how long have you left your Navy fully loaded

[ssb73q]

Hi Hawg, even old Pryodex will burn, it's only a question of how well. Unless you use a chronograph the experiment you described is pointless. Felt recoil and apparent boom are poor indicators of powder strength. Only a ballistic pendulum or chronograph is required to really know what's happening. As an example, remember Johnnie's use of using a BP booster with loose and pellet Pryodex? Johnnie thought that the BP booster was the best thing since sliced bread. While it benefited the pellet, the BP boosted loose Pryodex produced lower velocity than loose Pryodex without the BP booster.

T7 has a reputation of going bad if stored for a long time. My neighbor had his 1858 loaded over a year and when tested appeared to function well. He didn't use a chronograph, but it appeared to still be a potent load, the steel targets really sang (a pseudo ballistic pendulum).

I found that keeping cylinders loaded with the sub Black Mz and capped for four months killed the ignition of the Remington caps. Further experimentation on this is still underway.

I have little doubt that matchheads could be stored in a cylinder chamber and still go bang after 100yrs. 

Regards,
Richard

[HAWKEN50]

From an article i found in an old arms magazine about Robert E Lee.....


The Confederate general carried an 1851 Colt Navy and the gun almost immediately made the “commentaries” (i.e. print news) after the war as an object of public fascination. According to Flayderman’s Guide To Antique American Firearms, when the gun was shot in 1870 after the General’s death, every chamber fired as was, last loaded during the middle of the War seven years prior.