1858 remington to 30 carbine

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Stacer

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Will it withstand the pressure? I have a total custom 1858 that I THINK is 30 carbine, but it also holds 32-20 but the rims don't clear the frame. I would just like to shoot the gun and not modify it any more than I have to. IIRC the 30s fit in the chambers just fine, but the local gun shop says that the gun won't hold the pressure.
 
The standard pressure of a .30car is 40,000 psi. I'd think no on ever trying a standard round through that thing! Unless you don't like yourself and want to eat that pistol and all the fragments produced from it when fired.

I'd find me a reliable gunsmith that would inspect the chambers and determine if it is, in fact, chambered for 30car. The ONLY possible way that I'd use it if it were really in 30car, would be with reloads ONLY of BP, or a BP sub and cast bullets sized to fit.

Now.......I'm sitting here wondering who in the world would ever chamber a BP revolver is such a caliber? IF I ever see him, I'd give him a good smackdown , as that is not only a dangerous conversion, but one that should never have been done.

Just my two cents worth....

Wade
 
Wuuuuhhhht? :scrutiny:

Wait. You mean you can drop .32-20s in the chambers but they don't fit all the way in? Or they do, but the case rims won't drop in behind the recoil shield? Is this a conversion cylinder? Is the barrel .308"?

You know the .30 Carbine can well over 30,000 CUP, right? Certainly a cylinder can be built to handle it, and a frame too, but ... I think I'd want to know a whole lot more about this gun than it sounds like you know.
 
I'd be interested in knowing the history, where did you get it, what were you told about it, etc etc.

If I didn't know anything about it I'd do just as you done and take it to a gun shop / smith and ask them about it. If they said it's unsafe I certainly wouldn't shoot it, but I'd be even more interested in knowing more about it.

As stated, hand loading something for it could well be what it was intended for. I have thought about doing such things but often thought how dangerous my kitchen gun-smithing would be to someone else not knowing what I had done it for.

Same could be said for many black powder collections around, guys have conversion cylinders laying around, 45 acp, 44 magnums, hand loads, etc etc. Brass frame revolvers, steel frame revolvers, old shotguns that could never withstand what that new Browning sitting right beside it does, or the shells on the shelf above it. Even though they chamber in it just fine.

What I'm saying is, someone could have, and likely did, do this for a reason, and it was likely safe for what he intended. You just need to find out what that was and stick to it :)

Be safe!
 
Stacer,

Are you sure this revolver is not chambered for .38 Special? That is a common re-chambering of .36 caliber C&B guns, as they can work with the original barrel, and the .38 Spl. is a rimmed cartridge. Where as the .30 Carbine is rimless and only .30 caliber, so the barrel would have to be changed or relined.
 
Stacer,

junkman's got a good idea. I'd break out everything I have to do measurements on this pistol. Measure the bore. The chambers; front and back. And as I said earlier, find a RELIABLE and good gunsmith and have him take a close look at this piece. Something ain't right here fellas!

Wade
 
Dad bought the gun at a show around ten years ago. the cylinder is a custom made job that has 7 chambers and fits the frame QUITE snugly. I remember about five years ago I could drop 30 carbine dummy rounds into it, and several would chamber almost perfectly, some would drop down further into the chamber. I have tried 32-20, and it looks like a good fit, except that the tolerance between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil shield will not allow the rim of the cartridge to clear. I have not taken calipers to the bore, but when I put a bore gauge into the muzzle it only went to .30, The barrel is an obvious replacement, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8". The rear of the frame has been modified so that a center fire hammer can pass thru and the top opening for the percussion hammer is closed off. An adjustable rear sight has been crudely dovetailed into the top of the frame, at least compared to the workmanship of the rest of the piece. The best part about the gun is that it has the original military grips with the proper cartouche to place it in the civil war time frame. I know that clearance is going to be an issue here because the hammer mounted firing pin barely protrudes from the frame. I don't have the funds to get the gun measured, or the tools to do it myself at this time, but I do have a gunsmith in mind that will do the work when I can afford it.
 
Perhaps the .32-20 WCF brass can have it's rim removed by grinding off just enough of it so that it will fit and cycle in the cylinder without interference with the recoil shield.

Or if the .30 carbine brass can be proven to be a better fit and the hammer will ignite the primers, then perhaps .30 carbine brass can be loaded with black powder for what may be a weaker black powder round than the .32-20.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.32-20_Winchester

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30_Carbine
 
Look....32-20WCF and .30 Carbine are two different cartridges (not to be too obvious about it). IF .32-20 won't fit, then it shouldn't/can't be fired. However, if it WILL fit well with the cylinder removed, then .30 Carbine isn't a proper fit in that chamber. Which seems to me to indicate that neither round is appropriate.

Put it on a shelf (at least) until you have the funds to make sure you know exactly what it was intended to fire, and that it is in safe condition to do so.
 
More likey it is in one of the .32 rounds (like 32 long or something). 30 caliber is .308" or so and 32 caliber is .311" or so.

Take it to a gunsmith DO NOT risk your safety without doing so. Hell if you are trying not to spend any money send it to me (I'm a gunsmith) and I'll take a chamber cast, slug the bore and give you a determination for FREE. All you'd be out is shipping both ways.

Regards
HH
 
Sam1911 said:
IF .32-20 won't fit, then it shouldn't/can't be fired. However, if it WILL fit well with the cylinder removed, then .30 Carbine isn't a proper fit in that chamber. Which seems to me to indicate that neither round is appropriate.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily.
Since it's a custom job, it's possible that it was either designed to have the rim removed on the .32-20, or that it was an unintended consequence of building the cylinder that wasn't foreseen. But perhaps it could work just fine once the proper amount of rim is removed, or additional chambering work is completed.
It's a matter of seeing the actual work and the fit of the intended cartridge within the cylinder and making a judgement about how to proceed.
If the chambering was intended to fit .32-20, and the only real problem is the rim, then maybe the rim problem can be fixed by either adapting the brass, or fixing the chambers. The appropriate .32-20 brass may need to be shortened to make room for the rims. Who knows? Maybe that was a choice that was made by the builder before he abandoned the project and/or sold the gun.
But none of this yet means that the .32-20 isn't or can't be the appropriate round if that was the original round to be used or adapted for the chambering.
And if a .30 Carbine BP chambering job was botched then that's another issue.
 
Last edited:
Ok, sure, that is so.

I was more hoping to caution that right now neither cartridge would be safe to fire. Without properly investigating what really was done, the information he has can't inform any wise cartridge choice. Heck, he may find out that the former owner invented his own wildcat that's some kind of cross between the two and (defying probability or maybe even physics) either will work fine ... but right now, no way!
 
Hoof Hearted said:
Hell if you are trying not to spend any money send it to me (I'm a gunsmith) and I'll take a chamber cast, slug the bore and give you a determination for FREE. All you'd be out is shipping both ways.

Regards
HH
Click to expand...

I agree with you too Sam1911 and would accept Hoof Hearted's generous offer.
 
HH I will mention your offer to dad, it's still his gun. To everyone that says don't shoot it, don't worry, I like staying out of hospitals when I'm not at work. I will try and see if i can get some pics this weekend.
 
I am betting it was for .32 Auto if there is little rim clearence. Mayhaps done in Europe where there were a few purpose build 7.65 Browning revolvers I believe. Also what HH says as the rim on the S&W .32s is not as thick as the .32-20 IIRC.

-kBob
 
Is this a fairly modern conversion done with a modern pistol, or is it an old one done in the 19th century?
 
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