Range sessions with my new Pietta 1860 Army.

[Crawdad1]

These revolvers will definitely shot a great group when you use a very small load of powder and a filler of some kind.

Just look at that tiny load of powder he put in that big honkin Remington chamber. Now there you would need a filler of some kind. But, he shoots off a bench and all he is after is a group that he can win with.

 

[Crawdad1]

Did some more shooting with the Pietta 1860 Army over the last couple of weeks, lots of rain. The various loads I used are shown on the target. All shots are at 25 yards, barrel on sandbags with a two hand hold.

 

[Crawdad1]

I posted only some of the targets that I shot but nevertheless you can see I'm having a hard time getting this Pietta to tighten up its groups.

 

[Crawdad1]

The second load with the 454 ball, 25 grains of GOEX 3Fg and 3 Ox Yoke dry wads with Wonder Lube added is possibly the best load for this revolver, but it still isn't very consistent. I'm thinking that the load she possibly likes is a real light loading of maybe 10 to 15 grains and a filler of cream of wheat or cornmeal to tighten her groups up.

Compare the above targets to my Uberti repro at the same distance. She throws considerably tighter groups when she's clean but as it was hot yesterday the goop I was using (Wonder Lube) turned into the consistency of water and her barrel started to foul considerably and the group started to open up. That's the thing about the Uberti she fouls up pretty quickly if you don't use enough lube.

 

[Crawdad1]

Its a shame because I really like this Pietta revolver but she just isn't progressing very well with loads that I consider ethical to hunt. I know that 25 grains of GOEx 3Fg pushing a 140 grain 454 round ball really splatters groundhogs and other such critters so I'll stick with my Uberti because its so consistent with the heavier hunting loads.

 

[drobs]

Try 30gr, 1 wonder wad, bore butter on top of the wad, under the ball.

That was my tightest group - 21ft load.

25yds my group would probably look like yours.

 

[Mizar]

Crawdad, just a couple of quick questions: did you ream your cylinder chambers (after slugging the barrel) and did you check the barrel to frame fit?

 

[Crawdad1]

Hello Mizar, I didn't touch the chambers and only did a cursory check of the chamber to bore size, the redneck way by pushing a ball down the bore and comparing it to the chambers. Nothing there as the balls fit down in each chamber, tightly but they went in so the barrel isn't over bored as far as that type of testing can tell.

Hello Drobs, I tried the 30 grain and 32 1/2 grain load with one and two wads but the results were again dismal I should have taken a picture of those also. But I think this revolver as strong as it needs to go the other way and shoot pip squeak loads to get any grouping at all.

 

[Crawdad1]

I'll see if I have the targets and post them. The original posts were not the Pietta as a friend pointed out and I deleted those targets. Did a lot of shooting and got the targets mixed up, but everything else is accurate. But as you can see this Pietta will not tighten up as I moved from 20 grains through 32 1/2 grain loads and various wad combinations.

The targets I posted are representative of these loads. The only loadings I didn't try were the very small loads that a lot of target shooters use with filler. I just don't want to go there because I have the Uberti to use.

 

[Shooter101]

Aren't the 60 army's a great gun

 

[Crawdad1]

Aren't the 60 army's a great gun

Yes they are. My absolute favorite is the '51 Navy but the front sight was getting more and more difficult to see so I went with the 1860 Army with its big brass front blade. As an added benefit all the spare parts I had for the '51 Navy fit the '60 Army. Winning combination.

 

[Shooter101]

Yes they are. My absolute favorite is the '51 Navy but the front sight was getting more and more difficult to see so I went with the 1860 Army with its big brass front blade. As an added benefit all the spare parts I had for the '51 Navy fit the '60 Army. Winning combination.

yeap I have two 60s and a 51 plus a few others but I like the 60s the most,they just fit good in my hand

 

[1KPerDay]

crawdad, have you tried 20 grains with either zero or one oxyoke wad? Just curious if 3 wads are messing something up.

 

[Shooter101]

Mine shoot good with 25gr of BP under a wad from Durafelt a 125 cookie plus a cardboard disc when using more powder and no wad

 

[Crawdad1]

crawdad, have you tried 20 grains with either zero or one oxyoke wad? Just curious if 3 wads are messing something up.

Good point. That's something I missed because looking through my targets, I didn't see that load combination.

