubber in the hammer slot
so the hammer is cushioned and doesn't contact the nipple.
Presuming you are talking a revolver.

If you have more money than you need, you can always buy snap caps for it..
 
In Theory, the hammer is supposed to bottom out on the frame and not the nipple. In practice, it often hits the nipple. I like the idea of laying a strip of leather in the frame slot.

Steve
 
I have often wondered how the manufacturer maintains that clearance?
Only one of my 6 revolvers just touches the nipples. Not even enough to do more than break the Cap to shards rather than crack it.
I think too close of a hammer clearance is the fault of many complaints of caps getting into the action!
My Remingtons are flawless preformers in this area! I think Piettia must have some sort of "Jig" to hold this tolerance.
ZVP
 
As in two sets of nipples or a shorter set of nipples that are whatever thousandths of inch thickness of a percussion cap such that the hammer won't touch it?

Dunno. I'll use leather as it's easier.
 
OK, i'm looking at this...

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/list/Item.aspx/64/1

Or this:

http://www.badmanbullets.com/OnlineStore/proddetail.php?prod=SliXshot-Black-Powder-Nipples

Or this at 14:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfTGjm3IDYw

I am 8+ weeks from receipt (backordered) of a Pietta 1851 Navy steel frame at what I consider a fair price from Cabela's. $5 shipping + the state sales tax.

I am not pretending that it is a true replica of Colt's 1851 Navy. The rear gripstrap is wrong, but acceptable. I wanted a squareback trigger guard for authenticity, but, alas, only Uberti did this years ago. Original Colt's had a round trigger guard in steel as the 4th model, and all of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd models had brass squarebacks (Flayderman).

So I am not going to re-define the grips and the backstrap in order to make it look more "original".

I'm just gonna shoot it and pretend I'm James Butler Hickok on the slooow crossdraw.

:D

Comments, please.
 
OP,ZVP, Colt type clones can't maintain a clearance if there is no defined barrel/cyl. gap. Once done, it could be set up for that. I've never done it because I shoot cart. conversions only and use snap caps when "playing" at home.

Full framed revolvers can be set up but, Remington (Pietta and probably all of them) may have frame damage at the top of the hammer slot. I think the Ruger Old Army is set up to allow dry firing.


Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
45
Yea I see the open top clearance mist be done by nipple length.I forgot how the wedge changes tolerances.
Probably set with hammer face and frame thickness also.
Your statement about solid frames makes sense too.
A vert interesting topic to consider! I am going to try and research it deeper.
Thanks all!
ZVP
 
As in two sets of nipples or a shorter set of nipples that are whatever thousandths of inch thickness of a percussion cap such that the hammer won't touch it?
Click to expand...
I was thinking more of setup at the factory by only using nipples that didn't contact the hammer face.
 
The thing with opentops is the cylinder moving forward. Different gaps mean different gaps, which means maybe a strike and maybe not (if you try to make it "dry fireable"), That's another reason to have a very tight bbl./cyl. gap. The most important thing with opentops is arbor length. Everything else is possible AFTER that is defined.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
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