Loaded bp pistol

[DUNITALL]

How long can you keep a b p pistol loaded before firing

 

[Centurion]

As long as you want...just need to find a method to keep moisture out of your cylinder.

I didn't keep a loaded one for more than 3 years but it worked after that time with no significant power lost.

 

[Fingers McGee]

As long as the powder is dry - Indefinitely.

There have been BP firearms and cannons unearthed in excess of 150 years old that were still viable weapons

 

[Beagle333]

I will often load mine and keep it in a large flat Tupperware container with a bag of desiccant. (I think the container was designed for a pan of brownies or perhaps a sheetcake.) It's ready when I want it, and I can even take it out and shoot a possum or coon off the trash can and then put it back in there without cleaning it or having to unload it until I need the other shots. That's the main reason I store it in there..... so I don't have to immediately unload and clean it, but it would probably stay nice and dry and at full potency for a very long time.

 

[4V50 Gary]

What Fingers McGee said. It depends on your humidity, storage (damp basement, dry attic, warm kitchen, trunk of vehicle in sub-freezing condition, what-not).

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Not to mention black powder ordinance which has killed a few people over 100-125 years after it was manufactured. Black powder can have a very long lifespan.

 

[Hawg]

Even if it gets wet it's still potent when it dries out. Back in the 70's there was a man around Meridian MS that found a 61 Springfield barrel in one of his fields and thought it would be the perfect thing to fix a broken gate hinge. He took it home and stuck the breech in his forge and the .58 minie hit him right between the eyes and blew out the back of his skull.

 

[sixgunnin]

Back in the 70's there was a man around Meridian MS that found a 61 Springfield barrel in one of his fields and thought it would be the perfect thing to fix a broken gate hinge. He took it home and stuck the breech in his forge and the .58 minie hit him right between the eyes and blew out the back of his skull.

That's just bad luck! I hope he is ok Were did you happen to come across this story? Sounds interesting.

 

[Hawg]

It was in the newspaper at the time and no he died instantly.

 

[noelf2]

Hawg I'm thinking sixgunnin was using a bit of humor. Or, are you as well? Nevermind.

 

[Hawg]

Hawg I'm thinking sixgunnin was using a bit of humor. Or, are you as well? Nevermind.

Humor on his part and a lil sarcasm on mine.

 

[BlackLabsMatter]

Just like with preventing chainfires, it's all in how well you seal the cylinders with the right sized ball/bullet and the right cap.

I've left blackpowder guns loaded for months in relatively humid conditions. They never failed to fire.

 

[Bill Akins]

The Confederate general Robert E. Lee carried an 1851 Colt Navy and the gun almost immediately made the “commentaries” (i.e. print news) after the war as an object of public fascination. According to Flayderman’s Guide To Antique American Firearms, when the gun was shot in 1870 after the General’s death, every chamber fired as was, last loaded during the middle of the War seven years prior.



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