Questions about the Pipsqueak .31 Remington revolver

[GomezMunoz1951]

I have a .31 Remington and enjoy shooting it but it brings up questions. Apparently the .31 Caliber (in Remington and Colt and other makes) was popular but I wonder just how effective it would be when the dang RB bounces off a balloon.. (Humor there OK) It seems like it would have little to no penetration. I have been shooting 3F BP, would 4F be any better?

I came across tests of quite a few revolvers and it is quite interesting.
http://poconoshooting.com/blackpowderballistics.html

 

[nkbj]

If I was a Wells Fargo agent packing my company gun then yeah I'd be using 4F.
Used to use 3F and the old Remington (red box) swaged lead .32 round noses in a 4" barrel .31.

 

[rodwha]

I have a .31 Remington and enjoy shooting it but it brings up questions. Apparently the .31 Caliber (in Remington and Colt and other makes) was popular but I wonder just how effective it would be when the dang RB bounces off a balloon.. (Humor there OK) It seems like it would have little to no penetration. I have been shooting 3F BP, would 4F be any better?

I came across tests of quite a few revolvers and it is quite interesting.
http://poconoshooting.com/blackpowderballistics.html

This may be of interest to you:



Were this meant for actual defense I’d be thinking of using 4F Swiss and a custom bullet with a wide meplat and the length of a ball. Certainly not ideal by any means, but might come close to what one could expect from a .32 ACP.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I wonder just how effective it would be

At the time, it would have been quite effective. With the almost total lack of medical care even a tiny bullet in the gut could be fatal. But, it might take days of suffering with infection and whatever before death arrived. Nobody wanted that, so the appearance of any gun, even the diminutive .31 could change the behavior of an attacker. In the day it had it's place. Today, a novelty and fun gun.

 

[Zonie]

" Apparently the .31 Caliber (in Remington and Colt and other makes) was popular..."

I'd say so.
Between 1847 and 1873 Colt sold over 355,000 combined sales of the 1848 Baby Dragoon and its successor, the 1849 Pocket Revolver.

The Lyman BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL shows the velocity their .31 caliber C&B revolver was 790 fps using 12 grains of GOEX 3Fg powder. They got a muzzle velocity of 908 fps using Pyrodex P in the gun.

With its 47 grain, .315 diameter roundball that still isn't much in the energy department but it is enough to kill someone at close range and that is really what the pistol was designed for.

My only gripe about both the Colt 1849 and the Remington Pocket revolver is their small grip size and light weight makes shooting small groups difficult for me.

 

[GomezMunoz1951]

Thanks for the responses. Up close and personal is what I pictured the .31 used for. I imagine it was popular with gamblers. Unlike the derringer with 1 or 2 shots, you had 5 shots. And I imagine women liked it for the light recoil and size. My little Remington is almost perfect for my wife to shoot.

 

[Baxter]

If I had been threatened with being belly-shot with a 31, I'd hope that it missed and hit me in the head.

 

[hanshi]

With the tiny .25acp pistols being more or less popular in the smokeless era (and today), the BP .31 revolvers would do as well. Used with finer or higher energy black powders available today, they should be considered deadly, indeed. And there are 5 shots to use; the .7.65 (.32acp) is a good comparison for lethality.

 

[GomezMunoz1951]

With the tiny .25acp pistols being more or less popular in the smokeless era (and today), the BP .31 revolvers would do as well. Used with finer or higher energy black powders available today, they should be considered deadly, indeed. And there are 5 shots to use; the .7.65 (.32acp) is a good comparison for lethality.

Yeah that is a good comparison. I had forgotten a .25 I bought for $30. Power wise it seems similar to the .31. I have been thinking of buying a steel frame .31 Remington and a .32 Conversion cylinder for it. The one I have is brass, the guy I bought it from had it gold plated..
(I like your thing about young and old guys. Reminds me of a saying, "Age and treachery will over come youthful exuberance every time")

 

[Zonie]

Just a reminder: We don't talk about conversion cylinders on the forum.

 

[Juice Jaws]

My only gripe about both the Colt 1849 and the Remington Pocket revolver is their small grip size and light weight makes shooting small groups difficult for me.

Not made for shooting groups, but made to give a man a belly ache from 5 feet away. I would not want that little pill in my belly.

 

[Juice Jaws]

I use about 12 grs. 4 F and gives it a little more punch. OK Brit, get ready to back me up.

 

[GomezMunoz1951]

Oops sorry about that...

 

[nkbj]

A five shot .31 with a 4" barrel can be shot with useful accuracy. 6" barrel is better. The real problem seems to be when the chambers are just about bore diameter instead of groove diameter. The smaller the caliber then the less it takes to throw things off.

 

[nkbj]

By the way, the old swaged lead 32 bullets worked good.
Don't even know if you can get such any more lessen you make them yourself.

 

[Eras Gone]

The little .31s loaded with the 80 grain conical can offer a little more punch and penetration than the round ball. That was what Sam Colt intended for the little gun.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Not sure about the tiny .31s, but a .44 Remington New Model loaded with 40 grains of 3Fg can approach low level .45 ACP numbers.

A toy it not be.

 

[user 31257]

Shooting someone in the gut with a tiny ball and waiting for them to die from infection leaves way to much time for them to shoot back....
I’d be choosing something else.

 

[nkbj]

I've got the reamer to work on a 6" barrel .31's chambers. Guess it'll be a winter project to make it use .323 ball.

 

[45man]

Still, if it is cold as all get out, they guy might have armor on like a Buf coat. Then card players were mostly drunk too. It would be like poking a griz with a stick.
Yet any BP is fun.