Off the wall compatability question

Quite a lot of admonitions regarding the corrosive nature of the black powder and its effect on modern weapons. Can someone put this into perspective as to time. Assuming resonable cleaning how long will it take for the corrosive effects take to evidence themselves. I would never us a Model 27 for this purpose and have enough respect for weapons in general not to purposely destroy a revolver but a reproduction gun from Ruger or Uberti is a different story especially if the time line is in decades. Even a good tractor well taken care of will suffer from wear and tear. I am 66 and don't foresee a long career of shooting BP revolvers. Hell I can't see the target, front, and back sights all at the same time now.
 
BLACK POWDER IN A REVOLVER

:DI had a friend that shot 3f in his 686 in the 70s. He would let it soak in a chemical & blow it out with air. Don't know what he used but a chemist could recommend something. Just take the grips off. YOUR HANDS ARE GOING TO GET DIRTY. LOTS OF SMOKE & SMELLS LIKE A MULES BACKFIRE.
 
Quite a lot of admonitions regarding the corrosive nature of the black powder and its effect on modern weapons. Can someone put this into perspective as to time. Assuming resonable cleaning how long will it take for the corrosive effects take to evidence themselves. I would never us a Model 27 for this purpose and have enough respect for weapons in general not to purposely destroy a revolver but a reproduction gun from Ruger or Uberti is a different story especially if the time line is in decades. Even a good tractor well taken care of will suffer from wear and tear. I am 66 and don't foresee a long career of shooting BP revolvers. Hell I can't see the target, front, and back sights all at the same time now.

I don't shoot black powder because I don't want to deal with the mess, but my dad used to once in a while. I remember cleaning with hot soapy water immediately. No waiting until the evening or the next day.

It is impossible to see both sights and target at the same time. Your eye can't focus at 3 different distances simultaneously. You should focus on the front sight.
 
You need to clean asap, I clean mine right after shooting. You dont have months to clean it, maybe a couple weeks at most.
 
People make way too much out of cleaning the gun after firing Black Powder. Part of the overall experience.
I have 6 1860 Army clones in SASS and it is no big deal....even use real Black Powder.
Randy
 
Hey "Titegroups". I didn't do a good job of asking my question regarding corrosive effects. Should have said, given immediate cleaning will the gun suffer corrosive effects over the long haul and if so how long before they evidence themselves.
Thanks for all of the advice. I feel more confident moving forward.

Jim
 
I think it's mostly a case of the residue attracting and holding moisture,especially real black powder.Damp climate? Clean it soon.
 
First, do some internet research on cleaning blackpowder. Substitute B/P might require different methods, but I do not know shoot only real B/P.

If you live in a damp climate then you may want to clean your "hogleg" shot with real blackpowder after shooting or within a day. In my dry climate of central New Mexico I let them lie for four days or more and there is in corrosion.

Properly cleaning and caring for black powder fireams NEVER caused corrosion problems. The worst thing is improperly using the tools to clean the weapon and leaving wear and tear marks on the firearm.

The newer folded head .45 Colt cases cause no pressure problems over the older ballon head cases. Blackpowder in a cartridge case is almost never going to cause pressure problems.

Never load any blackpowder firearm, be it a real muzzle-loader with ball and patch or cartridge with an airspace between the powder and projectile. The airspace causes a bulged barrel (I'm not sure how).

Magnum primers are good to create a positive ignition. And a heavy crimp.

Also it is a good idea to use a card-wad or fiber wad (MidwayUSA has them) between bullet and powder to avoid leading in the cartridge loads.

Soft lead bullets are better than hard-cast because they "bump up" and fill seal the bore better. Also, as mentioned above, use of a specific black powder lube, like SPG, is highly recommended.

There are online purveyors of black-powder, SPG lubed bullets for cartridge loading. Go to "Buffalo Arms Company", "Goex" (on MidwayUSA as well), and others.

Blackpowder cartridge loads can be as accurate as any smokeless powder load. In the .45 Long Colt, a full charge of 3F behind a 250 grain bullet, in a modern case, (about 35 to 37 grains) is capable of producing 900 FPS. A potent load.

Getting a stainless Ruger Vaquero in .38-40, .44-40, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, and .45 Long Colt would be the way to go. If you want a Vaquero in .38/.357 buy one and shoot B/P in it. You will probably get decent .38 Special velocities but not .357 Magnum velocities. Then...if you tire of B/P you have a stout revovler for stout .38/.357 loads.

I liberally rinse and scrub ever nook and cranny of of B/P revolvers (cap-n-balls and conversions) with Windex with VINEGAR (not ammonia)...mix the Windex half-n-half with water. Then I wipe off what I can, shake and blow off the rest; then liberally spray the entire weapon's crooks and crannys with WD-40 or Break Free. I let the oil soaked weapon sit for a few days and then wipe out/away the excess and store them away.

P.S. pull of the wood grips before doing this.

P.S./P.S. If you're married do your cleaning outdoors or somewhere outside the house, the "War Department" tires very quickly of the mess and smell. Contrary to misconstrued opinions B/P, B/P cleaners, even Hoppe's #9 is not an aphrodiesiac to most sane women..............:D
 
Lube is critical when shooting BP. I had a friend that loaded 357 with 15 grains of 3F and pushed a 1/4 block of paraffin into the case (cut a nice lube plug) and topped with a 158 grain SWC, about 825 fps out of 5.5" handgun. Plenty of lube, in fact it dripped out the bore after a string. But ample lube helps greatly with accuracy and clean up. Ivan
 

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