Conversion Cylinders???

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So I am a proud owner of a new Pietta 1858 Remmie and I am about to start looking into the cartridge conversion cylinder.

Already a handloader for 45-70 so light loads and density issues are not new to me.

Trail-Boss is one I like to use...what are a few other powders that come up for lots of use? Unique? AA#2?


D
 
There are a few powder out there that will produce the lower pressures ..I`ve always stayed with the TrailBoss powder for my conversion cylinders ..I like the way it fills the large 45 case better , makes for more consistant shots .
 
one other question there sundance.


Plated bullets? Do you use Berry's plated bullets in these? I ask as I am not sure what kind of leading I might run into. I use jacketed bullets in my 45-70 and 30 WCF to help clean out some of the leading that might be in there. I am fairly certain that jacketed bullets would be a no-no in a cap-n-ball conversion.

D
 
No Jacketed bullets ...lead bullets only for the conversion cylinders ..your barrels are made for lead bullets ..I use Oregon Trail laser cast 250 gr bullets Round Nose Flat Point ..You`ll need the flat pointed bullet so that when seated they will not stick out to far and jam up the cylinder turning .
I use round ball lead to cast 45/70 bullets for hunting and wheel weight lead for target shooting ..The wheel weight lead is so hard it won`t expand in a white tail deer and he`ll run a hundred yards before he knows he`s hit ..the round ball lead lets him know he`s hit when he`s hit , it will expand the size of a quarter .
 
Never was into BP shooting, although I've done it with borrowed guns.

But I picked up a Uberti replica .44 1858 Remington just because it was pretty and started to do some research on it.

I found out you could buy a conversion cylinder for .45 Colt for the "Remmy" and purchased an R & D cylinder from Midway. This would allow me to fire it at an indoor range, as someone else mentioned.

Some minor fitting was necessary.

For comparison's sake, I did some more reseach on the .45 Colt with respect to reloading to Cowboy Action Level reloads. Cowboy Action Loads are the maximum intensity cartridges recommended for the R & D .45 Colt conversion cylinder.

The only Cowboy Action loading information I had was from the Hogdgon manual, but based on that, and using HP-38 (the only Hogdgon powder I have on hand), I compared .45 Colt Cowboy Action reloads from the manual, factory .357, and .45ACP loads as follows:

.45 ACP-----230gr-----850 f/s----369 ft-lb

.357 Mag-----158gr-----1220 f/s-----522 ft-lb

.45 Colt (CAL)-----200gr-----1002 f/s-----446 ft-lb
(CAL = "Cowboy Action Load")

44 cap&ball-----138gr lead ball-----725 f/s -----161 ft-lb
(^ This is the more or less "standard" Black Powder load.)

It would appear that even the lowly Cowboy Action level load in .45 Colt caliber lies right between the .45 ACP and the .357 loads. These latter two loads are reputed to be the two best stopping rounds available.

I realize it may not be fair to compare a specialized .45 Colt REload to factory .357s and .45 ACPs, but it just shows what can be done with the .45 Colt, even at low-level loadings.

I was impressed, to say the least.

Note I have not actually tried this Cowboy Action load since I haven't been able to find 200gr bullets in sample quantities --what seems to be available locally is only 500 rd boxes of them.

Standard disclaimers apply with respect to liability.
 
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I just received the two conversion cylinders for my pair of Ruger Old Army revolvers, neither one fit! I have contacted R&D to try and find out if any permanent alterations will have to be made to the pistol frame in order for them to work. If so, than I am sending them back.

I found the cheepest price @ Buffalo Arms.
 
I got one of the conversion cylinders to fit, just a little adjusting. But now when I cock the hammer, it only lines up with the firing pin if I do it very slowly. This is not going to work well when the timer is running. Any suggestions?
 
Does it want to stop short of locking in the notch (failure to carry up) or over shoot the notch, when you cock the hammer quickly?
 
After having read this thread, among the others here; believe will stick with the Krist converter. Should it happen, know that my best day firing "under pressure" is, generally, going to be worse than the worst day without any. That's always when mistakes seem to get made. And, I’ve made some darned handsome errors, while under no particular pressure, at all.

Biggest reason for checking into the R&D converter was that it holds six cartridges, for the '58 Remington, instead of the five one can pack into the Krist converter. But, so as to avoid doing something personally stupid, there’d have to be an empty chamber left, in my R&D Cylinder, anyway. Yes, I know about the safety notches. Remember, personally stupid was mentioned – know what I’m capable of.

Forget to count shots fired a few times, hit an empty chamber, and I understand those R&D firing pins can give up the ghost (getting jammed). Doing that once, a feller is already down to five usable rounds. Unless, of course, one can call "Time Out" and fix the problem. Druther watch cartoons.

Understand that the Krists are available in LC and APC flavors, these days, too. I, sometimes, find myself a slave to such versatility.

No, I do not work for the company, whose converters are favored, here. In fact, my order hasn’t, yet, even arrived. Proving, if nothing else, that a feller can pretty much talk himself into anything.

Old Fluff - My pardons for having stepped upon your question.
 
Its over shooting, meaning that it is going to far to the right and the hammer will not strike the firing pin. It works great if I go slowly, but with any speed it goes to far.
 
