Some Rudimentary Questions while Preparing for my First BP Percussion Revolver

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JACKlangrishe

New member
Hey Everyone!!

So I've posted a few questions about my greatly anticipated Pietta '60 Army and have received lots of great info, but there are a few rudimentary concepts I want to make sure I'm clear on that might not translate 100% from modern firearms.

The first two things I noticed were that de-cocking by easing the hammer down and squeezing/releasing the trigger seems to be a very common practice, and dry-firing without protecting the nipples is not good for the gun. Easing the hammer down is considered a bad habit with 1911's, so I'm used to just dropping the hammer with a dry fire. Basically, the opposite of what you should do with a BP percussion revolver, if I understand correctly.

The next group of questions I'm not so confident on.

Polishing the Bore and Cylinder Chambers

The bore is not a one way street?
I'm very used to cleaning my 1911 with a bore snake, always pulling in the direction that the round will travel and never in the reverse direction. The sticky on this board describes polishing the bore with JB Bore Compound and to "work it back and forth", which I'm assuming won't negatively affect the bore or rifling?
Will these patches produce the snug fit described in the sticky? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoppes-1204-Cleaning-Patches-No.-4-.38-.45-40/23236883
Any issues using an aluminum rod? I've only ever used bore snakes to avoid marring. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoppes-PSS-Universal-Pistol-SS-Rod/23237290
Any easy way to gauge how much paste is appropriate per patch?
The sticky describes a dozen pasted patches with "6 - 8 passes" each but that doesn't mean 6 - 8 full laps, correct? That would be 12 - 16 passes.
Should I keep the same amount of paste and number of passes when polishing each of the cylinder chambers?

Cleaning / Lubing

After cleaning and oiling the gun, should I always keep the cylinder chambers bone dry?
Is it better to have a thin layer of oil inside and out, and dry out the chambers with a dry patch or isopropyl alcohol before loading? Or the old fashion way and pop some caps without anything in the chambers?

Can I get away with using nothing but Crisco to oil / lube?
I use canola oil on my knives and love the fact that it's 100% non-toxic and food-safe if residue is transferred to food from my hands, or if it's used to cut food, etc. I'd like to avoid ballistol or hoppes if I can, and would love an all-in-one solution. Eventually, as I get better, I'd like to make the mutton tallow / beeswax / paraffin mixture.

I won't be able to clean it right away.
I'll be still waiting on delivery of the correct size screwdriver bit set and JB Bore Compound when the revolver arrives. I know they're fired at the factory, and I'd like to get that fouling out sooner rather than later, but I'll have to wait on Brownell's for a few days before I can strip and clean the gun. There's no harm in waiting a bit before cleaning, right? I'm assuming the fouling is minimal, coated with oil, and the gun has probably been sitting in a warehouse for a few months in that condition anyway, correct?.

Sorry for the crazy long post. Don't feel obligated to answer everything, I'm just organizing my thoughts.
Once I get the gun apart and cleaned, I'll post some hi res photos of the Before and After tuning. I can't wait!!

Thanks as always for your input!
Much appreciated!
 
H

Hawg

New member
In a perfect world the hammer never actually touches the nipples but in the repro world don't bank on it, always ease the hammer down and never let it down from half cock. Always let it down from full cock. It's not going to hurt anything to polish the bore and chambers but I never saw a need to. I've used aluminum, brass, wood rods for cleaning all of my guns from the muzzle for what seems to be 50 forevers and never hurt anything. I usually leave a film of vegetable based lube in the chambers and bore. Either way of getting it out works. I wouldn't use Crisco to oil. Anything is good in the action but anywhere you're likely to get fouling you want a vegetable based lube. Ballistol is good if you can stand the smell, you can even eat it so I'm told.:D You don't have to worry about fouling from the factory. I've never seen one come fouled but it will come packed oil soaked in a plastic bag. Some people swear they get rust if left overnight. I never had a problem waiting several days.
 
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noelf2

New member
I don't personally leave a bp fouled gun overnight. Clean right away, but like Hawg says, you probably don't have to. With some substitute powders, Pyrodex in particular, you WILL want to clean right away. Nasty rusty stuff.
 
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BlackPowderBen

New member
I wont be able to help you with the bore smoothing as I never have done this, when I get a new revolver I check to see if the gun is functioning correctly, dry out the factory grease, apply some oil of my own and then go use it.

When I clean a black powder revolver I give the gun a good coating of oil, including the chambers, then when I go to shoot it again I run a dry patch through through each chamber and pop a cap on each chamber as well, that clears all the grease and oil out. You can blow air from a air compresser through each nipple if you don't want to waste caps.

I understand you aren't interested in using gun oils, but I will say, ballistol is a great gun oil, it can be mixed with water to use as a cleaning solution, I do this and it works great, and use some pure ballistol to lube at the end. It also does not contain any petroleum distillates that will gum up with fired black powder residue. Crisco may be fine in a pinch, I would use the mutton tallow - beeswax lube myself over crisco if you don't want to use oil.

I wouldn't be to worried about the gun rusting when you get it from the factory, the guns sit for a while on the shelf at the store before they are purchased anyways. Normally after firing the gun it can sit for a day or so without being cleaned, depending on the level of humidity in your location.
 
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Beagle333

New member
I have only shot Pyrodex since I got into BP revolvers in 1989. (It's not that I'm against real BP, but Pyrodex is all we have available around here)
And I have read a lot of stuff about it being a rust accelerant, but I haven't personally witnessed it in any of my dozen or so BP revolvers or my several rifles. Maybe I been lucky, but I like the stuff. I got nice shiny guns too. :)
 
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noelf2

New member
Could be the quality of the metal it's use in. I have an old boot pistol (classic arms?) that I get out every independence day and load it with powder and paper wad, for the bang. I always used black powder and never cleaned it right away, waited a week or more sometimes. Used Pyrodex RS once and it worked just as good for bang and smoke. I left it TWO flipping days, and got rust and small pits in the rifling grooves! Not that I care much about the gun, for what I do with it, but I sure don't want to do that with other guns that I do care about. I learned my lesson. YMMV.

