Leaving cap and ball cylinder charged

Is there a downside to leaving a stainless steel cylinder charged with pyrodex, ball, percusion cap and bullet lube? It will be stored in a non humid environment.

I know that leaving a blackpowder firearm with the residue from firing will cause rusting in a humid environment, but this is a cylinder that has been cleaned and not fired prior to charging.

My initial reaction would be to say yes, there's a big downside. I'd hate to have to stake my life on that pistol after more than a couple of days of storage.

Still, if circumstances don't allow you to own a metallic cartridge firearm, it's probably slightly better than nothing. At the very least, Ruger Old Army percussion revolvers can be bounced off an intruder's skull with good effect if your powder gets damp.

I doubt if Pyrodex in a clean stainless cylinder is all that corrosive, but I'm not a chemist or metallurgist. Perhaps you could construct open ended wax-paper tubes to hold the powder? (just be sure to clean thoroughly before reloading)

Though I think you'd be better off with a baseball bat, you might want to keep it in something water & airtight (Tupperware?) with one of those silica gel anti-humidity packets.

El Capitan

# Is there a downside to leaving a stainless steel cylinder charged with pyrodex, # ball, percusion cap and bullet lube? It will be stored in a non humid # environment. # # I know that leaving a blackpowder firearm with the residue from firing will # cause rusting in a humid environment, but this is a cylinder that has been # cleaned and not fired prior to charging. # # ED #

HIIK, but it seems that must have been how it was done 140 years ago. Otherwise:

'Maynard, there's a mountain lion chewing on my foot. Charge up the pistol, would ya?'

pyrodex, > ... will > ...

I am not sure, but I would advise against it if you plan on storing it for a lengthy period. Regardless, if the weapon has been fired or not the pyrodex is still in contact with the cylinder. I doubt anyone can ensure humidity won't be present. If you value the firearm I would advise against it.

Every muzzleloader I have seen stored solely indoors for a week and then fired went off with no delay. Besides, if one doesn't go, you have 5 more to try with a 6 shooter if time permits. For longer than that I can't speak from experience. If you wish to have it loaded for self defense it might be a good idea to fire it after 2 weeks to make sure all is well. In the absence of humidity I really can't see what would go wrong. If the powder is enclosed in clean steel and lead then it can only get moisture from the cap end. (Assuming all grease is removed from chamber walls and bullets are only lubed on the forward end). If the cap fits well and goes off reliably (I haven't ever had a cap not go off) then it should be good to fire for an indefinite amount of time. Keep in mind that this is not considering rust, only whether it will go bang and in the absence of any humidity.

Just don't leave it pointed at anything, and keep that damn hammer on an empty chamber. If you have humitidy issues, wax is suppose to work well, just drip in on the caps.

I am doing an experiment right now. Four years ago I loaded the cylinder of a Colt Navy repro and sealed them with lard. I fired one cylinder yesterday and planned on shooting one a year. No misfire yet.

> ...

#I dribbled melted candle #wax onto the cap wells after capping.

I would have been a bit hesitant doing that with a completely charged cylinder. One thing I was considering was placing small vinyl covers over the nipples rather than using a live cap. I have some small white caps that are used to cover cut wire ends of wire shelving which might be useful.

My 10 year experiment might accumulate some rust when done from the cooking lard I placed at the chamber mouths, but the chamber I fired yesterday, after 4 years of storage, has no marks. The gun is in an indoor safe (uncapped) and no sign of rust yet. Colt Navy Uberti repro. Actually the whole test and topic is a waste of time as we have all heard the warnings and stories of civil war carbines and pistols being put away loaded and 3 or 4 generations later someone picks up Great Grandfather's old rifle and learns the hard way it was loaded.

> ...