New Gun Once-Over

[aprayinbear]

Well I finally placed an order for Pietta's Remington 1858 from Cabelas (the sale ends 3/2, so order soon if you want to get one for the sale price.) This is my first BP revolver (although I've shot them before) and I'm really excited to say the least. So here's my question. I understand that sometimes the guns need a bit of tuning to get them up to speed. What do I need to look for on the Remington? I'm not too concerned about cosmetics, but I want the action to be as smooth as possible. I plan on shooting it often which I understand is a good way to help smooth any rough edges.

All Suggestions Welcome!

 

[BHP FAN]

There's a screw on the inside curve of the grip below the trigger guard.This controls the hammer tension.You can get a lighter trigger and hammer pull just by adjusting this.Although there is no direct pressure on the trigger via this screw,adjusting it will give you less felt resistance via the hammer tension.

 

[mykeal]

I'm not sure I understand the term hammer tension; the screw on the Remington grip adjusts mainspring load, which is probably what you are referring to. However, in a single action gun adjusting the mainspring force has little effect on trigger break. The mainspring load is what holds the sear in the notch, but until you get to a very weak load the force on the trigger required to pull the sear out of the notch is pretty constant.

The procedure to 'smooth' up the action on a single action revolver, especially one of the Italian replicas, is to first disassemble the action and thoroughly clean and oil the parts. During this process one can use a needle file and/or a stone to remove any obvious burrs and flashing, but this really should be done very carefully, with a minimum of metal removal. Reassemble the gun and shoot on the order of a hundred rounds to get the action parts thoroughly working together. You can disassemble and clean the action during this process but don't do any filing or stoning. Once the hundred rounds are fired take the action apart and carefully stone all the 'worn' areas - all the locations where the parts have been rubbing against each other. Again, you're trying to remove burrs and other friction elements, so be cautious not to overdo this. The trigger sear is one place where an absolute minimum, if any, of metal should be removed. This is the location that has the most effect on trigger break force, and overdoing it can result in an unsafe trigger. Reassemble and oil and you should have a nice, smooth action at that point.

Give some thought to purchasing some spare action parts; they're inexpensive and yet priceless if you overdo the stoning or one breaks from usage. Shipping is often more than the part itself, so ordering a full set of spares is worthwhile.

 

[madcratebuilder]

in a single action gun adjusting the mainspring force has little effect on trigger break. The mainspring load is what holds the sear in the notch, but until you get to a very weak load the force on the trigger required to pull the sear out of the notch is pretty constant.

I disagree with you on that. The sear/hammer engagement is a positive angle, or should be. You reduce the main spring force, you reduce the force required to disengage the sear. It is the basic premise of most SA 'trigger kits'.
An accurate trigger pull gauge well show this. It's not how I would lighten the trigger pull, but it does work. The de-burring and polishing of the internal parts, and stoning when required is the best approach.

 

[BHP FAN]

mykeal,you're right ,if the owner is a competent SA pistolsmith.I've been messing around in the internals of various and sundry sixguns for over thirty years,but it's awfully easy for a new owner to create an unsafe sear [top of the trigger in our example] engagement,and I don't recommend it for beginners.Like madcratebuilder said,reduceing the mainspring force does work,and it has the advantage that if you go too far,you can simply reverse the tension screw to fix the problem ... which will be at the worst,an unfired cap,without haveing to replace and refit parts,a task again,I don't recommend for the beginner.As far as deburring the internals,and polishing the trigger spring to reduce the chance of breakage,yes,I did that in the 70's and 80's,but now we have Wolff springs,and you simply replace the crude flatsprings with the Wolff, if you want to do a serious 'tune-up'.

 

[mykeal]

At one point we were all a bit shy of being competent SA pistolsmiths, and we learned by doing. I didn't have the internet to guide me, so I practiced on 'beaters' and talked to the few experienced people I could find. Those 'old guys' were very willing to help and were invaluable. But if I had waited to become a competent SA pistolsmith before I started, I'd never have learned.

I have little patience with those who say, "Don't teach the new guy any of your skills, because they might hurt themselves." I'd much rather say, "Here's how you do this, and here's the part that you need to be careful with or bad things happen." I think I did that.

And I use Heinie wire springs.