How Much Black Powder To Use In A 36 Cal Pistol

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Modern blackness powder revolvers are loaded in the same basic way every bit their historical counterparts. Before loading the firearm, you need to make sure that the gun is clean and in proper working order. If everything checks out, information technology should exist safe to load and fire.

1
Disassemble the revolver. Before loading the revolver, you must remove the manufacturer's preservative and/or any built-up grime. To practise so thoroughly, you'll demand to detach the gun.^[1]
- The exact disassembly procedure will vary past manufacturer, so cheque on the procedure before standing.
2
Clean information technology thoroughly. Scrub all parts of the disassembled gun with a cotton swab to strip the grease away. Dip the swab in a cleaning solvent or hot, soapy water.^[ii]
- Scrub the interior of all cylinder chambers with the cotton swab.
- Set up the cylinder down then that all of the chambers face downward. This will let the water or solvent to bleed.
- Laissez passer a cleaning patch soaked with solvent or hot, soapy h2o through the barrel.
- Laissez passer clean, dry swabs or patches through each chamber and through the butt to finish the cleaning procedure.
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3
Lightly oil the gun equally you lot reassemble information technology. As yous reassemble the revolver, you lot should oil all moving parts and grease the grooves of the cylinder pin.^[3]
- Note that reassembly will vary by gun manufacturer. Equally with disassembly, you should check on the verbal procedure before continuing.
- Utilize a natural lubricant instead of a petroleum-based one.
- Apply a calorie-free blanket of your called lubricant to all moving parts of the gun. Do not oil the gun heavily since doing and then can cause fouling.
- You should also lightly grease each ball you'll be firing and the opening of each chamber.
four
Verify that the gun is unloaded. Even if you just reassembled the revolver, it'south a good thought to verify that the gun is currently unloaded before continuing.^[4]
- At this fourth dimension, yous should also put on your condom goggles and hearing protection.
5
Cheque the half cock position. Gear up the hammer in its one-half cocked position. Aim the gun at a safe target and squeeze the trigger.^[5]
- The hammer should not motility. If you can squeeze the trigger and the hammer falls, the revolver is broken and unsafe. Do not load it. Instead, y'all must take the gun repaired.
- The half cocked position acts every bit the revolver's "safety" position.
half dozen
Insert a cleaning rod down the barrel. Slide a cleaning rod or wooden dowel down the barrel and mark rod at the cage. Yous need to make sure that the chamber is aligned with the barrel.^[6]
- Remove the rod and lay it forth the outside of the barrel, lining information technology up with the mark at the muzzle. The opposite end should end at the nipple, which is where the chamber ends.
- Echo this stride with each chamber.
- If the rod does non line up correctly for any chamber, there is an obstruction. Practice non load it. Y'all must clear the obstruction before continuing.
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1
One-half erect the hammer. If the hammer is not currently half-cocked, and so put it into that position now.
- Point the gun in a safe direction. Do not point information technology at yourself or at anyone else. Ideally, you should signal it down range.
ii
Place a cap on each nipple. Snap a cap on each nipple with the gun however pointed down range.^[7]
- Note that you may need to pinch the cap to ensure a secure fit.
3
Fully erect the hammer. Switch the hammer of the gun to its fully cocked position.
- At this betoken, the gun is live. Y'all will be able to pull the trigger and fire information technology.
4
Fire each cap. Signal the gun at an appropriate target and fire off each cap.^[8]
- For percussion caps, an appropriate target would exist a leaf, blade of grass, or sheet of paper positioned roughly 1 pes (30.5 cm) away. The target should motility. If it doesn't, there might be an obstacle in the butt. Do not load the gun until the obstruction is cleared.
- Firing off percussion caps will further articulate and dry each sleeping accommodation.
5
Check the gun. Make sure that at that place are no unfired caps left on any of the nipples earlier continuing.^[9]
- Y'all also need to remove any busted or fragmented caps at this time.
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1
Half cock the hammer. Switch the hammer of the revolver into its half cocked position again.^[10]
- Note that the cylinder should be able to rotate freely at this bespeak.
two
Hold the muzzle upwards. Betoken the barrel of the gun toward the sky, keeping the unabridged gun in an upright position.^[eleven]
- Proceed the correct side of the gun facing toward you.
- Do not position any part of your body over the revolver.
three
Pour a measured charge into the chamber. Carefully pour a properly measured charge of black pulverization into the sleeping room closest to the loading cutout. Repeat for each chamber.^[12]
- Utilize an individual pulverization mensurate. Practise not pour powder from a large powder flask or tin can.
- The verbal amount of powder will vary depending on the type of gun.
  - For a .36, use 12 grains of pulverisation. Never exceed 20 grains.
  - For a .44, utilize xx to 28 grains of powder. Never exceed 35 to 40 grains.
iv
Place the ball over a chamber opening. Set a proper size ball or bullet over the opening of the bedroom nearest the loading cutout.^[thirteen]
- The ball should be oversized then that it only rests on elevation and does not enter.
- Make certain that the ball or bullet has been lightly greased before you load it.
5

