Hello, all-
I've done a little bit of cap 'n ball shooting, but only with a stainless ROA and a North American Arms Companion, also stainless. As you can see, I'm a stickler for historic accuracy!
I recently traded my way into what I think is an 1851 Confederate Navy by Pietta. It's in a sorry state, and I got it with full knowledge of that. I hope to resurrect it and shoot it, but it might end up as a wall hanger. I'm OK with either one, but obviously I'd like to have a shooter if possible.
Scary story: the barrel/cylinder gap seems to be rusted shut, and I think the cylinder is probably rusted to the base pin. I can pull the hammer back just a little, but it won't go to half-cock. The overall condition of the finish is surprisingly good, considering its current state. The previous owner claimed that one could put the hammer at half-cock and rotate the cylinder in the recent past.
Horror story: the previous owner loaded it with Pyrodex, then round balls. He got scared of it somewhere along the line, and never capped or shot it. A "gunsmith" allegedly told him the way to make it safe was to pour water down the nipples from the rear, to "deactivate" the Pyrodex. I suspect the rest of the instructions were to pull the cylider, pull the nipples, dump the powder, push out the balls. The only part that got done was to pour water into the nipples, and let it sit.
I've put a liberal amount of Kroil on the base pin, nipples, on top of the balls, and in through the muzzle. I've let it sit in different positions to encourage the penetration of the Kroil into various areas. Not surprisingly, the Kroil came leaking out of the rusted barrel/cylinder gap, which I actually viewed as a good thing. I tapped the cylinder with a rubber mallet, and have let things sit/soak for a couple of days.
The barrel retainer wedge is loose, but just about every screw head has been mildly buggered. I'm the third owner. Either the firest owner was big on disassembly/cleaning using ill-fitted screwdrivers, or there has been a chain of Bubbas working on this thing...
The options I'm considering are total submersion in solvent to free rusted parts, and using heat and/or freezing to try to loosen things up. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
No, it was NOT me who filled the nipples with water... I swear!