Long Term Storage of a Loaded Revolver

[simonkenton]

I have a Pietta 1860 Army.
I loaded the cylinder fifteen months ago, in March of last year.
I took it out today to fire it. All five cylinders fired just fine.
I used 28 gr of FFFg, on top of that a wad lubed with Gatofeo's patch lube. I used a .454 round ball.
I left the gun sitting on a shelf. This is the mountains of N Carolina, very humid, I don't have ac I run fans 6 months of the year.

[Edgewood NM]

That is pretty good. I keep  my NMA Remington loaded all the time since it is my primary weapon. Some times it goes for a few weeks without fireing and it always goes BANG!!. My load for it is a 200 grain Lee Conical 30 grain P pellet (Just started with them) and a home made wad of felt soaked in beeswax/ olive oil.

Chuck

[HWooldridge]

I left my 1860 Uberti loaded for about 9 months.  The cap did not fire on the first chamber.  Every other one fired fine and when I replaced the cap with a fresh one, it went off just like the rest.  However, I would have been dead in a gunfight...

[John Traveler]

Theere is a story of a fully loaded Starr cap 'n ball revolver found jammed into a jar full of lard at the house of the Jesse James shooting.  It was estimated to have ben 80-something years since the owner put it away, but from all appearances, the revolver was still ready to fire!

John

[maddmaxx]

I guess a loaded clean gun makes all the difference. I've seen a dirty one soaked in coal oil for a year and got pitted, but have seen 50 year old cans of powder which had been stored in a shed yet not rusted thru; the powder being still good.

[scotjute]

simonkenton,
Was there any sign of pitting in the cylinders where the powder was?

[tryit]

Gents and Ladies, in 1963 a good friend of my mother had some parents that were so feeble that they were going to move into the kids house.(no nursing homes in those days) She found a gun in a draw and was told by her father of whom was 81 that the gun was loaded by his father in 1871. The pistol was a 1860 army colt and all cylinders were loaded. The balls were packed with some sort of bees wax and the caps were also sealed with bees wax. Her father wanted the gun for protection but she wanted it unloaded. My father and I took it to a friends country house and fired the pistol. four of the cylinders fired instantly. One cylinder hung fired and one cylinder the cap would not fire. We placed a cap on the nipple and she fired right away. We cleaned the pistol up well and gave it back. There was no rust in the cylinder and the pistol even had traces of the orginal case hardening. If the cylinders are sealed well the gun should be operational for quite a long time.Tryit.

[Ramrod]

I have read many stories about how the oldtimers would seal their revolvers by dripping melted candle wax onto the nipples and over the mouths of the cylinders. From my own experience I know that powder and caps do not deteriorate with age unless they get wet, and even then, the powder can be dried out, and still works. The caps, on the other hand, are useless after they get wet.

[Sundown Holly]

Very interesting,indeed. What I have always wondered about is what about the oil in the chamber? I always thought that it would affect the powder but I guess not. Those of you who leave the old smoke burners loaded, how much oil do you use in the cylinder after cleaning and before reloading? Has this been a problem?

[D R Greysun]

Many, many moons past I watched my uncle remove a nipple from my great-great granddad's old 1851 Colt or something small like one. We had no way of knowing when it was loaded. Some time after the Civil War and before the turn of the century. It is still loaded today. Back to the nipple removal, my uncle was able to remove some of the powder. He dumped it on the hearth and lit it with a match. Pooof. smoke and stink! To this day it remains wrapped in a piece of oiled leather. Don't know if the ball would have left the cylinder but the load would da lit.
D R