On the workbench this weekend

[kBob]

OK. Assuming it works that Rammer latch to the cylinder pin is ingenius!

Great (standard for you but great for anyone else) Work!!!!

Sadly, I can only hit the like button once per post.

-kBob

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

OK. Assuming it works that Rammer latch to the cylinder pin is ingenius!

Great (standard for you but great for anyone else) Work!!!!

Sadly, I can only hit the like button once per post.

-kBob

Thanks- I've used it before and it works great. It's a variation of the plunger-style retainer I came up with for my first 'Bulldogged' Remington.

 

[bannockburn]

Tinker

Love the new Bisleyesque grip shape and those beautiful wood grips on it!

 

[Monster Zero]

Here's what's on the bench this weekend. This is an Armi San Marco 1858 Remington being converted to .44 Colt. I've lengthened and reshaped the grip-frame to mimic a Colt Bisley, lowered the hammer spur, converted a stock cap-and-ball cylinder for cartridges, made the breech plate from half-hard 4140 steel, bored it through and fabricated a rebounding firing pin and installed it. I've cut a loading port in the blast shield on the frame, installed a new barrel and modified the rammer. The hand was pretty soft and well worn, so I made a new one out of some scrap 5160 spring-steel.



Next I need to build the latch for the rammer, which now functions only to retain the cylinder pin, make a set of custom grips, make and install a front sight, then strip the gun and rust-blue it. Lot of work left, but with the gun functional and capable of firing the hard part is done.



BTW, this uses the original .44 Colt, not the cartridge that goes by that name today. This gets loaded with .451 heel-base bullets in the .44 case. You can see the ring from the collet-crimp die on the cartridge in the first photo. There are a couple of specialty ammunition loaders that offer this cartridge, but they're expensive as hell, so I load my own.

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That's pretty cool.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

I looked up Buffalo Bullets, but it looks like they are making anything now. Buffalo Bullet Industries in Nevada is what I found in a web search. I am intrigued with those bullets. Did you buy them or did you cast them yourself? If I could find some heeled bullets for 44 Colt already cast I could move ahead with my Richards Conversion project. I need my bullets to be at least .451 in diameter, the ones I cast are smaller than that and do not engage the rifling very well. What diameter are your bullets?

Also, I did not notice the cool spring latch you incorporated into your 1858 conversion. How does it work?

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I bought the Buffalo Bullets- they were in the clearance bin at Pinto's. The latch works great- I simply took the latch and spring from the tip of the loading lever and installed it where you see, then carefully cut a notch for it in the end of the cylinder pin.

 

[StrawHat]

Howdy Again ... I need my bullets to be at least .451 in diameter...

Have you considered using a mold for gas checked bullets? There are a couple of them available in the 200 grain range that was common in the 44 Colt.

Kevin