How many shots fired before cleaning my 1858 new army .44 cal pietta ?

[beezee13]

How many shots can I fire before I have to do some cleaning ? Can I do a quick swab after a couple of cylinders , or do I have to do a total break down and cleaning ? By the way the pistol is C&B and I may be using pyrodex .
Any suggestions are welcome .
Big Z .

 

[wwfeatherston]

All I have ever done is to clean and grease the cylinder pin, about every 5-6 cylinders fired, to keep them going all day. When I do this, I give the front of the cylinder a quick wipe with a rag and we are back in business.

I clean the whole thing down at the end of day and about every time I finish a bag of balls (100), I pull the pistol totally apart.

 

[ValleyForge]

Unlike my 1861 Colt, my Pietta Remington will go all day, just as long as I do a through cleaning after each session -- break it down, clean the barrel & cylinder -- and it's ready to go for next time. I've shot as many as 8 cylinders without fouling.

 

[Zonie]

The gun will tell you when you need to do some cleaning and wiping.

Most of these guns have fairly soft "hands" and some rather small screws or pins which the Hand is held in place with.
The hand is the part that rotates the cylinder and if it is overloaded and breaks, your out of business.

Get a "feel" for the amount of pressure you need to cock a clean gun. When your shooting, if the pressure seems to increase then wipe the fouling off of the cylinder face and off of the cylinder pin. Give it some lubrication and your back in business.

Properly treated, these guns should be able to go thru thousands of shots without problems but mis-treat it and it may break after just a few shots are fired.

 

[jdixon]

BigZ - got one of these - Uberti make - ditto to everything that wwfeatherston said - same experience here. I always tear my revolvers down completely for cleaning at the end of the day - some say this is over kill, maybe so. For me it is an old habit from the military and the P.D. and it seems to be serving me well. I have very few problems with any of my cap 'n ball revolvers.

 

[beezee13]

Hi JR . You said you do a complete tear down when cleaning after shooting your 1858 Uberti . How many ball's do you fire before you wipe down the cylinder pin ? Also how many ball's do you fire before you call it a day ? Do you ever worry about chain firing ?
Big Z .

 

[jdixon]

On the 1858 - the cylinder pin - I lube it w/ Bore Butter before shooting. I get several cylinders down range without any problems, when I feel it begin to bind a little I have gotten off with a small squirt of Balliston down the cylinder pin without removing the cylinder itself, and I am back on line. The number of shots fired in a day - never as many as I would like - usually 40 - 60 rounds. Chain fire, always worry about it but, it has never happened to me anyway. I approach chain fire incidents like we all do about driving and car accidents, you always worry about them but you take precautions to prevent the incident or lessen it's impact when it does happen. One alway do preaution, ensure that the caps are the correct size for the nipples on the particular revolver. I suspect that most chain fire incidents occur when a cap is knocked off a live chamber during firing and goes unnoticed until it goes off when the next round is fired. I have even used digital calipers to check the size of nipples and fit the correct caps (Typically these revolvers take #11'3, but you will find that not all #11's are the same size). Also in the area of caution, though I do not care for Pyrodex all that much, I have used it in the cap and ball revolvers simply because it is more stable and I believe at least fractionally less like to chain fire on you.

 

[wwfeatherston]

Shooting a match- usually three stages, I shoot 15 shots per pistol.

Just out plinking or shooting paper, I find the pistol tightening up, but still working after 25-30 shots. Only takes a minute to pull the cylinder pin and give it a wipe & lube.

Use a light grease on the pin- it will go longer than oiling it.

 

[wwfeatherston]

There are a few schools of thought on the chainfire subject, all of whom are probably right.

Standing orders at my range call for greasing the front of the cylinder. Apparantly, since this rule came in (way before my time), nobody has had a chainfire.

I grease mine up with homemade bore butter- this also works real well on the cylinder pin!

 

[ValleyForge]

I used to use Crisco in front of the cylinder -- but it was a hell of a mess, particularly in summer. Then I switched to using a lubricated wad between the powder and the ball. From what I understand, this can also help protect against chain fires -- and inexplicably, and I realize this makes very little sense -- I've been more accurate since! Maybe the fact that my hands weren't as greasy helps me hold the pistol steadier.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

I have found using Triple Se7en FFF allows me to have a longer range session but I still do a complete cleaning when done. I totally tear the pistol down and clean with soap and water rinse well blowdry all the parts and then put it all back together.

Wadds keep everything moving better than lube in front of the ball that is for sure. I wish they were priced better. When it is cold I use wonder lube in front of the balls but the the wads just seem to work better.

