THR Lemat club

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H

Hatchett

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
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284
Location
Birmingham, AL
lemat.jpg


It's big and ugly. The shotgun doesn't always fire. The lever cranks the wrong way and chews at the side of the barrel. It takes a thumb as strong as most arms to cock and even the trigger tries to eat a piece of your finger if you're not careful. We love them anyway. Our membership may not be quite as numerous as most. That just means we're exclusive.
 
Hatchett, great idea for a club - sadly I can't join - these are legal here in the UK (amazingly) but I have been put off by the many stories about their lack of reliability. I'm very interested in your practical experience of shooting the LeMat?
 
Well, as my first post implied, it's definitely an acquired taste or if you're lucky its at least not an acquired distaste. Nothing about it is convenient, from cocking to loading to cleaning. The nine shots do work great and shoot very straight. I've also never experienced any of the problems with the shotgun barrel yet but it's very new so we'll see once the springs start to break in if it will continue to ignite the caps with such a short throw (and it really ought to, considering how hard it is to cock -- really awkward with one hand). It really comes down to whether the novelty and the cool factor are worth the price (I got a deal on mine, so I'm not disappointed), because on almost every other level its inferior to a basic Colt or Remington pattern mechanism.
 
The loading lever is far from robust! I use a loading stand most the time.
PICT0011Small-1.jpg

If you carefully sand the face of the caps you use on the center barrel you well have better reliability with ignition.
lemat01.jpg

The LeMat is different to say the least, I have become very attached to mine. With nine rounds of .451 RB and a .625 RB or shot from the center barrel you well not find more firepower in a single cap and ball revolver.
lemat01-1.jpg
 
That's a fine looking revolver, mcb. I've not seen a LeMat that looked as well cared for before.
 
lemat

madcratebuilder & hatchet
i to am also a lemat fan and owner .
i have two albeit both are in my work shop being converted to carbines .
i t is just the neatest piece (yes it does take tlc ) but given that holding the revolver in your hand is just plane impressive
are you a crate builder? as i would be interested in buying some for homes for the twins
kymm
 
I dont visit the BP section too often but when I see a thread with LeMat in the title I will definitely be taking a little look. These are very cool I think and humongous. Probably the only cap n' ball revolver I would ever consider but there a bunch of cartridge firearms that are behind this on the "To Buy Oneday List".

Who makes reproducitons out of curiosity?
 
Official THR LeMat Club

Hello The LeMat Club!
Picture is my LeMat. I made a lighter hammer spring and have shot it in SASS matches, slow, but the style points were immense.
A removable loading lever was made which fits on a headless pin, which replaced the original loading lever retaining screw,visiable in picture.
Regards,
Engineer Bill
 

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Engineer Bill said:
Hello The LeMat Club!
Picture is my LeMat. I made a lighter hammer spring and have shot it in SASS matches, slow, but the style points were immense.
A removable loading lever was made which fits on a headless pin, which replaced the original loading lever retaining screw,visiable in picture.
Regards,
Engineer Bill
Click to expand...
Could you post picture of your new loading lever?
Thanks Charlie
 
I'm assuming that these are all Pietta reproduction LeMat. If not, Congrats to you who have original LeMats, they are near priceless. If they are reproductions, why are they so unreliable. I understand the need to keep them authentic, but sometimes a newer and better thing is warranted on a reproduction like this.

Maybe theres a market for modern level of reliability LeMats.
 
I haven't shot mine yet because of my lack of knowledge on loading the shotgun tube. Any pointers? Also, I understand the shotgun barrel should be capable of being removed for cleaning, but mine doesn't want to budge. If I am looking down the barrel, which way should the shotgun barrel be twisted to unscrew?
 
Action adjusting screw

LeMat Club,
A number of folks have questioned the reliability of lock up of the LeMat action, I'm wondering how many are aware of the action adjusting screw. It is located on the right side of the pistol, just behind the hammer screw, and controls the timing of the drop of the cylinder lock up pin as the hammer is cocked. The is a factory adjustment, not to be adjusted lightly, to be considered maybe after cleaning, deburring & oiling.
Regards,
Engineer Bill
 
Loading lever keeper & new loading lever

The LeMat Club
Photos show new loading lever in place, and removed.
I took just the original loading lever bolt to the Industrial supply store and they were able to match the thread. I hacksawed off some of the threaded end so that no threads showed when screwed in, cut the rest to length, put a screwdriver slot in the top, and fire blued it with a propane tourch. I made a model out of wood to arrive at a simple shape that would work for the lever. A pice was cut from 1/2" aluninum plate and worked with drills & files. The aluminum can be blackened with a permenant black felt tip pen ( leave it shinney, easier to find when dropped ).
My second favorite mod is to replace that ineffective loading lever catch. The one in the photo is made from 3/4" bandsaw blade that was anealed, shaped, retempered, and fire blued. It's in photo.

Regards,
Engineer Bill

PS How about a postal shoot? Entrants share load & data for sake of the Club?
 

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Ole Humpback said:
I'm assuming that these are all Pietta reproduction LeMat. If not, Congrats to you who have original LeMats, they are near priceless. If they are reproductions, why are they so unreliable. I understand the need to keep them authentic, but sometimes a newer and better thing is warranted on a reproduction like this.

Maybe theres a market for modern level of reliability LeMats.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say the Pietta LeMat is unreliable, it suffers some of the same issues of the original. The loading lever can become unlatched and jam the cylinder, just like the old ones. The ram rod for loading the center barrel comes out on recoil and is lost. Very few originals have the ram rod.

Getting the center barrel cap to ignite can be challenging with modern caps.


Engineer Bill, that lever is very nice, great mechanical advantage. I may infringe your copy right.
 
The differences between models are mentioned beginning in post #17:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=461019&highlight=lemat

Plus more by Rachen in post #8:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=272012

Rachen said:
Here's a little guide:
Spur trigger guard, spur hammer switch, lever barrel release: CAVALRY
Round trigger guard, lever hammer switch, knob barrel release: NAVY
Round trigger guard, spur hammer switch, knob barrel release: ARMY

I load the grapeshot barrel of my Navy model with 55-60 grains of Pyrodex RS or Goex 2F and a charge of about 1-1.5 ounces of OO Buckshot.
Click to expand...

More detailed loading info. including velocity figures:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=465836&highlight=lemat

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=506259&highlight=lemat
 
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