Questions and advice about the 1858 Rem.

[Beartracker]

OK, I love my Pietta Remington's and have owned them for years. I hear all the complaints and how there are better one's out there but here are the facts as I see them.The Uberti is not much better from what I've heard and seen. My buddy bought two of them thinking he would out class me and guess what... I had to do alot of tuning work on them also. The finish was a little better but that's about all. We all know you can get a jewl or a lemon from any product on the market today. I'm not complaining because I enjoy fine tuning these guns and getting a smooth action is a hobby to me , not work.
If Remington was to produce these guns again they would cost more than most new revolvers on market today and I can't afford the price of an original in shooting shape so I don't have a big choice. It's really not that hard to tune them at all if you have the time and a little know how. You can get the know how from good books and a lot of help on this form, The time you have to find on your own
Regarding useing grease or just wads or both has been tossed around alot on here and other forms. I wont go into what grease is better or what method is better. The right combination is up to you and what works best for your gun.
Some like to use a wad over the powder and grease over the ball. When ever this is mentioned someone chimes in and say's "You don't need both , I have used filler and a little grease over the ball for years and never had a chain fire" This is great!, But, some people don't use the grease over the ball with a wad to prevent chain fires, they do it to help keep there barrel and gun lubed between shots, they know the wad is enough to help stop chain fires.Some use the wad and grease because they feel safer, that's fine too.
My Remington like's grease on the cylinder rod or it gets a little stiff after about 4 cylinders. Only takes a second. I also like to smear a little grease on the star side of the cylinder to cut down on crud.
Now a couple of guy's on here have told me how to make "pills" out of lube to use in place of the wonder wad or any wad. Osage even took a pic of his bore so I could see how clean it atyed after being fired a bunch of time's useing the "pill". All I can say is WOW ! , can't wait to try these little suckers out.I just made about 200 of these "pills" and I'll try them out this weekend. One thing I love about sites like this is the willingness of the folks who offer there advice and ideas for other's to try.
Sorry for being so long winded, Mike

 

[Cap n Ball]

Never had a 'chainfire' but my understanding is that they are more likely to happen from the nipple due to loose caps that fall off un-noticed while firing.

 

[mec]

I am one of those that makes disgruntled sounds about Pietta from time to time but will say that they can make a good revolver when they want to. Your experiences support that.

The rest of your post is right on target too. Thanks

 

[Steam dragon]

What's this "pill" thing?!?

My old remmington.36 needs all the help it can get!

 

[Beartracker]

Sorry it took me so long to get back in this discussion. My IP provider was acting up for the past two weeks so I just finished connecting to a new one.

The chain fires from the nipple end is something I heard of too but all the books and instuction books with the gun say to cover the chambers to prevent chain fires. That's the way I have done it and no chain fires so far.Sure don't want one from either end!! My caps works great and stay on until they the hammer is cocked and it turns for the next round. I really don't believe that some people have the cap seated all the way and that's one of the reasons they fall off. I can use #10, #11 and my favorite #1075 and they all work well but the #1075 seems to fit perfect and it's a little hotter too. One thing I do is use a 6"x3/8" doll rod with a little piece of leather on the end to shove the caps all the way on the nipple.It sounds like it's dangerous but I have done it for years along some other folks I know and none of us have ever had one go off from shoving on down this way.Got the tip from one of the cowboy shooters on another site years ago.
I just couldn't wait for the range so I tried the "pill" out this afternoon and I was not impressed at all. When I first heard of this idea my concern was that the "pill" would contaminate the powder and I was right! With 35g of fffg and a wonder wad the gun goes BANG! But useing a "pill" over the powder all six chambers just went POP.Now it may be that I did something wrong here because others seem to really like them.
For folks that don't know the "pill" is a simple wad made from nothing but
your favorite lube and some Bees wax or canning wax to stiffin it up a little. You melt and pour it in a pan so that it's about 1/8" thick and then let it set up and cut wad size "pill" from that. Place it over the powder in place of a felt wad.Then load your ball. My problem was that my lube pill contaminated my powder when I squished it down from ramming the ball home. Like I said I may be doing it wrong but that's the way I understood to make and use them, Mike

 

[Poodleshooter]

Never had a 'chainfire' but my understanding is that they are more likely to happen from the nipple due to loose caps that fall off un-noticed while firing.

That's always irritated me. On my '58 they commonly pop off because the nipples are just a bit too large for #11 caps,inhibiting a good press fit. I turned down the nipple cones with a dremel in order to better fit the caps. Now they're a stiff press fit and while they'll come off being fired, they stay on quite well for the other shots.

The last few times I've shot, I didn't use a wad or grease in front, simply a slightly oversized ball. Accuracy wasn't very good though.

 

[Beartracker]

That's always irritated me. On my '58 they commonly pop off because the nipples are just a bit too large for #11 caps,inhibiting a good press fit. I turned down the nipple cones with a dremel in order to better fit the caps. Now they're a stiff press fit and while they'll come off being fired, they stay on quite well for the other shots.

The last few times I've shot, I didn't use a wad or grease in front, simply a slightly oversized ball. Accuracy wasn't very good though.

Poodleshooter, I agree about the nipples and like you I just polished mine but I did it with a drill press and a file. Also spent $6.00 each for a set of 12 only to find out they weren't much better than the originals that came with the gun. These were suaposed to be the best :banghead:
Now I can use any cap but it seems to like the #1075 the best. Next would be the remington #11 and then the #10's.
It takes very little work to get these guns to run as smooth and look as good as the best you can buy.
Over the years I have bought my share of modern guns and I can honestly say that they have all gone down hill over the past 30 years. The metal quality and workmanship really leave alot to be desired in the modern name brand gun's.
Smoothing up the hammer really helps too. After it's all smoothed up and the finish is like glass I like to case harden the hammer on all Remington reproductions.
Also making the trigger spring smaller as it tapers to the bottom of the grip area will give you a much nicer trigger pull. Just don't over do it or you can break the spring or make it to weak. By reducing this spring it makes the hammer fall just right on the cap so that it splits the cap instead of smashing it on the nipple. You just have to go slow and fire off a few caps as your working on it to see how it acts.
Another nice trick is to round the sharp edges of the cylinder right in the notch where the nipple fits in. This way it helps keep the cap from catching and holding when you turn the cylinder by cocking for the next shot it falls away cleanly. A dremmel works great for that job!, Mike