Rotate the cylinder. Rotate the cylinder of the revolver until the ball sits under the plunger of the loading lever.
6
Seat the bowl using the loading lever. Unlatch the loading lever and use it to firmly printing the brawl downwards until it sits securely and firmly on the pulverisation.^[14]
- Utilise smooth, even pressure as you practise this.
- In that location should be no air in betwixt the powder and brawl, but you should not crush the powder as you seat the ball.
- Also notation that a thin outline of lead will be shaved off the ball as you lot do this. It should be visible at the opening of the sleeping room. This is a skillful sign and and indication that the ball is properly fitted.
7
Repeat with the remaining chambers. Follow the same steps to load the remaining chambers with a ball or bullet.
- It is recommended that you only load five chambers of a 6-chamber revolver. Keep the hammer rested on the nipple of the unloaded chamber to reduce the risk of an accidental firing.
8
Apply additional grease. Fill the space in a higher place the ball in each cylinder with vegetable grease or bullet lubricant.^[15]
- The use of grease can forestall "chain firing," or adventitious secondary discharges.
9
Place a percussion cap on each loaded chamber. Betoken the gun downwards range and place a percussion cap on each loaded chamber. With the completion of this step, the revolver is fully loaded.
- Make certain that the hammer is still in a half artsy position before doing this.
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1
Fully cock the hammer. Only switch the hammer to a full erect position when you are ready to fire.^[sixteen]
- If y'all do not program to burn the revolver immediately, then you should residue it over the empty bedchamber of the gun. If no chamber has been left empty, then rest it on a rubber notch in between two nipples or on a safe pin.
- Note that it is not safe to comport the revolver with the hammer in its half artsy position over a loaded sleeping accommodation.
2
Aim and fire. Aim the gun down range at a safe target. Pull the trigger to burn the revolver.
- Y'all should be able to proceed firing until all of the chambers take been emptied.
- Keep count of your shots equally you burn. Brand sure that all of your shots have fired before you prepare the gun downwardly or reload information technology.
3
Wait one minute before reloading. Wait at least one minute earlier reloading the revolver. Doing and then allows any remaining sparks to burn out.^[17]
- When the revolver is ready to reload, you tin reload information technology by following the same process outlined in the "Loading the Revolver" section.
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Add together New Question

Question

Why did my revolver come up with a bundle of wads?

The wads can exist used betwixt pulverization and brawl to help prevent chain-firing. You lot can employ these instead of grease over the ball. The lubed wads also assistance keep fouling softer for easier cleaning.
Question

Why exercise the caps fragment and become stuck in the cylinder jamming the activeness?

James Cutshall

Community Answer

They need to "splatter" and so yous are able to remove them from the nipple easily. And then they are designed to be pretty brittle, only if they get stuck in the activity, I'm guessing information technology could be the brand and substance of the cap; the metal used may be besides brittle. If changing the make doesn't aid, I suggest taking a careful await over your pistol and seeing if anything is off, like something up with the action itself. Some cap and ball pistols have enough room for the cap to fall off between shots by having the weapon being tilted upwards before the next round, the used cap falling out before being caught in the action.
Question

I take small, circular pads that are to be loaded in my revolver. Where practice they fit in?

James Cutshall

Customs Answer

I've never owned a blackness pulverization revolver that used pads; those are for rifles. When using a rifle, you would place the patch between the powder and the brawl. On a revolver, you lot don't use a patch. You lot place your powder (30-40 grains of parade loose black pulverisation if you're rocking a .44, xl-45 for a .45) and so add together a tightly fitting circular ball. You and then add some grease to keep more one chamber from going off at a time due to a rouge spark of powder poured out. Later that, you lot identify caps on the cylinder nipples, and you're set to become.
Question

WHat is the divergence between black powder and smokeless powder?

Blackness pulverization is an explosive. Smokeless pulverisation is non. Rather, smokeless pulverization is a propellant which cannot be made to explode. Of class, the obvious difference when used in firearms is black powder produces big quantities of white fume, while smokeless powder doesn't.
Question

What else could exist used to measure my accuse?

James Cutshall

Community Respond

If y'all have a powder measure, employ it to measure a sure corporeality of powder, then pour information technology into a container of your choice. You then know how much powder it would accept for a sure grain count. Write downwards what percentage of the container the powder took upward and how much powder it was. This would work only with specific grain counts, though.
Question

What could I do to the cylinder of my 44-caliber pistol so that the ramrod fits it if the ramrod seems too large?

The ramrod should fit the designated cylinder for each firearm. If it doesn't fit correctly, cheque with the manufacturer of the pistol, or take a look at some other black powder revolver of the same caliber to make sure of the correct fit.
Question

What is the need for a lubricated patch when loading a black powder revolver?

James Cutshall

Community Reply

Virtually BP revolvers don't utilise patches; they utilise a fleck of grease atop the ball to keep an ignition of another bedroom from creating a concatenation reaction due to the pulverization from chamber A being ignited by a spark from sleeping accommodation B.
Question

l bought my pistol at an estate sale and they weren't certain what caliber it was. How do 50 find out?

Have it to a gunsmith and ask which caliber. Y'all should besides have the gunsmith check the pistol to make sure information technology is safety to shoot and possibly receive a recommendation about how much powder to utilize.
Question

Do I use a .44 cal ball or undersized when I use a wad?

Wad between powder and ball for a rifle. No wad for a pistol. Do not utilise an undersized ball, equally it volition not seal the chamber. If you utilize a patched ball in a rifle, and so information technology would be undersized to allow for the patch.

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E'er handle a gun equally though it were loaded, even when you know information technology isn't. This is 1 of the most important rules of basic gun safety and should exist followed regardless of the type of gun you lot're using.
Do not point the revolver at yourself or anyone else and brand certain that all bystanders are standing behind you when you program to fire.
But employ black powder for your black pulverization revolver. Never use smokeless powders since doing so tin can crusade the firearm to explode.
Never handle black powder nigh an open up flame.
Always clothing shatter-proof spectacles and hearing protection when firing your gun.
Never burn down into water or any hard, flat surface. Doing then can cause the bullet to ricochet.