Quote History Quoted:
No, chain fires come from ill fitting caps/ nipples.
Sorry don't have a specific link, go to the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Assoc. website. We learned that becoming certified instructors.
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Sadly, despite the source, that information is in error.
You'd be surprised how hard it is to write training materials and standards in any field. Egos, biases and an unwillingness to admit a prior belief may be wrong all get in the way and anything that flys in the face of those things ends up in the wastebasket.
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Consider it logically and look at the sequence of events that has to happen for one chamber to ignite an adjacent chamber via loose fitting caps. The hammer falls on the cap, smashing it against the nipple, the cap ignites and the flash would have to:
1. do a 180 degree turn,
2. go back up the nipple,
3. unseat the cap against the pressure of the hammer,
4. do another 180 degree turn around the nipple,
5. travel down and around the cap,
6. run back up the recess in the cylinder,
7. do a 90 degree turn and travel across the gap between cylinder recesses,
8. turn 90 degrees,
9. run back down the adjacent recess in the cylinder,
10. do another 180 degree turn,
11. run up between the cap and nipple,
12. do another 180 degree turn,
13. run down inside the nipple, and then
14. have enough heat to ignite the black powder charge in the cylinder.
Now here's the thing - I have an 1859 sharps and even with a musket cap, it has problems igniting anything other than black powder and all it has to do is travel down the hole in the block, make a 90 degree left turn, travel to the center of the block, do a 90 degree right turn and ignite the powder charge.
In contrast, let's look at the front end of the cylinder where we have not just the flash of the cap, and maybe a little back pressure from the charge but instead the full blown pressure and heat of the burning powder charge being deflected by the forcing cone through the cylinder gap and across the front of the adjacent cylinders where the expanding gas will be actively seeking any gaps or places to escape.
You tell me what is the more likely candidate to cause a chain fire.
Then lets consider about 30 years of cap and ball revolver shooting where I have never had a chain fire when using either a pre-lubed wonder wad (great for carrying in a holster where a grease like Crisco or spit ball will get warm and run in the summer),a filler on top of the charge, or cylinders with the gap between cylinder and ball sealed with a grease like Crisco, some other brand of shortening, or a black powder lube like Spit Ball (which won't go rancid like shortening). On the other hand I've had several chain fires when I didn't use a wonder wad or grease in the gap between cylinder and ball.
A filler like corn meal, grits or cream of wheat on top of a reduced charge functions much like a wonder wad, creating an additional barrier the flash would have to pass through to ignite the powder charge. Between the physical barrier and the cooling effect of the filler on any flash, ignition doesn't happen. Personally, I'm a corn meal guy but for a full charge carried in a holster I prefer a wonder wad.
For an extended range session however I prefer grease or spit ball, as it helps keep the fouling softer and will let you shoot more cylinders before you have to stop and either clean or at least dry brush the cylinder face and forcing cone to ensure the cylinder can rotate freely. It also keeps the fouling softer in the barrel.
Is it messy? Sure - but black powder shooting isn't exactly a clean sport.