my colonial didn't go boom!

brazosdave · December 07, 2012, 07:41:38 PM

Had a good day shooting my Griswold and my Pietta shorty, but when it came to the single shot Dikar colonial my wife just picked up for me, no boom! Then, to my horrors, the nipple doesn't wanna come out, and the cleanout screw is in bad shape. Tried shoving some pyrodex into the nipple and firing another cap, but that didn't even work. Got it soaking in penetrating oil now, hopefully able to get out the nipple at least, and hoping the cleanout screw will come out as well. Anyone ever have this problem?

Dick Dastardly · December 08, 2012, 03:50:59 PM

The CVA single shot Spanish pistol can be quite reliable. Yours, if bought used, may have had a fouled torch hole or nipple. Usually it's best to snap a cap to clear the hole and then see of air passes thru. This is a good time to have a nipple pick handy. FWIW, Pyrodex may be a mite harder to light than Genuine Powder.

Soaking in penetrating oil is a good plan. If and when you do get the nipple out, clean everything well and then blow it out with an air compressor. Then, before loading it again, snap a cap or two and make SURE the hole is clear. Then, load it up with some FFFg black powder and a good fitting bullet or ball and let 'er flicker.

With practice these pistols can be fairly accurate. They make good small game getters.

DD-MDA

brazosdave · December 08, 2012, 05:37:20 PM

Thanks Dick! I got the nipple out, and it was all gunked up. There was quite a bit of crap in the drum also, so I swabbed that out. Thinking about trying my little compressor out on it, if not I have to pick up a stuck ball jag, but I know better for the next time!

Dick Dastardly · December 08, 2012, 08:05:21 PM

Starting with a clean dry pistol seems to work best. Good luck.

DD-MDA

Steel Horse Bailey · December 11, 2012, 01:58:47 AM

B-Dave - It's good you got that nip out with no more hassle than what you had. I ~~had~~ have a Pietta C&B '58/'63 NMA Remington that I took good care of for 5-6 years, including nipple removal several times, then re-installing with some anti-seize paste ... and then a couple years later (after NO firing, just guarding my gunsafe) I STILL had trouble getting the darn thing out! Scratch that - it wasn't that I "had trouble" ... the darn thing BROKE leaving the threaded part in the cylinder! I suspect the crack or weak break was there all along, it simply stayed together for a while, then gave up the ghost. I doubt I shot more than 125-150 loads thru' it at all. Do you know that those nips are hardened? While it makes sense, I didn't really think much about it. Anyway, I tried drilling into the remainder of the nipple threading so I could use an "Easy Out." The Remington cylinders nipple holes are drilled in at an angle, and so when I attempted to drill thru' the flash hole (with a small diameter drill) the drill actually bent and TRIED to go thru' the side wall of the cylinder, rather than on in for my needed purposes! The drill actually went opposite to where it seems likely to have gone - toward the outside of the cylinder wall, rather than inwards.

I had already left the whole thing soaking in a small tub of Kroil oil, but that didn't work and the threads remained locked. After it was all said and done, I now have a 5 shot, 44 cal. Remington made by Pietta.

Anybody out there who has converted their gun to fire cartridges have an old spare Pietta '58 Rem., 44 cal. C&B cylinder you might part with?

(Actually, I've considered getting a conversion cylinder to shoot 45 Colt myself for this gun, but since it isn't my favorite gun, I haven't bothered spending anything on it, even back when Cabela's sold spare C&B cylinders for $35-$45.)

As said - I'm glad your problem is solved relatively easily and cheaply, B-Dave!

Professor Marvel · December 11, 2012, 11:44:23 PM

Quote from: Steel Horse Bailey on December 11, 2012, 01:58:47 AM

Anybody out there who has .... an old spare Pietta '58 Rem., 44 cal. C&B cylinder you might part with?

Greetings My Good Steelhorse -
I do believe I may have the object of your desire ... please PM me and we shall work out the particulars.
yhs
prof (too many cylinders) marvel

Cliff Fendley · December 14, 2012, 08:01:20 AM

For what it's worth concerning anti seize compounds.

I think the best darn anti seize compound is what Caterpillar sells. If it is to help keep undercarriage bolts from seizing in all the dirt and grime they go through it mush be good.

We use it all over heavy equipment on bolts that tend to seize and ones in dirt and water that need to come apart all the time.

It is copper instead of gray. The grey anti seize I commonly see seems to gall with heat but the copper Caterpillar brand may dry out but still works.

The Cat anti seize is copper and graphite based. I believe the gray stuff is aluminum based which cant work as well for if you have any experience with machinery you know how bad steel bolts will seize in an aluminum part.

I have no idea if you can get it in small quantities from Cat, I get it in a quart can and is EXTREMELY expensive. Do a google for copper graphite based anti seize and I'm sure other brands sell it.

Southpaw · December 14, 2012, 12:02:47 PM

I use choke tube anti sieze lube and they always come out..........Southpaw

Steel Horse Bailey · December 14, 2012, 01:46:03 PM

The stuff I use is pro-grade, lead & non-melting/base material. It was the same stuff we used in the Army on the turbine engines in our M1A1 tanks; made to not seize in constant temps in excess of 2500 deg F.

I don't know what happened, but as I think I mentioned, I suspect there was a crack in the nipple where the tube meets the threaded shoulder, and it was simply bad luck that the last time I removed (or ATTEMPTED to remove) the durn thing, the crack overcame the threaded part. I couldn't fit anything to continue to unthreading it and remove it from the cylinder so I began to drill it out to accept the smallest EZ-Out/drill combo.

Thanks in no small part to good Professor Marvel, it's no issue now! And ... it still works fine as a 5 shot cylinder. I plugged the hole in front so it's easy to see which chamber is the bad one during loading. Since there is no complete cone/nipple visible there it's easy to see which 5 chambers need caps.

Thanks all ...

brazosdave · December 19, 2012, 02:29:19 PM

well, it wasn't just the nipple, I had to finally take the drum out and clean out all the gunk, give the whole thing a good thorough cleaning, but now it's good as new!

Steel Horse Bailey · December 19, 2012, 04:18:26 PM

Well, good on ya, B-Dave!

brazosdave · December 30, 2012, 07:30:14 PM

And here's a pic of it going "BOOM!", lol!

cpt dan blodgett · December 30, 2012, 09:21:46 PM

Pyrodex is probably your biggest problem it is super corrosive. I almost screwed up a remmie when I first started shooting ML and C&B

brazosdave · December 31, 2012, 07:15:17 AM

On that particular shot, I was using swiss up at my buddys in East Texas. Where I live in Central Texas, Pyrodex is the only game in town. A friend of mine has a ffl and is getting ready to sell real b.p. , about a hr drive, but I'll make that drive!

Blackpowder Burn · December 31, 2012, 07:59:56 AM

Brazos Dave,

You might want to consider buying direct from Powder Inc. (www.powderinc.com). Just send them a copy of your drivers license and then the little brown truck will bring it directly to your door - for the lowest price I've found anywhere. Their prices include shipping and hazmat fee. I buy 25 pounds at a time to get the lowest price.