Sealing off the flash hole from water with candle wax - a myth?

[Dave L.]

I read somewhere, can't remember where, that soldiers would, in rainy conditions, drip a little melted wax from a candle over the touch hole (or other thing-uh-muh-jiggy) of their muskets to protect the gunpowder from water.

This sounds like a myth - is it? I'm curious... could someone explain more?

- Dave.

 

[shortandlong]

I am no expert but i don t see why not

 

[summerside sniper]

I am no expert but i don t see why not

+1, and I think your thinking of the flash pan Dave

 

[mooncoon]

wax over the touch hole would be a bugger to get clear again. If you poked the hole open with a vent pick, you run the risk of pushing some wax in on top of the powder. It would seem more likely to smear some grease over the closed pan/pan cover and seam along the barrel.

cheers mooncoon

 

[wade]

i use a cows knee, in wet weather, just a greased peice of leather cut to a pie shape with a leather thong too remove it quickly, just give it a pull and it hangs upside down on the stock but out of the way to fire my rifle, wade

 

[John in B.C.]

I wouldn't seal up the touch hole with anything. It will definitely result in a misfire.


A cows knee with a dab of grease at the barrel/stock junction - an inch or two north of the frizzen - works wonders. The leather protects from direct rain working its way into the works and the grease dam keeps water from travelling along the barrel and seeping into the pan.

Here on the Wet Coast of BC this is constant issue and I found this works best.

Periodically you want to check your priming charge and if it looks at all suspect dump it, wipe the pan et al clean and dry and then reprime. Also check the touch hole every time you check everything else in case a bit of damp powder is forming a plug. This happened to me one time and cost me a nice little buck.

 

[Skip]

I carry a small bottle of alcohol (gas-line antifreeze would work) for taking the water off the frizzen and the flint on very humid days, or if there's been light rain, especially if there's some powder residue around from previous shots. It will usually get a flint/frizzen sparking again nicely. I wipe the frizzen, flint and pan out with a clean patch moistened with the alcohol.

 

[shortandlong]

geee now i see "why not "

 

[Hotwheels81]

keep your pan primer in your pocket and stick a quill in the touch hole that you have lightly rolled the tip of in wax, put a patch under the frizzen to soak up anything that make's it into that area.... i have a nice oilskin trench coat my hawken fit's under too so that negate's a cow's knee for me.

 

[bogie]

The alcohol you should use is Methyl Hydrate and not regular alcohol. MH will actually burn off water. Mix some in a bowl with equal parts of water and light it-it will burn down to nothing. But MH is the only alcohol that does this.
I wonder now what it would do for damp powder...

 

[The Baron]

I wouldn't seal up the touch hole with anything. It will definitely result in a misfire.

A cows knee with a dab of grease at the barrel/stock junction - an inch or two north of the frizzen - works wonders. The leather protects from direct rain working its way into the works and the grease dam keeps water from travelling along the barrel and seeping into the pan.

+1 to that. I think a drop of candle wax in the flash hole would turn a soldiers musket into a club.

 

[tiriaq]

Somehow, the thought of a group of soldiers bringing lit candles into close proximity to the toucholes of loaded muskets is a little scary.
In the absence of a copy of specific instructions to do this in a manual, I would seriously doubt it. Soldiers of the day weren't given a whole lot of leeway.
Muskets were loaded when there was a reason for doing so. On guard duty, it was common practice for the musket to be loaded with a "running ball" - no wadding - so that the musket could be easily unloaded. Keep in mind that the bayonet was a serious weapon.
I suppose beeswax or grease could have been used by civilians in an attempt to keep powder dry by sealing off the frizzen, along with various covers. A drizzle can be a problem for a flintlock gun, a driving rainstorm would be something else again.

 

[Skip]

The alcohol you should use is Methyl Hydrate and not regular alcohol. MH will actually burn off water. Mix some in a bowl with equal parts of water and light it-it will burn down to nothing. But MH is the only alcohol that does this.
I wonder now what it would do for damp powder...

"regular alcohol" - no such thing. Methyl Hydrate=methanol=wood alcohol (poisonous), what you buy at Canadian Tire. Ethyl hydrate=ethanol=grain alcohol (if not "denatured-poisoned") what you buy at the liquor store, denatured, it's used commercially in many products. Isopropyl alcohol=isopropanol, or just propanol)=rubbing alcohol (what you buy at the drug store, and usually contains 30% water (as rubbing alcohol).

These are the first three of the simple chain alcohols and of these, ethanol mixes best with water. Methyl hydrate (industrial name for methanol, and is less pure) is the purest alcohol readily available unless you have a commercial supply for denatured ethanol (don't try drinking denatured alcohol), and while it doesn't pick up water as well as ethanol, its easier to get. Since rubbing alcohol is already 30% water, doesn't make much sense to use it ...

You're right - pure alcohol will burn to nothing, and if supplied with enough oxygen, burns completely to water and carbon dioxide. Drying out powder is interesting - it might work, but you'd have to be sure to get all the alcohol out, or you might not get the burn you expect...