question about brass frame revolvers

[midland man]

I own a 1858 Remington brass frame made by pietta and I was wondering if the barrel/cylinder gap should be tighter plus are these worth having tuned up or anything done to them to make them good shooters or are they junk? thanks!

 

[rodwha]

They are only junk if you'd want to use more than ~20 grns of powder with a ball as the frame cannot take too much stress and will stretch over time.

To me it would be junk as I'll use mine for hunting and require a certain amount of performance. Mine does well with 30 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford or Triple 7 powder and my 195 grn bullet. This ought to get me into the .45 ACP spectrum.

I've read of one guy who started shooting matches with a pair of brass framed guns and did well with them.

 

[BCRider]

If it's a .36 you don't really need to tone down the load. 15 to 20 grains is what they normally use anyway and that much is going to be fine on the frame.

If it's a .44 then you really want to keep it down to 20gns of powder. And at that amount it's quite likely that you'll need some sort of over powder filler or maybe TWO lube wads to ensure you have enough lever stroke to seat the ball on the load and avoid an air gap.

 

[Hellgate]

Midland Man,
What rodwha said. The brassers aren't so much junk but repeated heavy loads cause the back of the cylinder to pound into the recoil shield creating denting of the brass that allows the cylinder to travel a little bit further each time it is fired to pound the indentation a little bit deeper. After several hundred or thousand rounds there will be excessive cylinder gap but more due to the recess pounded into the recoil shield than to actual stretching of the frame. The Colt brassers are even worse. You not only get the much thinner recoil ring pounded inward but the cylinder pin threads can get stretched and allow the cylinder pin and barrel to migrate forward. That lets the cylinder slam back more so than with the Remingtons and ruining the Colts even faster. If the recoil ring on a Colt gets beaten back far enough the caps can contact the recoil shield and cause chain fires. My suspicion on rear chainfires is they mostly (if not all ) occur on brass Colts rather than steel framed guns. I really doubt that flame can get under a snug cap but if the nipple is smacking the recoil shield, look out!

 

[midland man]

yep mine is a 44 caliber but I wished I also owned a 36 caliber just to have the smaller caliber to play with.

 

[Crawdad1]

I own a 1858 Remington brass frame made by pietta and I was wondering if the barrel/cylinder gap should be tighter plus are these worth having tuned up or anything done to them to make them good shooters or are they junk? thanks!

While not junk I wouldn't put anymore money into it. Save your money and buy a steel framed revolver. There is a lot more you can do with a steel framed revolver than a brass frame.

 

[BigHunt 1981]

OK, I am going to basically disagree with everyone and everything you have ever heard about brass framed revolvers. I think their reputation for weakness and frame stretching comes from the earlier generations of replicas made in the 1970's or so. I have observed some of those that seemed to have soft brass and wide tolerances allowing the cylinder to beat up the frame.

I bought a 2002 manufactured Pietta 1851 "Navy" .44 Caliber Brass Frame used off of a guy one time that had a broken hand spring for $40.

I replaced the hand spring and began shooting the ever loving snot out of the gun. I had very little in it and thought I would just see how many rounds it would take to shake it loose.

I used 40 Grains of black powder and a round ball, 30 grains of black powder and a 230 grain conical, 50 grains of Pyrodex and a round ball and 40 grains of Pyrodex and a 230 grain conical. The Pyrodex loads were very compressed with the 50 grain charge almost level with the top of the cylinder before seating the ball!

I would go long periods of time before cleaning it by simply spraying it down with generic WD-40 and wrapping it in a plastic bag before sliding it back in the holster. I fired it over 100 shots without cleaning it beyond wiping the residue off the cylinder sides and face occasionally.

I fired probably 400-500 shots through the revolver before a guy saw me wearing it in town after coming in from the deer woods during black powder season. I had just bought a steel frame version just like it used for $125, he offered me $150 for it as it sat, I took it out of the holster and handed it to him still capped and loaded as he handed over the cash.

When I sold it, it was just as tight and solid as the day I bought it 2 years and several hundred rounds later. The frame showed no signs of peening, looseness, or stretching whatsoever. Looking back I wish I would have kept it, as the steel framed gun that replaced it is not nearly as accurate.

I wouldn't hesitate to have that gun back, or another similar one of recent manufacture. Brass frames don't scare me a bit!

 

[Hellgate]

I think you were lucky. I've heard testimonials like that before and have no reason to doubt that they are true. I have only so far, seen (maybe) one steel frame Colt shot loose and about a half dozen brass Colts and one Remington too loose to be shootable. I haven't seen enough newly made brass frames to see if they are getting peened or loose so maybe they did add a little hardener to the brass. That would be great. I have two older brass 44 Colt styles (Piettas) that I only shoot 20grs + ball and they are showing no wear after several hundred rounds. A buddy shoots brass Sheriff models in Cowboy matches. I'll take a close look at his guns next time I see him. His are pretty new.

 

[dickydalton]

I sure am glad for you. I bought a pieta 1851 44 in 2012 that had cylinder dents in the frame after less than 200 rounds at 30 grains or less of 3F Goex.
I cut the barrel down and made an "Avenging Angel" out of it.
I have a Dragoon that shoots 50 grains and a ball but if you try that in a brasser please warn everyone around you. 4-500 rounds.....

Lucky doesn't describe it at all.

 

[ZVP]

Brassers have some unique trqits. Like ttheey're VERY smooth opweaters de to the inherant lubricity of brass vs steel which have very low friction!
You EVER want to exceed 20 Gran loadss with a .44 cal or even load a .36 past a powder charge exceeding that. Too hard onthe soft Braass and it will strerc the frame/cylinder gap.
I figgure WHY harm a fine shooting revolver??? .
There are plenty of steel framed revolvers out there to charge heavilly if a guy wants. Accuracy-wise they compete well with custom tumed steel fraes. See, I'm not one to hrm a fine shooting revolver for fun!
Find a nice brasser keep it clean,lubed and shoot light lods!
ZVP

 

[grter]

Well I do know brass is not steel.