Loaded relolvers

gregoryhart1

January 10, 2009 01:45

If a cap & ball relolver was kept loaded with caps on it, will the powder ever go bad and the weapon not fire? A co-worker asked me this & I didn't have an answer for him. I know black powder is hygroscopic so I was concerned about the powder drawing enough moisture from the air to render it unreliable.
GH1[:)]

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  Blairweescot

  January 10, 2009 04:28

  If moisture can't get in, sure. Some guys have c&b revolvers loaded as home defense weapons although personally I'd use my .45 auto... many stories and first hand accounts of old loaded percussion firearms being discharged
  
  So it can happen. Whether it will or not as always, depends on many things

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  allen griggs

  January 10, 2009 10:06

  I keep two cap and ball revolvers loaded in my house.
  I have kept one loaded for as long as two years and it fired flawlessly, all five cylinders.
  I do not put paraffin on the caps, nor any sealant on top of the cylinders.
  This is in the humid environment of the NC mountains.
  I have one that has been loaded for 3 years now, got to get out and give it a test, let me say, I wouldn't want to be standing in front of it when the trigger gets pulled.

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  team roper ozzy

  January 11, 2009 14:31

  greg..i have dug civil war shells that have intact powder that will ignite with no problem....as long as the powder maintains a dryness to it.. it is stable and ready for service..a friend of mine inherited a tower enfield out of kentucky...it had a loaded round in the chamber left over from the civil war...it fired off..once the nipple was replaced[:D]..even with paper time fused shells i had extracted powder spark off..

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  gregoryhart1

  January 12, 2009 01:00

  Thanks forthe input guys, I'll pass this onto my buddy.
  GH1[:)]

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