Chainfires

[GunClick Rick]

 What really cuases them,the capped nipple end or the cylinder end or both and why..Just trying to figure a way not to have to use grease on the cylinder end.With all the new products these days there has to be a way not to have to grease over ball.

[ColonelFlashman]

It's flash-over on the Chamber end because of inadequate Grease over the chambers.

[Wolfgang]

Ya need lube over the ball anyhow.  I tried the "wonder wads" when I first started shootin' cap & ball and didn't like 'em at all.  I've heard that the chain fires are more the cap end than the front end, . . but that is just whut I've heered . . . . do not know myself. 

You shootin' that thing yet ? . . . .   

[ColonelFlashman]

Been shooting Percussion since I was 8 years old, & have had my fair share of Chain-Fires @ that age & All were due to not enough grease over the chambers & not from Caps falling off the Cone end of the cylinder. 

[Grogan]

Hmm...I probably haven't shot Cap 'n Ball revolvers as much as some of you pards, but I've still fired 'em plenty.

I've NEVER (yet) had a chainfire and I've gotta wonder when I shave that 1/64" ring of Lead off my balls, HOW is fire gonna get past this?

When I read the original U.S. Army's Ordnance tests on Colt's new Percussion Revolvers and they charged and capped (obviouisly with well fitting Caps) their test revolvers and put them in a bucket of water, then took them out after 1 HOUR and were able to fire all chambers    I've gotta wonder if ppl experiencing chainfires are doing something wrong? 

Just sayin...

[willy]

I only put grease over the ball after every 5th-6th cylinders of shooting.
The only time I exp. chain fires was when I didn't have all the loaded chambers capped.
I think the only advantage to put grease over the balls is to keep the fouling soft, But even then you don't need it for every cylinder full.

Just my two cents


Willy

[sundance44`s]

I shoot without lube over the balls all the time and have never had a chainfire ...But I don`t pinch my caps eaither , I go out of the way to get proper fitting caps . ...The chain fires I have whitnessed happen from the rear the guy was pinching some very loose fitting caps .. he  had 3 chain fires in 30 mins. I gave him a tin of my # 10 Remington caps ..and the chain fires stopped .
I did have a chain fire on my SKS once ..but I fixed that ..

[kurt250]

i agree with gorgan, i have never seen a orginal instuction sheet with them saying to grease the cyclinders. have shoot colt 2nd gen. navys with .380 balls. instruction book that came with pistol called for .378 dia. balls. wasn't able to find any so went with .380. have tight fitting caps, no problem. only time i had chainfire was when i used .376 speer balls. i think its the right ball and tight fitting caps that is the answer. kurt250

[GunClick Rick]

Yep,i was just wonderin about the troops back then and if they had to grease over the ball all the time it would have been a mess.

[Mogorilla]

Only pistols I own are cap and ball, been shooting Colt and REmminton clones for 12+ years and only had one chain fire and it was due to poor cap.  I fired a shot and pulled the hammer for shot 2, noticed the 3rd chamber cap was loose, didn't think much of it, afterall, I had grease over the balls.   Boom followed by a second fraction second later and big recoil.   The gun survived, as did the shooter, but the chamber with the loose cap had gone off as well, cap no where to be found.  That was 8 years ago.  I have not had a chain fire sense and have long ago stopped putting lube at the end of the chambers.  Just my 0.02.  I have always felt if you are cutting a ring of lead when seating the ball it is sealed.   Once again just my opinion. 

[Dalton Masterson]

I think its the wrong circumstance at the wrong time. Just a coincidence it happens one way or another. In other words, some are from poor fitting caps, some are from poor fitting balls/no grease.

I had my first chainfire this spring in one of my Starrs. Ive been shooting cap and ball for almost 20 years now, and that was my first. I have pinched caps faithfully for years, before I joined CAS. I didnt use lube for years, but would on occasion. (like the first cylinder full).
When I had the chainfire this spring, I was using home cast balls, and was in a hurry to load cuz I was up first on the next stage, and was a posse marshall, and....etc........
The balls I cast had a bit of sprue left, and I was in a hurry. I THINK the ball went in slightly sideways, not sprue down, leaving a void between the ball and cylinder. Then I was in a hurry, and didnt lube. After the chainfire, the cap was very secure on the pistol, needing to be pried off with my knife.
DM

[Wolfgang]

Very interesting thread.  Those you you posters who are not lubing, . . . are ya getting leading of the bore ? . . . how may rounds can you shoot before needing to clean the bore ? . . . curious.   

