Video showing intentional chain fire.

[maillemaker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ne4VgCdAy7Y

Steve

 

[Doc Hoy]

Cool....

....Beans

 

[4V50 Gary]

Thanks! It seems to add credence to the practice of always using oversized balls that leave a lead ring when it's swaged down into the cylinder.

 

[Bill Akins]

One ignorant person left a comment at that YouTube video's comment section, saying: "Chainfires are a myth".

Well if they are a myth, then I guess I was involved with a myth the very first time and very first shot I ever fired from a cap and ball revolver. The very first cap and ball revolver I owned was a Walker I bought back in the early '70's. Didn't know much about how to load back then, so I just filled two chambers up with powder, levered the balls in, capped the nipples and fired. It fired the chamber under the hammer and chainfired the chamber next to it. That was a long time ago, and I've learned a little since then lol. Never had a chain fire since then.

But yeah, chainfiring is just a myth, uh huh .

Good video, nicely showing how a chainfire can occur.



.

 

[4V50 Gary]

A YouTuber says that chainfires are a myth? There's historical evidence of chainfires. One Berdan Sharp Shooter lost some fingers due to a chainfire that happened with the Colt Root Rifle.

 

[Bishop Creek]

That's the truth Bill. Had my first (and only) chain fire in 1969 with my first cap and ball revolver, an 1851 Navy replica. Like you, I was a novice at the time. I have learned a lot since then.

 

[Doc Hoy]

Have been shooting cap and ball revolvers since about 75

I have been fortunate in having had only one chain fire over those years.

Revolver was a .36. I was using .375 balls and schmootzing the chambers with goop.

Pinched the caps and blooowy.

Loosened the arbor in the frame. (Brass frame)

 

[maillemaker]

I'm pretty sure the YouTube comment was sarcasm.

It would be pretty hard to say that chainfires are a myth when the video shows a chainfire.

Steve

 

[deerslayer303]

NEVER a chain fire here, but I am fortunate enough to have the web, that I came here and picked the brains of the elders BEFORE I ever fired a shot.

 

[James K]

I have never had a chainfire, but a friend once owned a 51 Navy (original) in which the nipples were so badly worn that firing would sometimes cause the hammer to blow back far enough to rotate the cylinder and then fall to fire the next chamber. He was going to try to get the hole the right size to have a fully automatic 51 Navy, but I persuaded him to replace the nipples.

Jim

 

[OutlawJoseyWales]

I've read as much as possible about chainfires, although I've never had one. I was convinced, until this video, that chainfires had more to do with loose caps than undersized balls. But, the evidence is right there.

Thanks for doing this, but man, I certainly wouldn't want to be holding on the handle TRYING to make it chainfire, wow.

 

[maillemaker]

I think you can get a chain fire from either end of the cylinder.

Tight bullets and tight caps are the key.

Steve

 

[4V50 Gary]

James K - that sounds like a Webley Fosbery semi-automatic revolver of percussion guns.

 

[brazosdave]

never had one, don't lube the front of the cylinders, sometimes use wads sometimes not, but I believe if you have a nice ring from your ball showing the front is sealed, your nipples are snug and the holes the right size, you should be ok. There is a "oops" factor in everything, factory loaded ammunition sometimes doesn't work like it's spose to. I think if you are cognizant of the fact that any gun is potentially dangerous, and handle it with respect, in the event of a mishap like that you will prolly be o.k. Those fellas who are vets prolly have experienced a "runaway gun" once or twice in their lives, lol!

 

[SpareMag]

Newbie BP question:

Any evidence of oldie tyme shootists intentionally using chainfire as a poor-man's shotgun?

I can see a tactical advantage to having three balls leaving a gun instead of one...

Not knowing where your lead is landing my be a possible downside..

 

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Hmm, then I guess that would lead to the pistol doubling as a club?
If someone DID think of doing this on purpose, I'd be surprised. But I'm constantly amazed at what really really drunk folks with firearms are capable of doing.

 

[MJN77]

Any evidence of oldie tyme shootists intentionally using chainfire as a poor-man's shotgun?

I think a poor man would have a shotgun before a revolver. I also think emptying all the shots from your revolver at once would be "counter-productive" to say the least. You could damage your gun, lose some fingers, empty your gun and not hit your target, not to mention wasting your ammunition. There wouldn't be any "tactical advantage" to a chain fire unless your goal was to make your gun lighter or give the bad guy a good laugh while he walks up and shoots you. I think an old school pistolero would be better off trying to accurately put his rounds where they need to go instead of trying to use his revolver in a way it wasn't meant to be used. Pepperbox revolvers had a habit of chain firing and it gave them a terrible reputation. The advent of reliable, non-chain firing revolvers lead to the demise of pepperboxes. I don't think anyone would intentionally try to make a quality revolver malfunction, especially when their life depended on where the bullets went.

 

[maillemaker]

Any evidence of oldie tyme shootists intentionally using chainfire as a poor-man's shotgun?

I doubt it. There is absolutely no way to know where the non-barrel-aligned chambers are going to go and there would be no barrel to provide any kind of velocity improvement. I cannot imagine this being done deliberately to try and turn a revolver into a pepperbox.

Steve