Cabela's Pietta 1860 Report

[pondoro]

Today I fired my Colt 1860 replica for the first time. I fired four cylinders full (5 shots each, not 6).

The good stuff:
1) It only shoots about 8" high at 25 yards. I had expected much worse based on some stories I had heard.
2) It was pretty reliable, got a cap stuck in it once and had to fish around to get it out. I used 28 grains of Pyrodex, Ox-Yoke unlubed wads (but I soaked them in CVA's slick load lube), and .451" balls. It stayed clean the whole time.

So basically the gun is as good as it looks, and it looks very nice.

The bad stuff:
1) I used my last few Remingtion #10 caps. When I tried CCI #10's they went half-way onto the nipple, miss-fired, then fired the second time around. So I need to thin the nipples a little or find a source of Remington #10's (these were from my dad's old stuff and were like 25 years old).

2) I buggered the screw that connects the backstrap to the trigger guard.
Yes, Mom, I know about using good gunsmith's screwdrivers. I was using them. But Luigi must have used a 3-foot cheater bar to tighten the screw down. That guy was tight. So I had to fix the screw by stoning it and then rebluing it. You guys won't tell anyone, right?

Anyway this gun is fun, cheap to shoot, and hits the target.

Questions -

1) What is the "wedge screw" for? I can tap the wedge in and out without removing the wedge screw. What is the right way - take the screw out or leave it in?

2) When you are loading and shooting at a bench, and not walking around, do y'all load 5 or 6 chambers? I loaded 5, but it seemed that six would have been safe in this situation.

Thanks

 

[Don]

Pondoro,

Glad to hear your Pietta 1860 is treating you well. Cabella's has them for a great price, thought about getting one my self but I have enough cap and ball revolvers for the time being at least.

The wedge screw is just to keep the wedge from falling out completely and ending up lost. It catches on the wedge spring when you try to remove it. Some say leave it be but I have one revolver that if I don't loosen that screw a little I can't ge the wedge out.

When I'm at the range I load all 6 chambers because I'm not going to be walking around and I'm focused on what I'm doing. Only 5 chambers get loaded if I'm going to carry.

Did you try CCI #11's? They fit tighter than Remingtons and might work OK.

Good luck and have fun

Don

 

[Bob Riegl]

If you have trouble fitting #11's or #10's on the nipples---than remove the nipples and chuck them into a variable speed drill---drill press---Unimat lathe---and carefully turn them down (at slow speed)using a needle file until the caps fit with ease---shooting twice is common when caps don't fit properly---the first pop seats the cap and the second one sets 'em off. DO NOT PUSH DOWN HARD ON THE NIPPLE WHEN YOU ARE LOADING---YOU WILL GET AN UGLY SURPRISE---CONTRARY TO A POST I SAW HERE A WHILE BACK. :imo:

 

[amccall]

Questions -

1) What is the "wedge screw" for? I can tap the wedge in and out without removing the wedge screw. What is the right way - take the screw out or leave it in?

2) When you are loading and shooting at a bench, and not walking around, do y'all load 5 or 6 chambers? I loaded 5, but it seemed that six would have been safe in this situation.

Number 1) has been answered so for 2) What you do is mark one cylinder as #1 and shoot all six cylinders. One or more of the cylinders might shoot off compared to the rest. If all shoot consistant then shoot all six. Usually one or more cylinders do not shoot consistantly compared to the others, due to the diameter of the cylinder being off a little. In my 1858 remington I have 2 cylinders that do not shoot consistant. So I took out the nipples of the 2 and just shoot 4 instead of six. I also put some fluorescent paint in the 2 cylinders that are not being used so I do not load them by accident.