My First Black Powder Firearm!

[springfield art]

I never heard of Rigarmi either, but it's a winner!

 

[KingOfKindling]

That's a nice looking RAG 60. I don't remember but there is a difference in #10 caps size on Remington and CCI. Most all these old revolvers use #10

Yeah, could be an Actual #10 size. The new Uberti and Pietta guns must have changed things a bit to make the nipples fit both 10's and 11's. Even if they do that poorly.

I've actually got some new (2023-2024 guns) unmolested Pietta and Uberti 1860 cylinders. So I pulled a nipple from each to compare with with the Rigarmi.

To the naked eye it's kinda hard to see the differences. Lots of optical illusions. The Rigarmi cone is definitely a lot shorter looking though.

Took some calipers to all of them, and here's the data. The Rigarmi cone is definitely smaller in every dimension. Dunno if that makes it a true #10 or something smaller.

Thread Diameter and pitch is identical to Pietta, which I believe is 6x0.75 mm. A Pietta nipple threads cleanly into the cylinder, but it is way too long. Gonna see if I can find something to fit. If not, Pietta nipples could be shortened to work in a pinch.

 

[Jappo]

Yeah, could be an Actual #10 size. The new Uberti and Pietta guns must have changed things a bit to make the nipples fit both 10's and 11's. Even if they do that poorly.

I've actually got some new (2023-2024 guns) unmolested Pietta and Uberti 1860 cylinders. So I pulled a nipple from each to compare with with the Rigarmi.

To the naked eye it's kinda hard to see the differences. Lots of optical illusions. The Rigarmi cone is definitely a lot shorter looking though.

View attachment 356538



Took some calipers to all of them, and here's the data. The Rigarmi cone is definitely smaller in every dimension. Dunno if that makes it a true #10 or something smaller.
View attachment 356539
Thread Diameter and pitch is identical to Pietta, which I believe is 6x0.75 mm. A Pietta nipple threads cleanly into the cylinder, but it is way too long. Gonna see if I can find something to fit. If not, Pietta nipples could be shortened to work in a pinch.

That's a lot of difference. And like you said, the Pietta can be shortened.

 

[Old-Duckman]

Welcome aboard. I guarantee you that this purchase will not be your last BP firearm. Seems like every forum that I join costs me money!

This is by far one of the best, if not the best, forum that I belong to.

Enjoy but hold on to your wallet!

 

[KingOfKindling]

That's a lot of difference. And like you said, the Pietta can be shortened.

Yep. I didn't find anything that was a perfect match.

Track of the Wolf sells these in stainless and hardened steel:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=PIR-ES
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=PIR-EI

They are very close, the nipple cone is just a bit short. Don't know if it's enough to affect reliability.

GLOCKer, if your gun has the factory nipples, I'd be pretty surprised if they're not the same as mine. Might be best to try the ones above, or modify some Pietta nipples just to be safe. That or see if you can find some #10 percussion caps. I've yet to find any for sale the last several years.


I had some factory Pietta nipples from guns that have had slix-shot nipples swapped onto them. I've got a micro lathe, so taking material off of both ends of the Pietta nipples was easy. You can leave the longer threads, and they'll still fit the gun, but I was concerned about more fouling, and possibly trapping embers.

These things are harder than expected. I used carbide to cut them as it dulled the first high speed steel bit I tried. You could do the same with a drill and stones/sand paper, but it would probably take a while.

Slide on easy, and stay in place. I'll still likely seat them with a piece of wood or antler like normal. With the cones shortened, the bit the caps sit on is fatter the whole length. These make better #11 nipples on the Rigarmi than they ever would have on the Pietta they're made for.

Fired off all 6 perfectly. No cap jams. They all split and fell out the loading cutout.

​

 

[GLOCKer]

This is where I'm at...

I disassembled the whole gun and started deep cleaning it. I'm taking my time and basically do a piece at a time.

Yesterday I cleaned up the barrel and touched up the bluing.

The bore isn't terrible!

 

[Jappo]

In the shoulder stock, there are two different types. For the 1860 and the 1851. The 1860 has like a hook shaped mount, the 1851 is rounded.

 

[GLOCKer]

Before work this morning I tossed the brass pieces into a zip lock bag with water, vinegar, and dawn dish soap. This went into the ultrasonic cleaner.

Before:

During:

After a bunch of cycles I cleaned up the brass with some Brasso. My aim wasn't to shine the hell out of it, but to just clean up the stains as best as I could.

The arbor was mostly clean, but had a touch of rust on it. So I hit that with steel wool and then q-tipped on some cold blue. Then everything got a coat of oil.

 

[GLOCKer]

I made some more progress during lunch and after work today.

I re-blacked all of the hardware and, after soaking the internals for most of the day, got most of the gun back together.

I still need to deep clean the cylinder but I'm still waiting on a nipple wrench.

 

[GLOCKer]

Yep. I didn't find anything that was a perfect match.

Track of the Wolf sells these in stainless and hardened steel:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=PIR-ES
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=PIR-EI

They are very close, the nipple cone is just a bit short. Don't know if it's enough to affect reliability.

GLOCKer, if your gun has the factory nipples, I'd be pretty surprised if they're not the same as mine. Might be best to try the ones above, or modify some Pietta nipples just to be safe. That or see if you can find some #10 percussion caps. I've yet to find any for sale the last several years.