Remove the mainspring and grip frame. Then check to be sure the coil spring & plunger that put tension on the hand are in place, and that the spring isn't kinked. Also that the little mousetrap (cylinder latch) spring is correctly assembled and hooked into the hole in the frame.

It sounds like the cylinder is spinning ahead of the hand as it pushes on the ratchet. When you slowly cock the hammer everything is fine, but when you speed-cock the hammer the hand spins the cylinder ahead of it. Both the hand and the cylinder latch should act as a brake. When they don't it's usually because of a bent, broken or weak spring.
 
I have converted an Uberti remme with the R&D 45 colt drop in cylinder, and a Pietta remme with a 38 special Kirst Konverter.

I had to file a little on thr forcing cone of the Uberti to get thr R&D to fit. I think this is due to the Uberti being one of the Melennium models. I only had to remove about 1/32 of metal. The conversion works fine, and really shoots good.:)

The easiest conversion was the Kirst. The kirst differs in that it has only ONE firing pin. Its also got a groove cut for the hand which makes removal and instalation no problem at all. :D

The benefit of the kirst is its a bit safer to handle when loaded and out of the gun. The R&D could easily discharge multiple times if dropped due to its exposed firning pins.:eek:

One word of advice, if considering a conversion, forget about the 36cal to 38 special conversions. Shooting hollwbased wads works but not very well. Helled bullets can work but are a mess to deal with. :banghead:

If you MUST convert a 36, get the R&D gated cylinder, and send ithe gun to R&D to have the barrel sleeved to .357.

If you have a Kirst Konverted 36, I'm sorry but R&D wont sleeve your barrel.:cuss:

Over all I love the Kirst product, fit and finish is awsome, and quality is top notch. Its also easier to use than the R&D.

The R&D however is more historically accurate, and is also a very good product. I have both and use both, and I may buy another R&D to save a few bucks.
 
Noticed, on Krist’s Accessories page, that extra cylinders are offered – without the converter rings – at a lower price. The conversion rings are offered separately, as well.

My question: Does this mean that the same conversion ring can be used on different cylinders?
 
The fireing pin ring is the same on the Remington just some cylinders are longer than others ..Pietta longer than Uberti ..I have more cylinders than fireing pin rings myself , I just swap them out with the different model cylinders .
 
Appreciate hearing that. It's, exactly, the answer I was hoping for. This is turning out to be even more enjoyable than I thought it would.
 
Old Fuff, thanks for that advice, but here is the situation. My Ruger OA's are brand new, never even been fired at all. My cap and ball cylinder functions flawlessly. It has to be a problem with the R&D.

I contacted Buffalo Arms today, and am sending both of them back. One does not fit, the other does not function properly. R&D can fir them, but it could involve a permanent modification to my revolvers, which then means the C&B cylinders may nut function properly. SO much for drop in cylinders as advertised!
 
I had a R&D for an 1860 Colt Uberti. The individual firing pins in the R&D hung up on the backplate as it rotated. I had to dremel a sizeable groove in the backplate to get it to work. Plug & play? NOT! I kept it for a while and sold the whole package.

For my 58 Remmie, I have a Kirst converter - IMHO a thoroughly superior converter design, A single stationary firing pin - worked great right out of the box. For me, it's a keeper!

v/r

Rangerdog
 
Rangerdog - See, by the numbers, that you're fairly new around here. Yep, nothin' gets by me. Welcome to the forum! :D

Have to agree with you, about the Krist. To be honest, 'Ve never even owned an R&D cylinder - went straight to Krist. Hadn't mentioned it, before, but the thing dropped right into my '58 , like they were soul mates.

Have another '58 coming in. When it does, Believe will get another Krist, as well. Plan to try out the ACP converter, this time - just for the extra versatility in ammo possibilities. Like the idea of C&B, .45LC, and .45ACP; all able to be handled by the same iron.
 
does anyone know if the 45acp would work out of the 45 colt conversion, i know the Schofield will work, but they are just as hard to get locally as lc brass lol an im looking for something to try my new cylinder out with, which btw i got the 45lc conversion w/loading gate and i just finished the porting this afternoon got the blueing done an all that and am pretty excited, looks real cool pretty proud of my work:neener::D
 
an the funny thing is when i put in my order for the reloading stuff, i took off the pack of 100 starline lc brass cause i thought i had a few people to get some brass from but that doesn't seem to be happening lol so im gonna order up anyhow, is starline gonna be suitable fo reloading ~750fps & 255g rnfp's at the very least ten times, or would another brand be recommended? i been weighing it out... i could spend 40 bucks plus 20+bucks gas money and have a box of fifty today, or save it and have about 300 brass new, but no time to shoot till next friday lol:banghead:



then again if i got the 300 cases, me and my lee classic loader would maybe be getting 300 rds of new brass loaded by friday:D
 
Starline is excellent brass and will hold any published load you put in it. I don't keep track of how many times I've loaded my brass, but new Starline should last 10 loadings. I occasionally have a split case, which is obvious from the lack of resistance in the resizing die. Brass usually fails because of the stretching that occurs when fired (obduration is the correct term, I think). The brass is resized and returned to original dimension in the sizing die. This repeated "working" of the brass eventually weakens the case walls and a split occurs. I have an 1866 rifle with a slightly oversized chamber. I suspect that many of my split cases were fired in the rifle.
 
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