Preventing Chain Fires

[7thConnOrdSgt]

Evry now and then we have all experianced a chain fire when firing our revolvers, either with Blanks or live-fire. I have noticed that this happens most often when firing blanks.

The last time I saw it, I was at the local range with a friend and he ask to fire my Remington 1858 .44. I handed him the revolver empty and he had to load it. He did so and did not grease the cylinder mouths. On his second shot he yelled and I ask him why. I had heard what sounded like an over charge ( he is good at that) . He then showed me where the second ball had left the the bottom chamber that was just outside the frame and skidded along the metal. No damage was done and he was not hurt. He did learn to grease each chamber.

I reading and action I found that if I get a slighlty oversized ball and load it, it shaves off a ring of lead as it seats. I have never had a chain fire when the cylinder is loaded in this way.

When loading a cylinder, reloading in particula, we all sometimes spill a bit of powder on the cylinder face and if there is grease from the last rounds, the powder is not that easy to remove, so we go on loading. Even with new grease over the powder and a slightly loose ball, the flame from the burning powder can pass the ball in the chamber and get to the powder on the cylinder face and travel to the next chamber and set it off.

With a tigh ball, the flame can not pass the ball in the chamber being fired and it can not then get to the next chamber and cause it to fire. Just as the rings on an engine piton seal the gas in the upper part of an engine cylinder. for full combustion, the tight ball does the same thing and seals the chambers. Thusly, the grease is then just a redundant safety measure (still a very good idea). try this the next time you live fire ot load up some powder, cream of wheat and grease and see if you maybe dont come to this same conclusion.

Opinion expressed is in no way the Moderators, just IMHO

[Poor Private]

Take a look at a picture taken at night, of a CB pistol firing. You get fire from every oriface around. It don't matter if you place powder, wad and oversized ball in the chambers. If you lose a cap while firing, or it just falls off when you pull your pistol- theres your problem. You just opened up a straight access to the powder. Greasing the chamber mouth in my opinion is a waste of time and money. It's gets your holster all gooey inside in hot weather and it don't sever any kind of purpose. If your ball gives you a nice ring(live firing) it's sealed at the mouth. In blank firing I use powder then oatmeal. Have done it this way for years. I have been firing BP pistols since 1970 and I think I have had only 1 chain fire(due to a cap falling off).

[Artyman]

There is another cause as well. If a cap falls off or is loose, the ignition can occur through the nipple (cone) too. That's how the one I had back in the seventies happened.

I grease mine even though the bullet has the ring cut thing going. I use conicals exclusively and get even a better seal. But, the crisco, or grease, or bore butter, or wonder seals, or whatever you use does one more thing...it reduces the fouling and helps keep the accuracy up when live firing.

Blanks are often packed with cream of wheat. This can have voids or even become loosened while being carried around, hence, a higher probability of chain fire with blanks.

Many like felt wads. These are banned at most events, but they do seal pretty well. They have the advantage of not melting in the heat. It is a touchy subject, using wads, and there are as many who swear they ain't dangerous as swear they are. I would prefer not being shot with a wad, but there is so much crap that fires out no matter what you use that revolver use is frowned upon if not banned entirely for just about everyone but the cavalry....they being far enough up in the air when they fire to mitigate any hot debris flying far enough to harm anyone.

Then there are the "rocket engine" loads where the shooter tries to get a bigger bang. Nuff said there...we beat this subject to death about every year or so. Want a bigger bang? Then load ffffg in your blanks. That works better than squeezing the cylinder full with 3f!

I have all sorts of revolvers....and I leave them at home.

Harry

[Bill_Cross]

I don't carry my "hog leg" in the field that much, but I've used the grease and the Farina methods. Both work, though the Farina is less-messy.

I don't pour powder in directly as some apparently do, but load the charge in its paper. Since I use women's curling papers, which are very thin, they are consumed in the explosion and don't produce the fire hazard that ramming papers will for a long arm.

When I cap the cylinders, I press down on the caps slightly to distort them, causing a tighter fit over the cone. When pushed onto the cone, they resume their round shape, but are less-likely to fall off.

However, despite all my efforts, I suspect I have not had a chain fire more out of luck than skill or method used.

[RJSamp]

Blanks are often packed with cream of wheat. This can have voids or even become loosened while being carried around, hence, a higher probability of chain fire with blanks.
Harry

Not if done correctly Harry. Sloppy, inattentive, ill-trained, don't care, in a hurry to [load] FIRE absolutely..... but that's true of other weapons systems as well...

We triple press COW into our loads.....no voids, and no chance of becoming loosened even whilst riding around on the equine friends over hill and dale.

I also leave my revolver at home....just too much hassle.

[Jim Mayo]

One of the black powder publications did a study some time ago on the cause of chain fires. The guilty party was loose fitting caps. This could also be stated as "poor quality control of Italian cone sizes".

[Artyman]

Hey RJ,
Is there any diff between COW and Instant COW? Had that question put to me at Fort Wayne Detroit last weekend. Couldn't say as I knew the answer!
Harry

[Artyman]

Poor Private,
Curt posted that pic the last time we discussed this. What an eye opener!
Harry