Black Powder Revolvers

[Hehehmule]

Anyone into these guys? I’ve been researching a little, 1851, 1858, 1860 platforms. Everyone seems to be down on stock, Uberti, EMF Oldsouth, Midway, Basspro etc. If you’re into old smokewagons and have a trail, let’s hear about them.

[Darrell]

I have two Ruger Old Army .44 revolvers, and really like them. I bought a double holster rig, though I keep one unfired. Lots of fun to cast ball or bullets, load em up, smear a little Crisco over the cylinders and let them rip. I also have a Pietta 1862 Police revolver in .36 caliber. The quality of that revolver is suspect, the mainspring broke just sitting in the safe after no more than 60 rounds, but it's still a hoot. The replacement spring seems to be fine, so maybe the original had a defect. Heck, no maybe about it, it DID have a defect to break so soon. 

I also shoot a couple of BP rifles, including a flintlock Pedersoli Kentucky Rifle in .32 that's very accurate and very hard to sight due to it's long barrel. I have one that my grandfather owned, but I'll never shoot it.

[xtriggerman]

I had an Italian 1858 Remington 44 once. It was fun to shoot but it had a problem. After about 2 full cylinders of firing, the cylinder pin was a PITA to pull out. The mod that fixed it was I put the cylinders in the lathe and turned the face in about .070" except for where the cylinder pin comes threw. Then took the barrel off and turned the barrel shoulder back the same amount. That put the barrel back to where it had good cylinder barrel gap again. Now the BP fouling stayed pretty much off the cylinder pin. I could fire the gun as much as I wanted and the cylinder pin could be taped out without beating the snot out of it. Had a 1860 Army once also. I think if you are going to shoot it alot, a top strap framed gun like the rugers or 1858 hold up better. Saw alot of Italian Colts with loose cylinder axles. Only way to fix that is epoxy the axles back in the brass threads. For how long that holds up, I cant tell yah. It was all ways some one elses gun that just wanted it functional.

[TennesseeCamper]

I bought two 1851s from midway one .36 and one .44 , both pietta. Also extra springs. I look forward to shooting them.  Waiting for my range to open when they finish maintenance.

[Hehehmule]

Thanks for the replies. It’s the kind of info that helps. Most searches you do lead to enthusiastic black powder guys who may not give some of the weaknesses you can expect. I have seen that Rutgers are regarded as pretty bullet proof, but I really like the aesthetic of the 1851. As y’all mentioned the lack of a top strap always struck me as a possible structural weakness. Thanks again for the input.

[Handsome Rob]

I've had a Pietta 1860 for a fair few years & several other models before this one.  I always preferred the look of the round barrel over the octagonal of the 1851 & the partridge front sight rather than the pin. The '58 Remmys are a far stronger design with the top strap & the traditional sights are far, far better than the hammer notch on the Colt clones. Unfortunately they just don't point as well (honestly, nothing does) or fit my hand like the Colts. On that note, the Colt copies will shoot around 30-36" high at 15yds. Damn things are TOO faithful! The originals were regulated (for some damn silly reason) at 100yds.

The absolute first & most essential thing you absolutely MUST do is switch out the standard nipples for No.11s. No.10 caps have been incredibly hard to find for a very long time. 11s are slightly longer & don't work reliably on the standard nips. A common problem that seems to be universal: caps bursting & falling into the rear of the cylinder. That'll jam it up REAL quick. You kinda have to 'flick' the pistol to the right as you recock it to make sure the spent caps clear. 

Clean it like you were letting a newborn lick it. Literally as soon as you get home from the range. You don't need funky chemicals, just warm tap water & dawn, a nylon bore brush, toothbrush & about an hour free of distractions. Anti-sieze on the nipples (don't be sparing. A stuck, broken or jacked up nip is almost fatal) oil on the hand & springs, grease on the base pin. If you're going to store it empty, a super light coat of bore-butter or muzzleloader specific patch lube can be wiped down the bore & each chamber. I use the blue triple 7 stuff myself. 

Conical bullets are fun, but far less accurate than you'd imagine & several times the price of round balls. If you're not using wads (hint: just buy the damn wads) you'll need to cap the muzzle end of each cylinder with lube. As far as loading goes, using the actual loading lever will loosen the action far quicker than shooting it ever will. Buy a cylinder loading press. NOT cheap one. If you insist on using the lever (perfectly fine on steel frame guns, ok occasionally on brass frames) Buy or build a loading stand. Completely load each cylinder in turn too. Powder, wad, ball. Then move to the next. Otherwise you just end up with spilt powder all over the place (learned that the hard way!)

If you're going topless ('51, '60, '61) 20-28gn (volume) of Pyrodex P, Trip7 or FFFg is plenty. It ain't a .44mag, think of it as a very mild .38 special with big bullets. In a '58, you can bump up to 35gn but you start to run out of cylinder room beyond that. If you've got nuts like King Kong, wrists like beer barrels & really dislike yourself as a person & end up with a Walker or Dragoon, you literally can't get enough powder in there to damage anything on the gun. 60gn would be an average, I know a guy who hunts with one loaded with 75. It's a very, very legitimate deer killer at 80yds. But you also have to carry a 6lb pistol that's longer than your leg. Although you could reenact the barroom scene from Lonesome Dove to great applause......

[221 Fireball]

12 hours ago, Handsome Rob said:

I've had a Pietta 1860 for a fair few years & several other models ... 

I still have that Pietta I bought from you and still haven't shot it, because I don't want to clean it.