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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

O/T cap and ball pistol questins

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old

11-24-2007 09:11:54




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Have any of you guys that own them ever had a chain fire problem. I.E. as in when you fire the first shoot have a coulpe of the other cylinders fire or try to fire on you??? What do you do to stop the problem?? I know one time my Walker tried to do that and I guess I got lucky. I was told if I used wonder wads I didn't need to put grease over the balls but I was using them and still had it happen.
Thanks
I just don't want it to blow up in my hand I think it could sure make a good day go bad fast

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khtsr

11-25-2007 06:41:00




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
You are more likely to get a chainfire from the cap not being seated fully than a spark from the front.
I use a wood dowel or a pencil eraser to make sure mine are seated fully.
Have fun.
Ken



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leebbb

11-24-2007 18:53:06




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
I've been shooting capnballs for 25 years and have never used grease or wads and have never had a problem. If you get a thin layer of lead shaved off when you press the ball home there is no way for fire to reach another charge from the front. Think of it this way, a thin layer of grease is not nearly as good a barrier as solid lead. I would not shoot a revolver that didn't shave that circle of lead off the ball. Most .44 revolvers will use .454 round ball, but a few may need a slightly larger diameter ball. Many years ago, I had one made by CVA that a .454 simply was a little too small for. I got rid of it because I worried about this very same problem. I also don't want a brass frame, because brass will not hold up to much abuse and the cylinder will eventually work loose.

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Charlie T

11-24-2007 18:04:08




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
what kind of pistol are you using some of the foreign makes could well be defective .



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mark

11-24-2007 16:55:54




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
old,

If the chambers are well sealed by a tight fitting ball and then greased over with Crisco, the likelihood of a chain fire from the front is almost nil. I wonder which chambers in the cylinder are giving you trouble? Does the cylinder have any play in it front to back? Is there any possibility that the whole cylinder is moving back far enough for the bottom cap to strike the frame? Do you make sure the caps are fully seated on the nipples? All this sounds silly...but unless fire can reach the powder, a crossfire is impossible. If the front is sealed, then it has to be from the rear. Are you positive the cylinder has no cracks between the chambers? Just because it's new or near new, doesn't mean there can't be faulty metallurgy in the steel and a crack or cracks exist between the chambers, setting off a chain fire.Drop the cylinder out and look it over closely under a strong light.

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old

11-24-2007 17:11:25




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to mark, 11-24-2007 16:55:54  
Well up till this year I have only used the wonder wads and was told there would be no problem with chain fire but it happened once but this time I have used the wonder wad then the ball and then a greased wonder wad so I figure it probably will not do it again loaded this way I hope



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Nebraska Kirk

11-24-2007 11:11:00




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questions in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
I have never had a problem with chain fires. I use mainly pyrodex in my pistols with a wonder wad under the ball. Sometimes I have used a thin fiber wad, or no wad, under the ball but then I seal the ball with Hodgen Spit Ball lube.



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soundguy

11-24-2007 11:17:53




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questions in reply to Nebraska Kirk, 11-24-2007 11:11:00  
I have used the fiber wads.. but mostly just use old cotton t-shirt material for wads..

I keep a piece in my posibiles bag that looks like swiss cheese..

Soundguy



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soundguy

11-24-2007 10:59:31




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
I use bore butter on mine..

Soundguy



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Frank (N.Mi.)

11-24-2007 10:45:47




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
I had a Colt Navy that double fired once. The bottom chamber fired right after the top one did. Couldn't hear it as a seperate explosion though, just a bit longer bang, along with a different feel to the blast. I had greased the chamber mouths. I couldn't figure out what the heck happened at first, but I knew something wasn't right. Tore it down and found out--The lead bullet from the bottom chamber was moulded right around the loading lever, came out a bit hard... What had caused it was repeated firing had eventually stretched the frame enough to allow some cylinder slop and the recoil had fired the chamber when the (bottom) cap hit the frame. Needless to say that gun is just a "looker" now.

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Bobby/Tx

11-24-2007 09:43:40




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
I"ve always used grease with no problems. What size ball are you using? most Walkers use a .454. There should be a small complete ring of lead left on cylinder when the ball is pressed in. Hope this helps. Good luck. Bobby



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old

11-24-2007 11:26:35




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to Bobby/Tx, 11-24-2007 09:43:40  
I use the .454 ball and yes they have the little ring of lead come off. This last time I loaded it I used the wonder wads, plus grease and another wads just to be sure. Once was 100 time to may for me. Not sure if loading it this way will work but I hope so



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Bill(Wis)

11-24-2007 09:42:29




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
Most of my friends use Crisco and swear by it. There is a product called Bore Butter that might be worth trying. I think high temperature grease would probably be OK. I think my friends use Crisco because it's cheap. Like they are. Crisco can get rancid so I wouldn't buy the big container.



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Walt Davies

11-24-2007 09:36:31




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
Old you need to put some kind of sealer on top of the ball I had a piece of bees wax that works great but I heard of using anything that will stick to the ball and cylinder wall. Make sure its soft enough to press in and hard enough to stay.
Walt



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Randy-IA

11-24-2007 09:28:00




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 09:11:54  
Hi Old , I'm not a revolver person but do you use speedy loaders or do you have to press each ball into cylinder on the gun ? Either way what you're doing is what I've seen done . Make sure the cap fit's tight otherwise that may be where you're picking up the spark . Is the cylinder indexed correctly and slop free ? A little mismatch there will throw a thin sliver of lead back into the next hole going through a thin layer of grease exposing it to a spark . You'll get that anyway but if everything is lined up well it shouldn't be that bad . Others here probably have more experience on this than I do . Good luck ! ...Randy

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old

11-24-2007 11:29:54




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to Randy-IA, 11-24-2007 09:28:00  
I have to press each ball in to the cylinders. I also leave one cylinder empty so it sits there till I cock it. Cylinder has little if any slop so I know I'm fine there. This pistol hasn't been fired more then maybe 30 times if even that many since it was new



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36 coupe

11-25-2007 04:30:21




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 Re: O/T cap and ball pistol questins in reply to old, 11-24-2007 11:29:54  
Elmer Keith recomended a felt wad be placed over the powder charge.The wads were punched from an old hat and dipped in melted bees wax.I bought a Remington Replica years ago.Remington had a notch in the cylinders to leave the hammer between chambers.The revolver had the notches in the cylinder but the hammer wasnt right.It would not lower into the saftey notches.Import stuff always has some bugs in it.You could have an oversized cylinder bore.Crisco is good for protecting metal.I used to coat my butcher saw with it when I hung it up in the attic.The Crisco stayed in place thru the hot summers.Its pretty close to cosmoline in makeup.

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