1858 verses 1860

[old ironside]

in November I used a 1858 Remington for a cowboy match and she was accurate as the day is long. This month I took a 1860 Army of the same make(pietta) at the same distance she barely hit. Since my shooting was the same on both days as my Vaquero on both days hit, but the blackpowder did not, what is wrong with the 1860?

 

[Imaginos]

All in the Sights

Have you ever tried to fire your 1860 for groups on paper?

Most of the people I meet on the firing line complain that the 1858 shoots low and the Colt patter revolvers shoot WAY high. The reason is the original Colts were factory sighted for 50-75 yards to increase the effective range in military combat. The '58 Remmie is easy to fix by filing down the front sight.

One of the main complaints about the Colt replicas is the notch in the hammer nose. It is not deep enough, off center, or the hammer itself has side to side play so the notch is not in a consistent place at full cock.

If you hit some of the sticky threads at the top of this category, I believe a character using the handle MCUMP has posted some photos showing how he has modified his Colt hammers to make them work properly as rear sights. The modifications are very simple and would be CAS legal because they do not alter the original equipment.

If it is not in the THR sticky threads, then I read them on http://www.sixgunner.com
Search for MCUMP and you will find them easy enough.

 

[mec]

Mcump is the Same character as MEC. That was a handle I used on the sixgunner board
this 60 army shoots just a bit over the sights at 50 feet and 25 yards. Once you widen the rear sight notch, the visibility is about as good as a remington. This crude sighting system is a lot better than it sounds and repeatability is pretty good even though the hammer has some real and theoritical wiggle in it

It is good enough for government work:

You can also deepen the hammer notch and take a bit off the top to lower point of impact. I widened this 61 navy notch but fortunately waited to deepen the notch. It is one of the few revolvers I've come across that hit right on for elevation.

Deepening the hammer notch works well when the gun is shooting 6+ inches high but when it shoots even higher, a taller front sight provides more correction:

 

[old ironside]

That might explain it as the targets are probably around 12-15 feet away. What tool do I use to cut the hammer? A Dremmel?

 

[dstorm1911]

a small file, the sets ya get at harbour freight for about a buck have several different shapes

 

[mec]

"What tool do I use to cut the hammer? A Dremmel?"

Not if you're as clumsy as I am.

 

[dwave]

I'm with mec on this one, I am not that good with a dremmel. I would go with a file myself.

 

[Mossyrock]

File work

I would suggest you not use one of those mondo-expensive gunsmithing files for this job. The casehardening on some of these hammers in HARD and will screw up a good file in short order until you get through the hard top layer. (And no, I am NOT going to tell you how I found this out.... )

 

[mec]

I used one of those small file kits that come in an aluminum tube. You get them at the gunshows for a couple of dollars.

 

[Son of Sam]

Annealing the hammer first might be a viable option.

Heat it uber-hot with a MAPP gas torch and let it cool slowly. File slowly until POA is reached then caseharden again by heating it back up to a glowing orange (visable orange in daylight) then quenching in oil or saltwater solution.

You can go one step further to draw out a temper by heating it up again just a few hundred degrees below the casehardening temp and allowing to cool slowly again (air-cool).

This works with many small gun parts and is the preferred method for hardening holes and ejectors on AKM variant receivers.

BTW, I have not tried this on any BP revolver's hammer, so YMMV. I do doubt that sighting the revolver in with an annealed hammer will cause it to peen any, but just to be safe I'd harden it again...

Just trying to provide another option besides ruining your favorite files. The Harbour Freight ones might work, but in my experience you get what you pay for from them. A couple of bucks is worth losing to give it a try first, though.

 

[Steve499]

The cam on an annealed hammer will wear quickly. I would re-harden it if it had been annealed for filing. ( I opened the sight and shortened the hammer for a lower impact with a Dremel, worked well without annealing, maybe I was lucky.)

Steve