I use Pyrodex a lot too. In shotguns shells, cartridges, and sometimes in my percussion shotguns. I buy it up after the muzzleloader season at walmart for like 9 bucks a jar. It's good stuff, but I just don't trust it when I leave it home alone. ;)
 
J

JACKlangrishe

New member
Invaluable info as always!!

"never let it down from half cock" -- I did not know that. Great example of something rudimentary that can easily be missed by a newbie. Thanks Hawg!

I always thoroughly clean my cartridge gun after shooting so that's a habit I don't think will change with BP. My initial concern was the possible fouling from the factory shot while I wait for the correct sized hollow ground screwdriver bits, although from the responses I'm pretty sure it'll come clean enough to wait. I'll resist the temptation to strip it with whatever screwdrivers I have lying around. Also, I plan on using GOEX FFFg when I shoot it.

The beeswax / tallow mixture is where I'm headed, but I want something off the shelf to get me by in the meantime. Crisco is out, as it's not a good fit as mentioned. Would Canola oil be a good 'natural' fit?

Other than that, I'll need to warm up to either Ballistol or Bore Butter or Both. Both are highly recommended, although I'm not looking forward to stinking up the place with the Ballistol.

I've also been informed that Isopropyl Alcohol makes for a great cleaner which is a great solution for me, as I don't have easy access to an oven and would probably need to run a blowdryer on the components for about 30 minutes if I used soapy water, even after thoroughly hand drying them. Hopefully the rubbing alcohol will cut down on the chances of rust after drying.
 
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Beagle333

New member
I use beeswax and olive oil. Add a little bit of crayon for holiday colors. ;)

seasonallubecooled2.jpg
 
H

Hawg

New member
"Nah, I use a lot of Pyrodex"...."Like I give a dead rats behind."
Click to expand...

I wasn't talking to you or for your benefit. I don't give a dead rats behind what you think of me, my opinion or anything else for that matter.
 
R

roashooter

Moderator
I wasn't talking to you or for your benefit. I don't give a dead rats behind what you think of me, my opinion or anything else for that matter.
Click to expand...


to use your own quote...."I don't give a dead rats behind"
 
B

Beagle333

New member
Start out 50/50 and then you can easily stiffen it or soften it to your preferences. You can always remelt and add more of either ingredient as many times as you need until you get it perfect.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
J

JACKlangrishe

New member
Great Link!! They'll be getting my money next round for sure! Thankfully the prime deal on Amazon will get to me right away this time.
 
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Hawg

New member
You might like a stiffer lube pill under the ball instead of lubing over it. If you do lube over it you don't need to pack the void full. All that's going to do is blow it all over the gun.
 
M

maillemaker

New member
The first two things I noticed were that de-cocking by easing the hammer down and squeezing/releasing the trigger seems to be a very common practice, and dry-firing without protecting the nipples is not good for the gun. Easing the hammer down is considered a bad habit with 1911's, so I'm used to just dropping the hammer with a dry fire. Basically, the opposite of what you should do with a BP percussion revolver, if I understand correctly.
Click to expand...

In theory, the hammer should encounter a hard stop against the frame before it strikes the cone. But you can't always count on that. Also, even if it does bottom out on the frame, the hammers are generally cast these days and cast parts tend to be more brittle than parts machined from billet. I've never seen a hammer break but I'm leery of dry-firing them anyway.

The bore is not a one way street?
I'm very used to cleaning my 1911 with a bore snake, always pulling in the direction that the round will travel and never in the reverse direction. The sticky on this board describes polishing the bore with JB Bore Compound and to "work it back and forth", which I'm assuming won't negatively affect the bore or rifling?
Click to expand...

I've never bothered with "polishing" the bores of any guns I own. As far as I can see, all this is doing is accelerating barrel wear that will happen from normal shooting anyway.

I don't think it matters much which way you push/pull the cleaning jag.

After cleaning and oiling the gun, should I always keep the cylinder chambers bone dry?
Is it better to have a thin layer of oil inside and out, and dry out the chambers with a dry patch or isopropyl alcohol before loading? Or the old fashion way and pop some caps without anything in the chambers?
Click to expand...

I make sure everything is covered with Ballistol so it doesn't rust. I always snap caps before loading any BP gun to blow the fire channels clear.

Can I get away with using nothing but Crisco to oil / lube?
I use canola oil on my knives and love the fact that it's 100% non-toxic and food-safe if residue is transferred to food from my hands, or if it's used to cut food, etc. I'd like to avoid ballistol or hoppes if I can, and would love an all-in-one solution. Eventually, as I get better, I'd like to make the mutton tallow / beeswax / paraffin mixture.
Click to expand...

I use Ballistol. The problem with Crisco is that it will polymerize (dry out) over time and become gummy. I would never consider using Crisco as a firearm lubricant.

I won't be able to clean it right away.
I'll be still waiting on delivery of the correct size screwdriver bit set and JB Bore Compound when the revolver arrives. I know they're fired at the factory, and I'd like to get that fouling out sooner rather than later, but I'll have to wait on Brownell's for a few days before I can strip and clean the gun. There's no harm in waiting a bit before cleaning, right? I'm assuming the fouling is minimal, coated with oil, and the gun has probably been sitting in a warehouse for a few months in that condition anyway, correct?.
Click to expand...

I would not worry about it.

Steve
 
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