Range report Pietta '58 NMA with 5-1/2" barrel

[Voodoochile]

Well my friends this weekend has been very good to me.
Saturday I went to the Archery club to sling some arrows at some 3D targets & then help take em down, then I proceeded to go to the pistol range to really get to know my Sheriff’s Remy.
Today was back to the pistol range with a squeaky clean gun to make sure that what my conclusion from yesterday is a 100% accurate deal with my new best friend..

My friend this afternoon has verified some things, a sigh of a relief, & a very happy customer of a Conical bullet to finish this off.

The $80.00 spent & research prior to was well worth it because the Reamer that I had gotten from Manson Reamers did the trick in bringing the groups together & enabling me to see the greatest potential this little revolver can achieve.

After 120 rounds of .457 143gr. Balls & 90 rounds of .456 220gr. conical, over a pound of Goex FFFG & a little more than 2 tins of Remington #11's I have established that it likes a 30gr. load for each bullet, it definitely does not like a wad under the ball & that the Lee Liquid Alox that I lubed some of my conical gave me the best grouping & surprisingly not too bad in clean up between cylinders with it.

Ballistics:
Chronograph was placed 10' in front of the muzzle to get these results.

Bullet = .457 143 grain Cast Round Ball.
Powder = Goex FFFg black powder.
Primer = Remington #11
5-1/2” Barrel Average Ballistics.
40gr. Volume = 916 fps. 266 ft. Lbs. 5.5” group @ 20 yards & Violent.
35gr. Volume = 838 fps. 222 ft. Lbs. OK punch with 4” grouping @ 20 yards.
30gr. Volume = 754 fps. 180 ft. Lbs. little recoil with 2.5” grouping @ 20 yards.
25gr. Volume = 667 fps. 141 ft. Lbs. almost not there but with having to use a wad my groups opened up to 3.2" @ 20 yards.

Bullet = .456 220 grain Cast Lee conical bullet.
Powder = Goex FFFg black powder.
Primer = Remington #11
5-1/2” Barrel Average Ballistics.
35gr. Volume = 745 fps. 270 ft. lbs. No room, Violent, & 5” grouping @ 20 yards.
30gr. Volume = 672 fps. 220 ft. lbs. Recoil OK, Decent group of 3” @ 20 yards.

I never tried a lighter charge with the conical.

Yesterday I did not take any pictures but today I did & this is from my last 2 cylinders with the .456 220gr. conical from 10 & then at 20 yards, I aimed dead on at 10 yards & shot #4 turned the box so ofcorse shot #5 I had to try & turn it back again when I swapped cylinders & moved to 20 yards I aimed a little lower so to keep the 2 shots separate & they were shot using a 2 hand hold standing.

I pulled these out of my box today where they struck packed magazines.

 

[scrat]

Nice range report very nice. now you have to write up a full report on what and how you did that reamer. i am still interested

 

[Voodoochile]

Nice range report very nice. now you have to write up a full report on what and how you did that reamer. i am still interested

Ah well that wasn't too hard once I talked to Rifle here.

One of the spare cylinders was centered in the bore nearly perfect but the other two "including the orriginal cylinder" was slightly off when locked up, just a little to the right & low were the chambers in relation to the bore when I looked at them through the bore with my light which was my initial thought as to why I wasn't getting decent accuracy from it but after Slugging the bore & the chambers I found that what I had could also contribute to the issue as well.

Lands = .4400
Groves = .4495
Chambers = .4460 - .4465

One of the tings he told me was to have the Pilot just 1/2" deep so as to have the forward portion of the chambers reamed but still have about 1/2" of un-reamed area for the powder chamber at a resonable light charge which after I was done is 27 grains, below that I'll need a filler of some sort to keep the ball/bullet from contacting the unreamed area.

I contacted David Manson of Manson Reamers & sent him one of my cylinders, a check for $80.00 & the corresponding info as to what I needed to get this reamed at .4510.

The rest is well reaming the chambers out by hand & ofcorse some range time...

 

[1858rem]

howdy! super nice looking pistol. i was wondering how you got the 220g lee into a 58' when you replied to my post earlier but this really explains a lot. i really need to get a crony myself for better testing. very nice gun though. is the ram arm shorter? would that make it any harder to load with less leverage?

 

[Voodoochile]

No I've left the ram the standard lenght & the shortened lever isn't too bad to use for loading, I guess after 22 years of being an Auto Mechanic has made my hands a little tough but really it isn't that bad.

It actually loads the 220gr. Lee conicals quite easily "just as easy as the 200gr. ones before" you just have to position the bullet onto the chamber under the ramer because of how close the frame is in relation to the cylinder.
The first band of the conical is -.003 smaller than the chamber & slips in with practically no effort & the second band being just .001 smaller than my chambers can be pushed into them with thumb pressure but the last band requires the ram & it does cut a nice thin ring of lead off as it is seated into the chamber.

 

[1858rem]

hows that reamed cylinder holdin up? how thick were the walls after you reamed the chambers?d like to shoot those 220s, maybe ill give this a try on my spare cylinder later

 

[Voodoochile]

Well the first time I took it out after I had reamed the chambers I purposly loaded as much Pyrodex that I can get into the chambers & a .457 ball over top "42gr. to be exact" to see if it'll have any stress issues & after 3 concecutive cylinders "18 shots" I was sattisfied that it would hold up under normal use.
I tested all 3 cylinders the same way & so far after even about 160 rounds of my 220gr. conicals @ up to 35gr. FFFG Goex it is still going strong.

I'll have to get my micrometer from work to measure the chamber to chamber thickness where it is the thinnest to tell you that "I'll do that tomorow."

 

[1858rem]

pretty cool... when i first ordered, well planning the order anyhow for my bullet mold, i really wanted the 220, but lee only listed rem under the 200. it would be cool to be able to use a whole nother range of projectiles, two rb sizes, two conical weights and those buffalo bullets cabellas sells(160g i think) not to mention shot loads too. maybe even a slightly better pattern due to increased chamber capacity, wouldnt be much... but it could be the difference of the next size up in buckshot