I had some factory Pietta nipples from guns that have had slix-shot nipples swapped onto them. I've got a micro lathe, so taking material off of both ends of the Pietta nipples was easy. You can leave the longer threads, and they'll still fit the gun, but I was concerned about more fouling, and possibly trapping embers.

These things are harder than expected. I used carbide to cut them as it dulled the first high speed steel bit I tried. You could do the same with a drill and stones/sand paper, but it would probably take a while.

View attachment 356609

Slide on easy, and stay in place. I'll still likely seat them with a piece of wood or antler like normal. With the cones shortened, the bit the caps sit on is fatter the whole length. These make better #11 nipples on the Rigarmi than they ever would have on the Pietta they're made for.

View attachment 356611

Fired off all 6 perfectly. No cap jams. They all split and fell out the loading cutout.

​

Not going to lie, you got me a little worried. Hahahaha! I thought the cap part of this was going to be as easy as throwing #11s on and being done!

There is so much I don't know about this hobby. Like the nipple size thing.
Will a #11 wrench fit #10 nipples? ( is the number the depth?)

 

[KingOfKindling]

Not going to lie, you got me a little worried. Hahahaha! I thought the cap part of this was going to be as easy as throwing #11s on and being done!

There is so much I don't know about this hobby. Like the nipple size thing.
Will a #11 wrench fit #10 nipples? ( is the number the depth?)

You got a pair of calipers? Some quick measuring will tell you if it's gonna be easy or not. So will sticking caps on it. On mine, with the factory nipples, #11's fell right off. You had to really pinch them to get them to stay on even a little bit.


Wrench shouldn't matter for the medium and big sized guns (1860/51 Colts, 1858 Remingtons, Walkers/Dragroons etc..). A standard revolver sized wrench will work for any of those, no matter the nipple size. Only the small pocket sized guns are tricky in my experience. The regular nipple wrenches can be too bit, and might need some filing on the outside diameter to fit. I really like the Slix Shot nipple wrench, best I've used by far. The cheap ones fail, bend, break, etc...

Size # depends on a bunch of things, and all manufacturers are a bit different annoyingly.

Check this thread.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/sizes-of-caps-and-nipples.46459/

Broad strokes, the bigger the number, the bigger the cap diameter. Lengths can also vary, especially among different manufacturers.

 

[GLOCKer]

@KingOfKindling I do not have calipers. I should snag some next time I'm at Harbor Freight!

I did just order a Snap-A-Cap #10 maker and some priming compound!

This morning I started soaking the cylinder in Hoppe's to break up and gunk on it. Eventually, I will degrease it with mineral spirits and touch up the bluing on it and put it back in the 1851.

I'm really hoping that de-gunking the gun fixes the slight timing issue it was having. On cocking it, the cylinder would just fall short of locking into place and I was having to turn it just ever so slightly to lock.

 

[KingOfKindling]

@KingOfKindling I do not have calipers. I should snag some next time I'm at Harbor Freight!

I did just order a Snap-A-Cap #10 maker and some priming compound!

This morning I started soaking the cylinder in Hoppe's to break up and gunk on it. Eventually, I will degrease it with mineral spirits and touch up the bluing on it and put it back in the 1851.

I'm really hoping that de-gunking the gun fixes the slight timing issue it was having. On cocking it, the cylinder would just fall short of locking into place and I was having to turn it just ever so slightly to lock.

Harbor freight calipers work pretty good for 3D printing and general measurements. They're a bit unsuited for gun stuff, I have trouble getting repeatable measurements for stuff in the thousandths. Better than nothing though!

Could see junk possibly stopping the hand or hammer from moving all the way. If that's not the case you may need to fit a new hand, or weld and harden the old one.

I've got some guns to take apart for cleaning. Will compare hands later this evening and see if Uberti or Pietta is a close replacement.

 

[GLOCKer]

Good news!
De-gunking the gun cleaned up the timing!

This morning I let the cylinder soak in Hoppe's to help break up and carbon and gunk before I hit it with a dental pick and bristle brush. Then it got a bath in mineral spirits before I touched it up with some Birchwood Casey gun blacking.

A before & after...

I'm excited that I ordered a set of "The Man With No Name" grip inlays. This make a bunch of you cringe or eyeball, no doubt. And I know this gun isn't technically correct to Blondie's gun from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But damn I'm excited to get as close as I'll be able to get to having a movie replica without my wife leaving me over the spend!

 

[Jappo]

Good news!
De-gunking the gun cleaned up the timing!

This morning I let the cylinder soak in Hoppe's to help break up and carbon and gunk before I hit it with a dental pick and bristle brush. Then it got a bath in mineral spirits before I touched it up with some Birchwood Casey gun blacking.

View attachment 357417
View attachment 357418
A before & after...
View attachment 357419
I'm excited that I ordered a set of "The Man With No Name" grip inlays. This make a bunch of you cringe or eyeball, no doubt. And I know this gun isn't technically correct to Blondie's gun from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But damn I'm excited to get as close as I'll be able to get to having a movie replica without my wife leaving me over the spend!

A non engraved cylinder would be perfect for a good replica of a Confederate revolver. Schneider and Glassic

 

[Old-Duckman]

Now go shoot it and clean again.

Enjoy.

 

[GLOCKer]

Now go shoot it and clean again.

Enjoy.

I can't wait!
I need to order a paper cartridge kit, powder, and lead balls next. But, i need to take a break from ordering gun stuff before the wife gets miffed.