1851 Navy & beginner

[expat_alaska]

1861;

Your padded support should work nicely. And I think it fits your personality...specific tools for a specific task!!

A properly fitted wedge should not require a mallet, but on the Italian open top reproductions properly fitted wedges are a rarity. I would much rather have a wedge that is too tight than too loose because I do not want the wedge to move during shooting. It is easy to make mistakes when fitting wedges, and that is best left to a gunsmith that knows what he is doing. I speak from unfortunate experience...I tried fitting a couple of wedges and did not do a good job. Now I too use a mallet to seat AND remove the wedges from my 1851s. But they work and do not loosen during competitive shooting matches, so I accept the imperfection.

I concur with your assessment of our ubiquitous 1861. I agree that repro wedges are usually not fitted properly. Guido the Gorilla at Pietta might have a job for life! However, with some judicious sanding on certain wedge surfaces goes a long way to ensure a good fit. Mine all fit with a press of the thumb after fitting but a tap with a mallet from the left does not hurt a bit. That does not apply to Uberti pistols with the short arbor.

When I first got my Pietta pistols, all I used were a couple of wood blocks spaced so that the wedge would drop with a smack from the mallet first time. I am not that fancy.

You folks have a good day/night.

Jim

 

[ZVP]

A Piettia London model uses the '73 grip

 

[drobs]

1861 - any luck with the license?

 

[whughett]

Yes, putting that new pistol to work yet........................

 

[1861]

It's not really a licence, just some official paper stating that I have registered it with a police; it will allow me to buy powder and use a shooting range.
Still nothing. I'm really surprised that it takes this much time. I'll have to visit them and ask why it takes so long.
I wanted to buy a silver Dance by Pietta, but it's now sold-out

 

[1861]

Hi, for all of you who followed this thread and contributed with your comments - here's news:
I went to police to ask about my case, how come that after 3 months I still didn't get registration papers. I also complained a bit why the police officer (in civilian clothes) when he talked to my neighbours (to check me) said that I've obtained a gun/pistol (he didn't bother to explain that it's black powder, and in my opinion he shouldn't have stated the reason for his inquiry at all).
So: they lost my file. They remembered me and how I started the procedure in August, but they had no idea that my case is not finished. It should have been finished long ago, but they lost everything related to me and weren't even aware of that. They said they should do a background check on me (talk to my neighbours) again, but when they saw my reaction to that they quickly dropped that idea, stating it's their fault and that they'll finish everything very quickly now. They agreed that the police officer who talked to my neighbors may have stepped over a line (of my right on privacy) and that he probably shouldn't have stated the reason of his inquiry, or at least he should have explained to neighbors that it's black powder, not just "gun" or "pistol", because everyone will think of modern firearm when they hear "gun" or "pistol".
It seems to me that it's now just a matter of days when I'll finally get that official paper and then I'll pick up that fine German powder which awaits me here in local hunters' shop. They got for me 2 packs of Sellier & Bellot caps, I picked that up yesterday. Those Czech caps are much cheaper for me than Remington caps which I had to order from France. The difference between the boxes is huge: Remington box is beautiful, tiny and smooth, easy to open, made of metal with print on metal, while Sellier box is large and ugly, looks cheap, hard to open, made of plastic with paper sticker glued onto it. Sellier caps are shorter, slightly easier to put on nipples and much easier to take them off nipples - compared to Remington No.10. I haven't fired Sellier cap yet. Remington caps seem to sit more securely on nipples, seems better to me. So now I have 300 Remington caps (minus few I spent) and 200 Sellier caps, and 250 balls and a 100 wads. I still need to make my own wads, I have to find the right felt first.
Since I'm going away to Germany in 2 weeks, I expect I'll fire my Colt for the first time - around Christmas. Then you'll get the next update. Take care.

 

[Mizar]

Why does this story sounds so bizarrely familiar to me...

 

[groundsclown]

I believe it's been said before in this thread but I'll say it again anyways, especially since Thanksgiving is only 2 days away.
One of MANY things I'm thankful of is being a shooter in the U.S.A....Need black powder? Simply click on 1 of the many online suppliers & within 3-5 days its sitting on my front step.

I bought a used Ruger Old Army Sept 2nd 2017 and according to my logs I've ran 788 rounds out of it as of last weekend.

Hope you get to shoot yours, 1861, before the end of the year.

 

[drobs]

1861 - this might have been asked before but can you make your own black powder (in small amounts) legally?

 

[1861]

drobs, I don't know, but I wouldn't do it anyway, so it's a non-issue for me.

 

[1861]

Beside powder and some felt material, the only thing I still don't have - which I'll probably need - is something to grease it when shooting. It was mentioned a few times in this thread, and I've read a bit about it in few other threads here and at thefiringline. I still didn't quite get it, I see different opinions: some use bore butter, some use Wonder Lube, the other recommend Wonder Seals, there are those who don't use anything, some use only wads, some use wads + Seals, some use Seal beneath and Seal above the ball with no wad, some use some oils, some use some greases, some use something completely different, some put it above ball, some put it beneath ball, some buy it, some make it at home... the more I read, the less I seem to understand and more frustrated I get.
What is the CHEAPEST option, what is the SIMPLEST option, what is the LEAST MESSY option, what is the MOST EFFECTIVE option?
Is there some option which will combine all 4 - to be the cheapest and simplest and least messy and most effective - all at the same time?
Thanks.

