I shot my Pietta 1858 Army, after being left loaded since summer of 2008.

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colonelhogan44

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And after 4 years, all six chambers fired off without a hitch. There was no rust or any other damage after breaking it down and inspecting it.

I will not hesitate to leave the chambers loaded for extended periods of time.

I also got to shoot my new 1851 Navy. It's a joy to handle and shoot, but seems to jam with caps much more easily than the Remington.
 
I left a ASP 1860 army loaded with Pyrodex for 2 years. Load was 28 gr. with a dry felt wad and a 200gr. LEE conical and CCI #10s. Every chamber went off fine. Only problem it was like popcorn pharts with hardly any recoil at all. I reloaded with fresh Pyrodex (same load) and it was about twice as loud and recoiled twice as much. If I'm gonna leave one loaded for any length of time, from now on I'll just use real black powder.
 
Mine went off with a resounding BOOM and I felt no difference between that 4 year old cylinder and the next one I loaded with fresh components.

I live in the desert southwest, so again, YMMV.
 
It'll actually hold a touch more, maybe around 55. My powder flask throws 25 grain shots, and I found 25 to be anemic, so 50 it was.
 
Well, dang. Now, I'm gonna have to load up a cylinder full of 50 grains of fff and lead balls, just to see how it shoots. I've loaded about 38 grains in my 5.5" Pietta NMA and it was FUN.
Now, you have me wondering how much fff or ffff I can cram under a ball in my ROA.
50 or 60 grains would be like shooting a Walker, only lighter and stronger.
You could drill a deer with that. I'd love to see the look on my hunting buddy's face when I take a deer with that.
 
I keep my 1851 Navy loaded in a stand on my bedside table. It always can get a conversation started when people see it. They are even more amazed to know that it is loaded & can step on the back deck & fire a few rounds without fail.

I've had mine loaded for almost 4 years without firing it & it still went bang on all 6 trigger pulls. I also use Pyrodex P though I only load up to 24 grains & I use Remington or CCI caps, whichever I can find at the time & they both work well.

Also a little tip. Give the caps a slight squeeze on the ends then use a capper to put them on the nipples. They will stay on without fail. It might not hurt to make sure there is no fouling on the nipples also as that can cause the caps not to seat properly when you put them on.
 
I have a 58 44 Remmie but my max is 40 grains with a wad. You're not using a wad I could see that. I,m shooting with another guy that hs a 70's Spanish 44 that will load at 35 grains with a wad. The chambers are about 1/8" shorter. Using GOEX
 
Jaymo,

It is fun. It feels like a 44 magnum, and I can keep the balls on a 6 inch bulls eye at 25 yards, so it's not too bad. 50 grains is within 1-2mm of the top of the cylinder, and the balls sit 1-2mm below the surface when fully seated.

When I was a college student out in Texas, I'd drive alone from California to East Texas and back twice a year. At the time I was not yet 21, so I could not buy a "real" handgun, so I originally bought it for double use:

1.) I wanted some protection against carjackers and other human scum on the drive and in cheap motels.

2.) The Piney woods of East Texas were full of wild hogs. I was not going to hesitate to go out in search of them with that load. It's barks and hits with authority.

I'm sure I'll wear that gun out prematurely, but it'll be a fun ride! :D :D :D
 
Here's a video from when I was sighting in in 2008. I ended up taking half the front sight off with a file to get it to hit on target at 25 yards. This load was a level 44 mag shell full of Pyrodex P, so a little bit less than 50 grains.

 
colonelhogan44,

Please throw a charge and weigh it. I prefer to weigh charges of powder when working loads.
 
Hello all, actually he may not be to far off,[using a cylinder stand] i can easily put 40 grains of pyro 3f and a little cornmeal on top and when i seat the ball its still about 3/16 inch in, so with no cornmeal you can come very close to 50 grains, keep in mind pyro compressies more easily than real blackpowder, rich
 
I was under the impression that all BP and substitutes were measure by volumetric grains. Pyrodex is much lighter than real black for a given volume, so I'm sure it would weigh out to less than 50 grains. I do have some FFg real black, though. I'll grab my reload ping scale at some point and weigh two shots of it.
Me
 
Colonel, you are an amazing person; and I'm in awe of your strength of character.

I've never kept either of my NMA's loaded for more than 15-20 minutes, tops. Once I've shaved those "little fingernails" off the sides of .454 round balls while sending them home in their respective chambers; the temptaion to send them downrange is just too much for my weak resolve. Boom, boom... repeat two more times. Take a deep breath of the residual smoke, aaaaahhhhhh.

Yes, it's a sickness with no cure; only waiting for the next fix.
If'n I didn't have those d*mned expensive cayuse's; I'd probably own more BP firearms than Jim in West PA! Inspected my S&W 629 the other day, the cartidges were GREEN! Can't remember the last time I shot it.
My cost to feed them critters (right now, it'll go up as the temperature drops) works out to: ONE (1) NMA on sale at Cabela's = 24 bales of alfalfa/grass mix. Divided by 3 horses, that works out to: Six (6) weeks' feed = one NMA with two bales left over.
With that kind of money burnin' a hole in my pocket, I might could even break down and try one of those 1860 Colts that's missing the top part of the frame...
Dang horses!




I STILL can't figure out how you managed to keep a BP revolver loaded for FOUR YEARS without shootin' it. Just boggles the mind. :confused:
 
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colonelhogan44 said:
I was under the impression that all BP and substitutes were measure by volumetric grains. Pyrodex is much lighter than real black for a given volume, so I'm sure it would weigh out to less than 50 grains. I do have some FFg real black, though. I'll grab my reload ping scale at some point and weigh two shots of it.
Me
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My mistake, for some reason I thought you were using black powder. Since I have noe reason to use a substitute powder, I withdraw my request.

As for the volume versus weighed cahrges. There are lots of theories for each. With black powder, I weigh charges when finding a load and then make a measure to throw that same weight.
 
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