1858 Reminton Loading Lever Problem

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Blackpowdershooter44

Blackpowdershooter44

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Hi all,
I have a pietta repro '58 Remington that cannot take slightly harder balls without bending the screw that holds the lever in place. I know it's bending when I can pull the basepin out before unscrewing the screw and taking the loading lever assembly off. This has happened about 5 times.

When I first got started with bp revolvers, I used some hard lead for the round balls, and eventually that broke the screw in the gun. Ever since then, if the lead isn't totally dead soft, even if it's stick on wheel weight lead that's just slightly harder than pure lead, it'll bend, and eventually break, the replacement screw.

Could it be some part in the loading lever that has to be replaced? It is driving me crazy, my other revolvers take the balls fine.

Any help would be appreciated
 
I don't normally say things like this but I have one of those "cheaper ones" somewhere in the shed and it looks just like the one in that link. In the shed is just short of the dump. I bought a Real loading stand from Powder Inc.
 
Percussion revolvers were not intended for the hard alloys used in cartridge revolvers. While loading hard balls may not actually damage the gun, soft/pure lead is recommended. I have no idea what the hardness of wheel weight lead is, since hardness is irrelevant and there is no hardness standard. They can be anywhere from dead soft to hard as heck.

That being said, Pietta revolvers are, or at least have been, inferior to some other makes, so you might consider trading up to a better revolver.

Jim
 
dickydalton said:
...I have one of those "cheaper ones" somewhere in the shed and it looks just like the one in that link...
Click to expand...
Agreed.
I have the same, and it is nothing but a disappointment. I've used an arbor press with an attachment plunger with much more joy and satisfaction.
If I was to purchase a dedicated loading press, I would deffinetly consider one from powder Inc. among a few others.
 
You might consider another source for your lead. I get roof flashing from a local recycling company for $1/lb and it works great in all my (.36 and .44) pistols.
 
The lead I get is soft lead, and I have gotten it from many different sources. None of my other guns mind stick on wheel weight lead, which has a hardness of 6 BHN, pure lead is 5 BHN. I'll check locally to see if I can find any other sources
 
I'm trying to make you guys understand that the lead is soft. I buy lead from sellers who list their lead as soft lead. And if I used stick on wheel weight lead, which I don't all the time, just every now and then, it should be okay. Many black powder shooters use this lead for their revolvers. Clip on wheel weight is way to hard, but stick on's aren't.

Mike, how would I harden the screw?
 
Use a propane torch and heat it cherry red and then quench it in some used motor oil or water if you don't have any oil.
Clean the now ugly screw with some 320 sandpaper / steel wool. Polish it or give it a brushed look and carefully reheat it (slowly) to a blue color and quench it again. (If you go past blue you'll have to re-polish it)

Mike
 
Dog Soldier !!

Thank you for all your kind words you've been throwing out lately !!! I missed half a day of work cause i couldn't get my head in the door!!! (But, thats ok . . . )

Mike
 
Howdy

Good grief, I have been shooting Black Powder revolvers since 1968. Why in the world are you using anything but dead soft lead balls? Don't blame the loading lever screw for bending, stop using lead that is anything but pure-dead soft lead.

If you can't find truly soft lead, bite the bullet (so to speak) and buy cast lead balls from Speer or Hornady. You will not be bending the loading lever screw.
 
Blackpowdershooter44 said:
It is soft lead.
Click to expand...

Wheel weights are not "Soft Lead", they are an alloy.
The possible confusion may be that "Soft Lead" does not mean that the lead feels softer than some other metal or any such thing.
"Soft Lead" means it is pure lead containing virtually no impurities.
The terms Soft, Softener, and Softening is this context refers to removing impurities in the lead, similar to the terms usage in a water softener, which many folks may be more familiar with.
"Soft Lead" is lead that has gone though a softening (purification) process.
It happen to occur, that "Soft Lead" is also soft, as in easier to cut when loading round balls into a C&B revolver.

Unless your OP was somehow incorrect. You are not using soft lead.

Blackpowdershooter44 said:
...cannot take slightly harder balls without bending the screw that holds the lever in place....if the lead isn't totally dead soft, even if it's stick on wheel weight lead that's just slightly harder than pure lead, it'll bend...
Click to expand...

Neither of those statements describe "Soft Lead".
The use of "Soft Lead" would be expected to likely solve the problem.
 
[QUOTE="It happen to occur, that "Soft Lead" is also soft, as in easier to cut when loading round balls into a C&B revolver.

Unless your OP was somehow incorrect. You are not using soft lead.

Neither of those statements describe "Soft Lead".
The use of "Soft Lead" would be expected to likely solve the problem.[/QUOTE]

I agree, my original statement would lead one to think I'm using hard lead balls, but I'm not. Sometimes soft lead that I buy already in ingot form is slightly more difficult to seat in a revolver than other soft lead that I've used at other times. I don't know why. What I do know is it bends the screw. The sources for the lead are folks who shoot black powder, or ebay, etc.
 
I could not have said it better.

If you are bending the screw, your bullets are not 'soft'. They may be softer than some other bullets, but they are not dead-soft pure lead.

If you want to stop bending the screw, stop using balls that are anything other than pure lead.
 
Ebay sellers do not know what the alloy is that they are selling. They frequently sell it as "Lee" or "RCBS" lead. The ingot mold that the lead is poured into has the name impressed into the bottom of the mold. It has nothing to do with hardness. Best bet is to haunt a recycler and ask them to save all of the shower pans, lead pipe, roofing lead, Xray shielding and/or telephone cable sheathing for you.
 
Or purchase from Rotometals.

I bought 83 lbs of lead piping while in San Antonio. Having moved outside of Austin I can't find a recycling center that will sell lead and figure that when the time comes I'll have to buy a bunch from them.
 
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