Pietta 1858 Q's

[garandman]

Two questions, please -

1. The manual recommends no more than 28gr BP substitute. But the gun shoots pretty light, and even with a wad and ball, this load only fills 3/4 of the cylinder. Anyone tried larger powder charges?

2. The gun consistently shoots left - 1-2" at 25 yards. Any way to fix this?

I had an 8" and recently bought a 5.5" which I love. Both are a hoot to shoot.

Thanx.

 

[Robert Egler]

Two questions, please -

1. The manual recommends no more than 28gr BP substitute. But the gun shoots pretty light, and even with a wad and ball, this load only fills 3/4 of the cylinder. Anyone tried larger powder charges?

2. The gun consistently shoots left - 1-2" at 25 yards. Any way to fix this?

I had an 8" and recently bought a 5.5" which I love. Both are a hoot to shoot.

Thanx.

1) I've used up to 40g, although my usual load is 30 with corn meal filler.

2) Aim 2 inches to the right. :haha: Seriously, I really don't know of any other reasonable solution except to play with the loads and see if you can get one that is more centered. My gun shoots about 1 inch to the left with 25g, dead on with 30g. I have no idea why. :idunno:

 

[garandman]

It did seem to move right a little when going from 25 gr to 28 gr....

 

[rafterob]

My Pietta Remmington holds a measured 35 grains in the cylinder.A full load is a good stout BOOM. I usually shoot a load of 22 grains when target practicing. There is ongoing discussion about the use of wads or fillers to seat the ball as close to the cylinder top as possible. I have shot with and without fillers and don't see any difference in accuracy (because I am just not very good with this pistol).Some of the substitutes (like 777) are hotter than black powder, so a reduced charge in comaparison would be recommended. I have the target model so I can adjust the sights. With the set sights you will just need to find what load combination shoots the best and then adjust your point of aim accordingly. These guns were not designed as target pistols but as center of mass defence weapons.

 

[garandman]

Thanx - very helpful.

Can anyone recommend good conical boolits for the 1858?

 

[nkbj]

Hello there.
Started a thread on a conical for the 1858.
Don't know how good it is yet. I want to find out how heavy it can be adjusted to and still work, still stabilize, what weight is the most accurate. Time will tell!

 

[m-g willy]

You can turn the barrel in a vise to get the sights to hit poa.
About loads.
I load my 58 with enough powder trhat allows me to seat a ball just below the cylinder face with no problems.

 

[DanChamberlain]

Garandman

You can open up the rear notch a fraction on the side you want the bullet impact to move. Easy to do. For 2" at 25yards, hardly a job. I've done it with several fixed sighted revolvers. It actually improves the sight picture by giving you a tad more light on either side of the post. Do it at the range, and touch up with a cold bluing. Half an hour of careful work and you're done.

Dan