 

[beezee13]

Hi ValleyForge , you said that you can go all day with your Pietta Remington . Is your Remington a Pietta new army 1858 .44 cal ? And if it is what brand and size cap's do you use and have you had much trouble with them falling off ?
Big Z .

 

[ValleyForge]

Hi, Big Z
My Remmy is a Pietta, ordered from Cabela's, and I normally use #11 caps on it. It's really reliable, fairly accurate, and great fun. And as I'm the only PB shooter at the club, it attracts a lot of attention.

I like the Remington caps, but my local outfitter only stocks CCIs. They seem to work well, too. I probably have at least 1 cap fall into the works per cylinder, but learned here on the forum a technique of holding the pistol up and giving it a little shake at half-cock between rounds: sometimes that lets the loose spent caps fall off harmlessly.

I hope this helps.

Happy New Year & Happy Shooting.

--- VF

 

[beezee13]

Hi Valleyforge , Thanks for the reply and the help . You said that you like the Remington caps , but you can only get cci's . Do the remington caps stay on better ? Are the spent caps the only ones to fall off ?
I just got my 1858 and haven't fired it yet , so any do's & do not's would be appreciated !!!
I also got the Cabela's starter kit .
I will need to go to Bass Pro and get some brushes and cleaning supplies . I will also need some pyrodex and maybe wads if I don't use the lube over the cylinders .
Thanks for your help and Happy New Year !!!
Big Z .

 

[brubincam]

ever notice in the real old western movies, how they handled their pistols? they would fire a shot then bring the gun up beside their ear as they were cocking it in one fluid motion, this was so if a cap fell of it would exit the gun and not cause a jam,evedently it was carried over to cartridge days but isnt seen done anymore,,,, :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

[ValleyForge]

The CCIs are fine on my .44 Remington -- no problems. I like the Remington caps primarily for my .61 Colt - there I have fewer misfires with the Remmies, but the problem seems to be the pistol and not the caps. And don't ever skip a thorough cleaning, as soon as you can after shooting.

As far as other do's & don'ts go -- well, there aren't too many. Take your time & enjoy the zen of this sport. I have a cartridge peacemaker Colt .45 which I don't enjoy half as much as my old BPs - it's too quick. There's something about the slow, methodological loading of a BP revolver that is very soul satisfying -- the bang, flash, & stink of it all seems to get me in touch with prior generations, when you shot when you had to 'cause you only had 6 (or 5 if you were carrying safely) and no quick reload. MAybe I'm getting too philosophical about it all, but for me it's a question of connection to the guys who took the risks and made this nation. A Glock can't do that. An old smelly BP revolver can.

Keep that in mind, and you'll never get enough. Oh yeah -- and get back to the source. Pyrodex will never touch the soul. BP forever!

-- VF

 

[beezee13]

Hi Pittsburghunter , You said you use wadds instead of lube over the cylinder . I picked up some pyrodex pellets and some wonder wads . I haven't shot my 1858 rem yet , but I should be going this weekend . Do you lube up those wads and how do you seat them on the pellets ? Also do I have to worry about crushing the pellet when I press the ball in ?
Any info appreciated !!!!!
Big Z .

 

[Zonie]

BigZ: Does Pyrodex make pellets that will fit into a Cap and Ball chamber?
How many grains (equivalent) are they?

I ask because I don't recall seeing any pellets for a muzzleloader that were less than 50 grains and I doubt that they will fit a revolvers cylinder. :hmm:

 

[beezee13]

Hi Zonie , Yes pyrodex makes 30 grain pellets that will fit in my 1858 rem . I just bought them from bass pro and the salesman gives classes on black powder weapons , so I would figure he knows . If they don't fit , I'll let you know .I thought I have read someone saying that they lube wonder wads and I would like to know how you do that without contaminating the powder ? Do you know anything about this ?
Big Z .

 

[Zonie]

Sure, Wonder Wads contaminate the powder, or at least a little of it.

There are several thoughts on using WonderWads in a C&B gun.
1. They seal off the powder from the flame coming out of the chamber being fired so they reduce the possibility of "chain firing".
2. They eliminate the need to grease the front of the loaded chamber by doing number 1 and they lube the bore as they pass thru it.
3. They improve accuracy.
4. At the price they charge for them I wonder why they are not called ExpensiveWads?

As for the powder contamination, IMO, Black Powder (or the substitutes) is a low pressure powder so a little more or less will not be noticed. That's why we are able to measure our powder using such crude methods as a powder measure or shot flask measure.
The little powder that is contaminated offers such a small amount of power to the total charge that it will never be noticed.