I guess I was getting to the point that I was getting aggravated with this revolver and I just missed it.

 

[AlexanderA]

The 1860 Army practically cries out to be used with a shoulder stock (note the "4th screw" in the frame, and the notched recoil shield). However, reproduction shoulder stocks are hard to find, and, when found, the ones made by Uberti are not interchangeable with the ones made by Pietta. That is, you must use an Uberti shoulder stock with an Uberti gun, and a Pietta shoulder stock with a Pietta gun.

 

[J.T. Gerrity]

I have one of those round brass powder flasks that I have dedicated as a "filler" flask. I filled it with grits and got a 15 grain spout for it. That and 20 grains of fff bring the ball pretty close to the chamber mouth. Takes a little longer to load, but is cheaper than wads.

Liked your demonstration.

 

[Crawdad1]

As 1kperday pointed out I missed some load combinations. I thought I was being pretty scientific with the load development but going back through my targets I missed some. Here is the loads I shot, all GOEx 3Fg with a Hornady 454 ball, Ox Yoke dry wades, Wonder Lube goo added to the dry wads;

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/156/1/OX-LUBE

20 grains 3, 4 wads (see target)
22 1/2 grains, with 1, 2 and 3 wads
25 grains, 1, 2, 3 and 4 wads. very tight fit. (see target)
27 1/2 grains, 1,2,3 wads
30 grains, 1,2 wads
32 1/2 grains, 1, wad.

Even after all that testing I still missed some load combinations. I guess I just got impatient with this revolver and gave up. Thanks guys for your comments and suggestions,

 

[1KPerDay]

Well if you were seeing better results when moving the ball closer to the rifling (which most do) then it may not have made sense to try a lighter load without filler or more wads. I just saw 3 oxy wads and wondered if maybe that was throwing something off.

I haven't really shot my Pietta armies for groups but the "standard" 30 grain load under one wad and .454 balls is accurate enough for me to hit 8" plates offhand (one handed) at 18 yards which is good enough for me. It would be fun to actually sit down and figure out the most accurate load, though.

I understand your frustration. sometimes you just have to put a project down and walk away for a while. Sometimes for me it takes months or years to get something done.

 

[Crawdad1]

I agree. With my other 1860 repro it took two summers of testing various combinations to develop its most accurate load. And I could still test more on that one.

 

[whughett]

Grits work too,doesn't matter if it's one minute or five minute grits

I save all my grits for eating. No self respecting southern born would use instant grits. (Heard that in a movie.)

 

[Crawdad1]

Good discussion on filler versus wads. I used cornmeal filler for a short while, but when hunting I try to minimize what I'm carrying as I'm usually out there all day and need to carry other possibles as well like water and some food. I load 5 cylinders and then carry the possibles to reload an additional 10 rounds, always keeping one chamber empty for the hammer to rest on. I usually move through some woods to get to the cornfields to stake out some groundhogs so I'm limiting what I carry.

Now if I was competing as that pretty much means reloading from a bench I would use a filler as at some of these competitions you may shoot a bunch of rounds. But I've seen guys use either the Wonder Wads or the Circle Fly wads at competitions also. But filler in the field, no way, because you definitely know that a fully charged 1860 Army is hanging from your hip while walking through the woods. .

 

[99whip]

Crawdad,

I don't know if you tried this, but, when I am working up loads and trying to squeeze the best accuracy out of one of these revolvers, I always weigh the balls and use only the heaviest ones. Not advocating that approach for all shooting, but for working up a load and figuring out the best formula for accuracy, it's one more variable that can be controlled. Especially if the balls aren't hand cast.

 

[Crawdad1]

I've never done that 99whip but I've seen more variation in weight in cast balls rather than swaged balls.

 

[Armored farmer]

Have you not considered punching your own wads? It's soooo much cheaper and doesn't take all that long. I know of a retired machinist that makes them, among other things, at a very reasonable price (I have two).

Have you tried heavier loads as well?

Wads make more sense to me in the field as well. I've been considering trying them to bring my projectiles closer to the cylinder mouth.

I'm with rodwa
I punch my own wads from stiff felt. I bought my hole punches from harbor freight.

My '58 shoots good groups with 29gr of 3f.
I have a few nmlra territorial medals to show for it too.
I get a kick out of occasionally beating the ROA shooters with my Remington.