1858 Rem Giving me a bad time shooting

[jeeptim]

Hey fellas
Well got my remmy with the 5'' barell from cabelas and ALL that goes with. I got the conversion cylinder and loaded up some 230gr swc 850fps I have not try'ed BP yet we went up to the snow i made some lil snow men and shot em. Gun worked perfect but............ the trigger housing bruised my middle finger could only shoot 24 rnds. Yeah Im kinda of a big guy with big hands. You know what they say about guy's with big hands?? we wear big gloves...
But really this is a problem I REALLY want to love this gun. Thinking lighter bullet/load whats your thoughts? this ever happen to you.

 

[mjsdwash]

last week i took out an 1858, and a ruger mk3. After 24 or so rounds of the black powder, the mk3 actually kicked a little. My point is, standard 30 gr bp charges do not have much recoil. May help

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I'll bet you were trying to cram your entire hand onto the grip, weren't you? If you curl your pinky under the grip, you can grab the gun a little bit lower. This will allow you to leave about 1/4" of space between your knuckle and the trigger guard. The 1/4" will help prevent the trigger guard from whacking your knuckle.

It must be said that the 1858 grip shape is just different enough from the SAA grip shape that even shooting it the way I just described I like to shoot a lighter load than I shoot in my other single action revolvers. Try loading up some Schofield brass, with a Big Lube 200 grain bullet. The Schofield brass will only allow about 28 grains of so of FFg powder in the case, much milder and less likely to bruise your knuckle.

 

[Prairie Dawg]

Yep, I love Remmies, but don't shoot them due to the same problem.
Solved it by relieving some of the brass trigger guard and some of the area at the front of the grip frame to create about 1/4" - 3/8" more space.

Now I can shoot them OK.

Driftwood's solution may work for you.
If I drop my hand down on the gripframe, I can't comfortably reach the hammer spur.
So....I found another way.

By the way, you are not alone -- I know many folks who don't shoot Remmies just for that reason.

 

[swathdiver]

Was cruising youtube today and saw a video by Duelist on the custom Remmy he made. It's got a 2" barrel and a bird's head grip. He relieved the metal on the inside of the grip frame to keep his fingers from being rapped too. The video shows how he did it, nothing to it really.

 

[72coupe]

I have had a Lyman 1858 for many years and have not had this problem. But I am a small guy with medium hands and I grip it very tightly.

I do prefer the Colt's grip but I did have this problem with a 2nd model Dragoon with the square trigger guard.

 

[rodwha]

"Was cruising youtube today and saw a video by Duelist on the custom Remmy he made. It's got a 2" barrel and a bird's head grip. He relieved the metal on the inside of the grip frame to keep his fingers from being rapped too. The video shows how he did it, nothing to it really."

I looked and looked for it, but couldn't find it. What I found was his "Ultimate Remington" and his Colt Thunderer conversions.

Mind giving a link?

 

[sltm1]

Same problem, but problem no-more. I stole the idea off a S&W 44 Russian

 

[woodnbow]

Interesting, add a spur... Hmmm.. I like it!

 

[swathdiver]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=monbm21UqQ0

 

[rodwha]

I saw that and thought of the Charter Arms Bulldog and kept going.
Thanks!


I have been wanting a 5.5" Remington next, and have been considering my options and things I'd change if it weren't too expensive.

My hands aren't so big, but I think I would have tried just making a middle finger groove instead of taking so much metal off so as not to need to mess with the screw as well.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Another simple solution...

Keep on shooting it until your hands can simply take it due to the calluses that will form. Similar to other tasks your body isn't used to doing, condition it.

 

[kohana]

If you reload, try a 160gn LRNFP from Alpha Bravo Mfg and 5.5gn(by wt) of Trail Boss. I use it for CAS, its quite mild in a gun that big but about the same energy as a 38 special.

 

[MCgunner]

What I've read about .45ACP conversions is that LEAD is recommended, no hard ball or anything with jackets. I have an ammo box full of .45ACP already loaded with Lee 200 tumble lube SWC that shoot great, 5.0 grains Bullseye at 900 fps. I've also read not to exceed 1000 fps, but looks like you're good there. I'd just be leery of jacketed bullets.