[John Taylor]

I have only had one chain fire about 35 years ago. The chamber at 6 o-clock went off, sounded funny and the ball was stuck to the rammer. Can't say what caused it. I have had many cap and ball revolvers pass through my hands and most have had oversized bores. If they don't shoot good I start looking for the reason why. have reamed out a lot of cylinders to groove diameter and usually round the front edge so it does not leave a ring of lead. I don't like getting the little rings out of the pistol before firing. Sometime I use grease over the ball and sometimes not. The right cap is very important, if you can't find the right size then change the nipples.

[Mogorilla]

Well, when loading, I use 777, truly only because it is quite a distance drive for me to buy true BP, so I keep a pound or two for special occasions buy usually shoot 777.    I load powder, lubed wad, and ball.   With the colts, I can shoot 250 rounds with no cylinder drag problems, assuming I remembered to lube the cylinder pin.  Remmingtons, I wipe the cylinder pin down every 20 shots or so with a lubed cloth.    As to bore, I ususally run a patch down either about every 50 shots or so, keeps accuracy consistent.   I load 28 grains of 77 for my 44 army and remmington and 22 grains bp for my 36 Navy.   I have never had a leading issue in any of the pistols.   I have seen other chain fires, but the one that sticks out was a guy who was loading the cylinders full of powder and compressing the heck out of the powder when ramming the ball over it.  It was a brass frame 44, and regardless of how many times others, me included, offered different loading advice, he continued to fire that way.     He had several chain fires and finally the gun just couldn't take it and the frame bent.   Best thing that ever happened to him probably. 

[Fox Creek Kid]

I could see where if a person used an undersized ball they might get a chainfire, however I believe most are caused by poorly fitted caps. I've never had a chainfire and have used grease over the chambers as well as sometimes only a lubed thin card wad between the ball & BP. I almost always replace all my "cones" with Treso ones.   

Interesting thread & replies. 

[GunClick Rick]

 Utica (a sass shooter) told me that civil war troops had women in camps that would make rolled bullets so to speak and dipped them in beeswax up to the ball.Can't remember if he said they poked a small hole in the end or not.Had a website once that showed how to do that but lost it.I imagine you had to do a good job on them to be reliable.I have a Rogers and Specer i want to shoot and a long barreled 58.Seems to me if ya had good caps and ring of lead it shouldn't be a problem,but then again i have nevr shot one yet.

[kurt250]

gunclick, i make my combustable carts. using silkspan.  thats a linen frabric that is used to cover model airplanes. i soak it in saltpeter and wrap them over a traperd brass rod. you don't need to punch a hole in the carts. bottoms, a cap will burn threw. i took apart a original 36 cal. cartridge and a 44 cal cartridge. both were from hazzard powder company made during the c.w. the36 had 15 grain of what looked like 3f. the 44 had 18grains of the same powder. have loaded that for several years never a hang fire or a chain fire. also much cleaner to load and shoot. seems that the pistols clean up much easier. i don't know why.

[Appalachian Ed]

Been shooting cap & ball since around 1983, and IMHO it is from the cap side. I have never had one, but I would find it almost impossible to happen from the chamber side if the correct size ball/conical is used. As stated, just my opinion.

-Ed

[River City John]

Replace all nipples with Treso and use caps that fit. I also chamfer the cylinder mouth so that a ring of lead is NOT shaved off, rather the lead is squeezed down to fit the chamber. Same sealing action but keeps all the lead as weight. Stopped using lube/wonder wads several years ago when I switched to 777.

Never had a chainfire. I am also of the opinion that chainfire's source is from the nipple end and not the mouth.

[Buffalow Red]

I HAVE HAD ONLY ONE CHAIN FIRE IN 16 YEARS OPS
it was the only time i didnt use some kind of lube & the balls didnt shave a ring , caps were still on the nipples so it was not the nipple side
luckey only 2 went off no damage other than some leading on side of frame