Shooting the "1858 Remington New Army" - Range Report

[Old No7]

Thanks to all those who commented on my recent posting about the stubborn nipples on the Pietta "1858 Remington New Army" that I recently bought used -- which has a "lever", by the way.

It was a slow email day today, so my lunch hour was conveniently spent at the range...

I kept the cylinder pin lubed, but didn't use Crisco over the balls (had used dry-lubed felt wads under them); as a result, I had to wipe and relube again after 2 cylinders full. My load was 0.454" swaged lead balls over a felt wad, on top of 25 gr of 777-P powder, touched off my Remington #10 caps.

Accuracy was great -- as this 15-yard offhand group shows:

Remington 1858 01 (Small).jpg

And here's a view of all "the stuff" you need to load, clean and lube it, etc. and there's even more BP supplies in that large black box at the upper right (that is the Cabela's plastic ammo-can-like "Muzzleloading Storage Box" that has a lift-out tray as well as some small storage compartments hidden under the top); it works really well to have all the BP stuff in one box when heading out to the range:

Remington 1858 03 (Small).jpg

It was cold enough that I wore my deerskin gloves while shooting, and now that I see them in this pix, they remind me of the yellow Cavalry gloves that John Wayne would wear in the westerns. (Not a bad guy to emulate!) You can also see the Remmie fit into the homemade loading stand really well; that was made way back in 1981 when I first got my Ruger Old Army. Using that sure beats trying to hold it with 1 hand and load it with 2 hands -- Oh wait... That totals 3 hands...

I liked shooting it and the piece is in great condition, considering that I only paid half of what Cabela's charges for a new one. So all in all, I think I did pretty well on this purchase.

So... My initial impressions of shooting the 1858 Remington New Army?

Here's "The Good":
+ I like how well it handles spent caps! No caps ever fouled the action.
+ Hammer "safety" between the nipples seems very solid and secure.
+ I like the period correct look versus my larger/heavier stainless Old Army.
+ Overall, this Pietta has very little to complain about for the fit and finish.
+ And so far, it is very accurate.

Here's "The Bad and The Ugly":
(-) For one thing, it doesn't seem to point as naturally as my Colt 1861 Navy.
(-) It doesn't seem to balance as well in the hand as the Navy does either.
(-) The back of the trigger guard whacks my middle finger with every shot. (Ouch...)
(-) Having to pull, wipe and relube the pin every 12 shots could be bad in a firefight. (And is a pain...)

Oh well, I'll experiment with using some over-ball lube as was suggested by Pete44ru, grooving the cylinder pin per Steve's comment (Nate Kiowa Jones), and using anti-sieze on the nipples as mentioned by Griff (which I'd always done with all my other BP arms).

All I need now if for Jay aka Ysabel Kid to come on up to Maine with his "Sorority House" of blackpowder revolvers (i.e. Lots of nipples... ) so we can have a shoot off!

Tight groups!

Old No7

[GunnyMack]

Sure looks like a KEEPER!
When everything works the way it is supposed to it sure does make ya feel good!

[Ben_Rumson]

Thanks for the report! You got a keeper & look at all of the Fun you've already had.

[Old No7]

Well, I've found several more things to like about the 1858 Remington!

"The Good" (Part 2):
+ It sure does disassemble easily! (See the pix) So it cleaned up well -- all over too.
+ The inner workings are very stout and robust, as compared to a Colt (in my opinion).
+ It has the octagon barrel (as I never warmed up to the hinged lever on an 1851 Colt).

Remington 1858 04 (Small).jpg

I have to admit... The more I handle this, the more I like it!

I did find a small burr on the forcing cone, and even though the accuracy seemed to be pretty good today, I carefully took care of that with a 357-45 Brownell's Kit that I bought used a few years ago. A few slight twists with the 11-degree forcing cone cutter and -- take a look!

Remington 1858 05 (Small).jpg

Now I just need to modify the cylinder pin so it's less prone to bind, buy some Crisco as an over-ball lube to keep the fouling soft -- and then schedule more time at the range to make some smoke!

Old No7

[gamekeeper]

Great report, a Remington 1858 was high on my list at one time but I sold my Colt clones and other front stuffers When I moved too far from my friendly gun club (you have to belong to a club in the UK if you want to shoot BP pistols).
The spent cap falling into the action was always a problem with the Colt design , that is why the Remington appealed to me.
I miss shootin' my old cap n balls but not the cleaning afterwards, maybe a Remington 58 will go back on my list

[hondo1892]

Cabela's makes lubed felt wads that aren't dry. At least they used too. I bought some a few years back and they were pretty greasey you want to make sure you keep them in a plastic container. They may keep the pin lubed enough to shoot more than two cylinders. I like the felt wads better than the grease glob myself but I shoot Colts.

[Pitchy]

Cool beans, nice revolver and report.

[Grizz]

that looks like a whole boatload of fun to me.

rather than *yuck* crisco

how 'bout tallow?

period correct.

and a big plus, you can grease the wagon axles, make soap and candles, and fry food . . .

how about that?

[Rusty]

I used to use Ox yoke Originals felt wads in mine. They helped keep everything soft but I still wiped it down between loadings. It looks like you have a great shooter.

[M. M. Wright]

Old No. 7,
NOTHING points as good as a Navy Colt. Never did, never will. (Well, an 1862 police ain't bad.)

It is possible to make a cylinder bushing for the Remington cylinder that is similar to the one in a Colt cylinder, ie: has about a quarter inch extension outside the cylinder. This requires a notch where the base pin comes thru but you end up with the cylinder gap like a Colt where the gap is behind the base pin entry into the cylinder. That way the base pin is not blasted with every shot, fouling the pin quickly.

Try spritzing with Ballistol to free up the base pin. You might be able to get 4 or 5 cylinders full shot before you have to pull it.

[Ben_Rumson]

This

[Bill in Oregon]

Mebbe this'll prompt some lost soul here to take another look at the Uberti I have in the Classifieds ...

[Ysabel Kid]

Here's "The Bad and The Ugly":
(-) For one thing, it doesn't seem to point as naturally as my Colt 1861 Navy.
(-) It doesn't seem to balance as well in the hand as the Navy does either.

Old No7

Yep and yep!