SS Pistol Woes

[sjezior]

Anyone else have problems with their Single Shot Harpers Ferry pistol not firing consistently?

Seems I'm not getting powder down to the cone after firing a few shots. Could powder get stuck on fouling or for whatever reason not get down to where the cap can set it off? To get the ball out, I've removed the clean out screw and poured powder there and it works (obviously not a solution for team events).

Could CCI caps not have enough spark to reach the main charge if the cone isn't full of powder?

I upped the charge to 35 from 20 grains and it works a bit better but not consistent. I tried both 2f and 3f.

I'm wondering if drilling out the nipple hole would help get the spark further down the chamber.

Appreciate any thoughts on fixing this!

[Harry Gaul]

This problem sounds like the hole in the breech area from the breech to the cone is above the threading of the cone. You might want to try to drill out the hole in the breech and see if that helps. Check the opening through the clean out screw first with a probe. I helped a reenactor who had an 1861 musket. Once I lowered the hole from the breech to the bolster, the musket fired beautifully with blanks. Go slow and you should find the sweet spot.

Harry in pa.
Forney's
03626v

[FirinFlatTop]

Try less powder, more is not always better.

[Gary B]

Switch to a Musket cap nipple. Much hotter.
Gary B

[Wrekreation]

The SS Harpers Ferry Pistol has a semi-patented breech. In my experience it requires some intense cleaning. Carl Kruger and I have been working with Tom Krone to see if we can perfect a small scraper to fit down into the breech to clean it out. It will quickly foul with 25 rounds of a low powder load - I use 12 gn of 3F. I've included a line drawing provided by Mr. Pedersoli that shows the breech.

[Maillemaker]

I wish the manufacturers would stop putting patent breeches on guns that didn't have them.

Looking at you Pedersoli Lorenz.

Steve

[Sven205]

I've had similar issues with the Pedersoli Harpers Ferry SSP. Even when the flash channel and everything else is in my opinion very clean, it requires a RWS 1075+ cap to be reliable. CCI Magnum 11's work ok too. Remington and Standard non-magnum CCI caps seem to have a higher misfire rate.

For cleaning the breech, I flattened the end of a piece of 1/4" brass tubing to make a "scraper". Follow with cleaning the sub-chamber using a 32 cal bore mop. The first time trying to clean the patent breech, I found that my drum was threaded in farther than I think it should be. There was no chance of getting a scraper of a decent size inside. I ground off somewhere around 1/16" from the threaded side and can now clean without removing the drum.

[Maillemaker]

Likewise with my Pedersoli Pennsylvania rifle, I believe, the touch hole liner was threaded into the patent beech region, making effective cleaning of the patent breech difficult.

Steve

[sjezior]

I found that using the ram rod after pouring in the powder load before the ball will get powder into the patent breech. No problems with the regular CCI caps then. It's an extra step but works.