New to me Lyman 1858 New Army

[TexasBAD]

Greetings and hello to all, I recently acquired a 1974 Lyman Model 1858 New Army .44 caliber made by Armi San Paolo. The main reason I obtained this one is because it came with a .45 Colt conversion cylinder. The previous owner shipped it to Taylor & Co. and it was fitted to one of their conversion cylinders (Uberti model). The conversion cylinder was new in the box.

I did some research and found the usual negative comments by some, but it seemed to me there were more positive comments on this model, specifically with regard to the early production date. I like the smaller grip of this one over Uberti or Pietta. It has a blemish on the top strap, dark burn type and a couple marks on the grips, not bad though. It is used but not overly so and the barrel is clear and shines. The chambers are clear and shiny and the cylinder is in great shape. All in all it seems sound and ready to go.

I have not used the black powder cylinder yet, but I have used the conversion cylinder with Magtech 200 gr cowboy loads. It fired perfectly and I was somewhat surprised how soft the recoil felt. I have limited experience with black powder using a Hawkin style Perdersoli rifle.

I am curious what some of you more experienced guys or gals think about this pistol in general and what if anything I should be concerned about.

Thanks, David

 

[hawkeye2]

ASP became Euroarms (Euroarms of America, EOA) and produced quality revolvers. Some of the revolvers had Lothar Walther barrels. Armi San Marco, now defunct, has a bad reputation and is sometimes, actually often, confused with ASP. I have an early ASP which I bought cheap and it had been built from a kit. The hammer was soft and went from a good trigger pull to not working in a couple of hundred rounds. A friend fitted a Pietta hammer without any problems and it works fine now. The bore and forcing cone were badly pitted from not being cleaned. I cut a new forcing cone, way oversize to clean it up and it shoots very well. You shouldn't have any trouble with yours but internals by other manufacturers can be fitted.

Discussion of conversion cylinders and cartridges is taboo on this forum.

 

[TexasBAD]

Thank you hawkeye2, taboo understood. Plz accept my apologies.

 

[Many Klatch]

I have an Armi San Marco 1858 Remington of about the same vintage. It shoots well, seems to be well made. 25 grains of powder and it puts the balls in the black at 25 yards. Not sure how much more you can ask of a pistol.

 

[Jim C]

"Armi San Marco, now defunct, has a bad reputation"

I have heard and or read the same thing said quite a few times, but I own an ASM '51 Navy brass frame made in 1967 and to me it's level of quality inside and out is really very good. Function ability is great and so is it's shoot-ability as well. Also, it being a brass frame pistol, surprisingly it is as tight as new, no sloppiness anywhere in this pistol. Maybe I just got lucky and got an unusually good un?. :idunno:

 

[Zonie]

Most of the Italian companies had at least one or two models that were not so bad.

I think the only Italian brand that always lived down to its poor reputation was Palmetto.

 

[Jim C]

Most of the Italian companies had at least one or two models that were not so bad.

I think the only Italian brand that always lived down to its poor reputation was Palmetto.

Yep, IIRC DGW was their only American importer/retailer. Some said they loved 'em, some said they hated 'em. I believe Palmetto was bought out by Euroarms a few yrs ago, sometime in the first decade of the 2000's.

 

[MSW]

warning: ff ff ff


I bought a falling block .54 cal percussion Sharps design from Palmetto. It was a long time ago. it was said to be an exact replica of the original, and had the weird tape cap advancing system on it. beautiful to look at, gorgeous stock, but I never could get it to work reliably.

Regrettably, an expensive wall hanger.