wittzo
Member
I got a Pietta replica of a '58 Remington in stainless with two extra cylinders a few months ago. I cast my own .457 balls using ribbon wheel weights I got for free from a local tire store. I use a Lee mold with a propane camp stove and an antique dipper.
I've shot my pistol more than 200 rounds..I use Triple 7 or Goex, usually 20-25 grains. 15 grains is a little too slow, 30+ grains makes the loading lever fly loose..(Make sure you have the screw on your powder measure good and tigh or it will slip from 20 grains to 40 without you knowing it, until you load the next set and find out why your lever was flying.)
I punch my own wads using a .45 wad cutter from Track of the Wolf out of 1/8" industrial extra firm felt from Duro Felt. I make my own lube using beeswax, paraffin, and lard, instead of tallow. I'm cheap..Thanks to Gatofeo for all those tips..the lube makes the soot wipe off with a paper towel, I only soak my pistol after I've shot all three cylinders twice..
Something weird happened the last time I soaked it, the stock hammer spring snapped. It wasn't due to rusting through, it just snapped. I fired six cylinders worth and I didn't know it had broken until I took the pistol out of the sink and the broken half was laying there. I ordered a replacement, but they were out of them, all they had were competition springs, so I tried one and it works fine, I can't tighten it as much as the stock spring or it unseats itself. After six cylinders, it's acting right, but I take it out of the pistol because it's lighter steel than the stock spring..I use lemon oil on the grip when I take it off for soaking.
Now I have added another interesting pistol to make a very unusual couple: a .62 double barrel smoothbore percussion pistol. It mic's out at .638". I use .60" balls I cast myself and I use 40 grains of FFG powder, but I'm going to bump it up to 45 and higher to see what works best. I also load it with 12 pellets of #1 buck and an ounce of birdshot..
It's not a Pedersoli Howdah pistol. I got it from Middlesex Trading Company. (http://www.middlesexvillagetrading.com/PDBC.SHTML) It only cost $350, it's made in India by the same guys who made the original Howdah pistols, so it's not really a replica.
I punch my own overpowder wads for it using a 3/4 gasket punch and card stock. I also made my own ramrod because the threads on the ramrod that came with it won't fit any accessory I've found so far..I use my homemade ramrod for ramming, but I use a CVA lifetime rod for bullet pulling and other serious stuff. The first time I loaded it, I found out how handy a ball screw is, since I loaded a ball on top of a birdshot load..I've also had to use a 1/8th" brass rod because I got distracted by one of my kids and ended up loading two balls into a cylinder once..I hammered the ball out by hammering on the powder after taking the nipple out. I was still able to fire the cylinder after the extra ball was taken out..Most of the time I use a loading stand.
I've shot my pistol more than 200 rounds..I use Triple 7 or Goex, usually 20-25 grains. 15 grains is a little too slow, 30+ grains makes the loading lever fly loose..(Make sure you have the screw on your powder measure good and tigh or it will slip from 20 grains to 40 without you knowing it, until you load the next set and find out why your lever was flying.)
I punch my own wads using a .45 wad cutter from Track of the Wolf out of 1/8" industrial extra firm felt from Duro Felt. I make my own lube using beeswax, paraffin, and lard, instead of tallow. I'm cheap..Thanks to Gatofeo for all those tips..the lube makes the soot wipe off with a paper towel, I only soak my pistol after I've shot all three cylinders twice..
Something weird happened the last time I soaked it, the stock hammer spring snapped. It wasn't due to rusting through, it just snapped. I fired six cylinders worth and I didn't know it had broken until I took the pistol out of the sink and the broken half was laying there. I ordered a replacement, but they were out of them, all they had were competition springs, so I tried one and it works fine, I can't tighten it as much as the stock spring or it unseats itself. After six cylinders, it's acting right, but I take it out of the pistol because it's lighter steel than the stock spring..I use lemon oil on the grip when I take it off for soaking.
Now I have added another interesting pistol to make a very unusual couple: a .62 double barrel smoothbore percussion pistol. It mic's out at .638". I use .60" balls I cast myself and I use 40 grains of FFG powder, but I'm going to bump it up to 45 and higher to see what works best. I also load it with 12 pellets of #1 buck and an ounce of birdshot..
It's not a Pedersoli Howdah pistol. I got it from Middlesex Trading Company. (http://www.middlesexvillagetrading.com/PDBC.SHTML) It only cost $350, it's made in India by the same guys who made the original Howdah pistols, so it's not really a replica.
I punch my own overpowder wads for it using a 3/4 gasket punch and card stock. I also made my own ramrod because the threads on the ramrod that came with it won't fit any accessory I've found so far..I use my homemade ramrod for ramming, but I use a CVA lifetime rod for bullet pulling and other serious stuff. The first time I loaded it, I found out how handy a ball screw is, since I loaded a ball on top of a birdshot load..I've also had to use a 1/8th" brass rod because I got distracted by one of my kids and ended up loading two balls into a cylinder once..I hammered the ball out by hammering on the powder after taking the nipple out. I was still able to fire the cylinder after the extra ball was taken out..Most of the time I use a loading stand.