 

[Mk VII]

I've always used automotive grease, and never felt the need for anything else.

 

[1861]

I've always used automotive grease, and never felt the need for anything else.

Let's see do I understand you correctly... I have this exact MICHELIN Multi-purpose grease:

Bought it for my bicycle 10 years ago, never used it, felt stupid that I payed for it and that I'm keeping it all this time, because I only use oils, fine oils are all I need for my bicycle. Now, is THIS the example of what you mean or not? Can I use it for revolver? Made in France, no expiration date, dark red color, very thick, no smell.

 

[Mizar]

About the petroleum products - it depends on their composition. Paraffinic oils are OK, while Naphthenic oils will form a nasty tar like fouling on your gun. There are numerous lube recipes and some of them are so sophisticated, that will put Gordon Ramsay to shame... I'm using the following recipe:
40% beeswax
30% olive oil
30% lanolin
Those numbers are not exact - I just eyeball it. But I use this lube for bullets, so it tends to be a little bit harder and sticky (that's what lanolin is added for). And I'm not a CAS (SASS, whatever) shooter, so I cannot speak how well it behaves after extensive shooting.
I believe that for wad lube you can just mix equal parts of paraffin wax (candles) and paraffin oil (simple mineral oil, or liquid paraffin, sold at drug stores). Melt the wax on a double boiler, but be careful because it's flammable. I'm sure that soon you will get enough lube recipes to experiment for the rest of your life...

 

[Sistema1927]

I don't know if it is available in Europe, but here in the States Crisco is about the cheapest, and works as well as anything else. Possibly lard would make a good lube as well.

 

[1861]

Thanks. On my Michelin grease there is no info about it at all. So I don't know its composition. And I don't know what are petroleum products, paraffinic oils, Naphthenic oils, lanolin... I'm not going to become a chemist now. You probably gave me what is the CHEAPEST option, can now someone please tell me what is the SIMPLEST option

 

[BullSlinger]

I have found the the least messy option is the lubed wad (wonder wad), it is not the cheapest.
I make and use a mixture of beeswax, lard and vegetable or olive oil 50/50 and add additional oil during the cooler winter months. It is not too messy.
All firearm projectiles need some lube, black powder also needs a bit more to prevent chain fires.

 

[1861]

Wonder Seals seem the simplest and least messy option to me, but very expensive (I would have to order them from the USA or from France). Wonder Seals look thick, but I may be wrong. Can they be sliced in such way that I get 2 thin "discs", thus getting 200 pieces out of a 100-pieces box?

I HAVE JUST GOT MY PAPER FROM THE POLICE! That means in few hours I'll have a powder too! I'll try to try it out this weekend, but I'm not sure will I'll be able to.

 

[Mn Fats]

Crisco. If its available over there. All black powder guns are "messy". No getting around that. Just use your Michelin grease for now. That should go a long way.
Congratulations on making it to the finish line jumping all those hoops!

 

[drobs]

Lard ought to be easy to come by. Otherwise:

Gatofeo's Lube is explained here:
http://1858remington.com/discuss/index.php?topic=352.0

A version:
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354926

 

[1861]

Hey all, finally the powder is in my hands! Haven't opened it yet, I'll do that soon and fill my TRADITIONS DELUXE cylinder flask

Mn Fats, thanks. Crisco is just a brand; you wanted to say that I should use oil - the type used for cooking? There are many types of oil and thousands of brands around the world, of course that we in Europe have some other brands and not Crisco, who would ship cooking oil across the ocean? So, it's not a question of brand, but which type of oil you guys use? I see that many recommend olive oil. If we have anything here, that's olive oil, we produce it for the last couple of milleniums and it's by far the best in the world. The most commonly used oil in the kitchen here is sunflower oil, but actually I can get any type of oil, whichever will work the best for revolver.

About those recipies...
Some recommend Ballistol oil. I have that and I can always buy it here locally, it's inexpensive.
Paraffin comes in different forms - can someone please specify which one I should look for? Paraffin oil, paraffin vax...?
Real bees wax is not a problem for me - my friend have bees, I can always get natural bees wax for free.
I won't touch any animal fats, no sir. So let's just skip those kind of recipies.

The easiest for me now would be to just use my Michelin multi-purpose grease - but I have no idea about its composition. Mizar wrote: "About the petroleum products - it depends on their composition. Paraffinic oils are OK, while Naphthenic oils will form a nasty tar". And I know nothing about that and nothing about my Michelin grease.

 

[J-Bar]

Yee-haw!

Melt some beeswax with some olive oil. Start with equal volumes in small amounts and adjust the ingredients to get a soft waxy texture. Smear the mix over the ball after it is compressed down on the powder in the chamber. Yes it is messy so take a rag along to clean your fingers. This will keep the face of the cylinder and the barrel from accumulating the fouling crud produced when Blackpowder burns.

Show us range pictures!

 

[Kaeto]

As far as I can find that multi-purpose grease would react badly with BP as it's naphtha based. What you need is a vegetable based grease, or use tallow or lard. Crisco is a vegetable based substitute for lard.

 

[1861]

Vegetable based grease - MARGARINE???


What about slicing the Wonder Seals in such way that I get 2 thin "discs", thus getting 200 pieces out of a 100-pieces box? Is that feasible?

 

[Kaeto]

Food grade grease

https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-10340-Biobased-Grease-Cartridge/dp/B0041S1OUM