A few questions about the Uberti 1858 Remington

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Thecrazedorganist

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Hello all! I'm new to the forum. I've got a couple of questions in regards to my brand new 1858 Remmy. Firstly, I'm trying to get Uberti's factory preservative off and not having an easy go of it. What have you guys used?

Also, while trying to figure out how to rest the hammer on one of the cylinder's safety notches I managed to dry fire the thing onto a nipple and I've got a nice nipple-shaped indent in the hammer. Is this likely to become a safety issue?

Thanks for the help!
 
from what i understand it will mushroom out the nipple over time and cause need for them to be replaced, but isnt a safety issue, just a good example of why its much safer to lower a hammer on an empty chamber
 
Your question was about a nipple shaped indent in the hammer and whether that was a safety issue.

The hammer should be much harder than the nipple - that indent was almost certainly there before you dropped the hammer on the nipple. It's a great deal more likely that the hammer would mushroom the top of the nipple cone rather than the other way around. If the hammer was truly dented by the nipple it needs to be replaced. I'd send the gun back if you're absolutely sure the nipple damaged the hammer. However, in either case it's not a safety issue.

As for removing the factory preservative, alcohol, Windex or a good black powder cleaning solvent should suffice.
 
Another congrats on getting yourself a fine shootin' iron. I recently used the two I've got in my first ever cowboy shoot. They both worked fine other than for one slightly oversized nipple.

Actually in light of the info about the hammer mushrooming the nipple I'm also wondering if it was dry fired a few times onto that one and the nipple swaged down and thickened a bit and that's the reason for the much too tight cap fit. Hmmmmmm....... more good info courtesy of THR.

If the regular cleaning solvents don't seem to want to clean away the crud then pick up a can of lacquer thinner from the hardware store along with some nitrile gloves. Remove the wood grips and liberally soak the gun with the lacquer thinner using a bucket to pick up the drainage. Scrub and brush as required to make it squeaky clean. Keep in mind that this will totally degrease it so a full coverage oilling with your lube of choice will be required for every nook and cranny. Them mop off the excess with paper towels. It's a stinky job that has harmful fumes so do it outdoors and wear those blue nitrile gloves. It's hell on your skin and over time it'll leach through the skin and into your blood and organs. Mind you this last bit about gloves applies to ANY solvent or degreaser.

Mine works well with #11 CCI caps and both Speer and Hornady .457 balls if that helps.
 
I used acetone on 2 of my recently ordered '58 Remington's. I removed the wood grips, poured a liberal dose of acetone onto them in a stainless steel container, swished them around. Both came out looking just like they were just removed from the bluing tank.

Wiped them down all over and internally with Ballistol, and they were ready to go. The nice thing about having a gallon of acetone on hand is you can use it to dry the pistols after scrubbing them out with soap and warm water. Acetone mixes quite well with water and evaporates VERY quickly, unlike many solvents. Not a petroleum based product either, which may cause problems if you shoot black powder. :)
 
Thecrazedorganist: Welcome and congrats on your 58 Remie. Got one myself except mines a Pietta. You're in the right place to learn about BP. There's a wealth of info to be gleaned from the folks here. I'm fairly new here and I'm still learning.
Good luck and safe shooting.
 
Concerning the nipple dent in the hammer face, it is common. First, the color case hardening is not at all very deep, so the nipple can deform the hammer nose from a strike, even though a file won't cut the surface. The softer metal inside deforms and the case hardened skin just follows along.

Second, most of the cap & ball guns, Pietta or Uberti, have the hammer nose protruding too far into the frame, and they strike the nipple before the hammer body strikes the frame, and this damages both the hammer nose and the nipples. On a Remington, the angle is also wrong, where the hammer nose meets the face of the nipple, so it only strikes usually the upper part of the nipple's face. Cutting the hammer face parallel to the nipple's face angle seems necessary, as well as shortening it until the hammer body stops against the frame, but no further, as you need the hammer to crush the cap when it strikes.

Especially after investing in Treso nipples, you don't want them mashed by the hammer. If (when) you buy new nipples, fit the hammer to them. If new nipples won't reach your previously fitted hammer, you will need shim washers to boost the nipples up to the hammer, or refit a new hammer.
 
I recently purchased a Uberti 1858 that came through Cimarron. It didn't seem to have a "preservative" just a just coat of very light gun oil. Of course mine has the charcoal blue finish so maybe they coat them differently. I just wiped the excess oil off the gun and shot it.

Regarding the nipples. I replaced my factory nipples with Treso ones. I also filed the hammer down (32nd of an inch) so that it stops short of hitting the nipples.
 
BCRider, matching the hammer face to the nipple face definitely improves ignition, does less damage to the nipple and hammer, and helps keep the fired cap from fouling the action by breaking up and falling off. Treso or Ampco nipples with smaller flash holes also aid in reducing fired caps fouling the action, as well as being a much better fit to the caps, preferably Remington #10.

An out of the box cap & ball revolver will often misfire once or twice per cylinder full. After a tuneup, they are likely to shoot a CAS match without a failure to fire.
 
Thanks rc'. Good info to know. On my Ubertis the caps fell away politely for the most part but the odd one lightly hung up during my first day. And I do have at least one nipple on one gun that consistently required two hits to fire.
 
Welcome to the forum.
Both of my Millenium Uberti Remmies have dinged hammer faces. Doesn't seem to bother them a bit. What may be is they are now just exactly in contact with the nipples. If I get a misfire it is due to a bum cap. The nipples appear harder than the hammer metal except the thin skin of case hardening as RC Flint has stated.

BCRider, if one of your nipples takes two hits you may need to make a very thin shim (easy) to seat it out a tad more. It is also possible that the nipple is thicker than the rest and doesn't let the cap fully seat onto the cone. First hit seats, second hit fires it. Check cap fit, if too snug you may be able to sand or thin the cone a little or just make that nipple the "open" uncapped chamber. Mark its chamber with a drop of white fingernail polish on the outside of the cylinder.
 
The one that takes two hits doesn't let the caps seat down quite as low as the others do even with a stupid firm push from the seating stick. So in this case I'm pretty sure it's the nipple taper is just too big. Just gotta get done with a couple of other little projects then the Remmie's nipples are next up for examination using a guage I'm going to make up. Not sure if I'll just mark it as the "leave empty" chamber or remove it altogether as one BP shooter does with his "no load" chamber. I also found that a .38Spl casing drops into the no load and sits high enough that a ball will not fit down onto the lip. Makes an excellent reminder marker for the no load that just drops out easily with no problems.
 
I have one of these and it is a fine crafted revolver. In my opinion, the design is superior in all respects to a Colt open top.

Be aware the front sight is tall, that way you can file the thing down to exact point of impact. The front is also drift adjustable.
 
My wife and I just got back from the range. It's an amazing gun! Thanks for the advice about the hammer: when the new nipples come in I'll do my best to fit it correctly.

I've been hoping to find a spare cylinder to make shooting at the range with small groups a little more fun, but my internet searching so far hasn't turned up anything. Are there any non-internet based sources I might try and call?
 
Yeesh, that's pretty steep, but I guess we don't have any other choice! The gun was a gift to my wife and she can't wait to let her friends try it. Of course, for that amount of money I might as well just get a gun for myself too. :p
 
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