Remington pocket .31

[Kevin M]

I just picked up a Remington pocket pistol .31 caliber. I can't find any recomended loads for it. I am assuming it will be 10 grains or less, but wanted to see if anyone on the forum shoots or has shot one of these and can make a recommendation.

 

[Rebel]

My only recommendation is not to shoot them at a solid object, such as wood, without being careful of the ball coming back and smacking you when it bounces off. :grin: Seriously, i had a Pocket Dragoon in .31 and it would bounce off trees. 10-15 grs sounds about right for a load.

 

[Homesteader]

I've got a Remington .31 pocket pistol with the brass frame and a "Baby" pocket powder flask with a 12 grain spout. That's the charge. I like wonder wads, so I bought 100 pack of them and .321 balls. No. 10 caps, of course. When I use up the balls I bought I intend to try some .319's I can run myself. (Don't know if they'll ring enough. We'll see.)

I wouldn't want to use it against the redlegs or bluebellies, but it'll keep the players at yer card table honest. :grin:

 

[Zonie]

The Lyman Black Powder Handbook lists 3 loads for a .31 cal revolver with a 3 1/2 inch barrel shoting a .315 roundball.
7 grains FFFg at 494 FPS muzzle velocity
9.5 grains FFFg at 642 FPS muzzle velocity
12 grains FFFg at 790 FPS muzzle velocity

zonie

 

[Homesteader]

Thanks for the info, Zonie. Man, I've just gotta buy that book! May I ask what it says about loads for a LeMat? (Don't want to hijack the thread, just curious.)

 

[leatherjunkie]

I cast .319 round balls for my .31
I just use greese over the bullet no wad and it shoots just fine.
I have only used 5 grains of tripple 7 3f for my loads with a 10 cap, no problems.

I picked up the little pistol for 2 reasons.
1. just like the looks of it.
2. its a great pocket pistol for cowboy shooting side matches.

 

[Kevin M]

I just want to clarify one thing. I usually load powder then the over the powder wad and then the ball. Is this the way you guys load? Some of the posts I am reading make me think they are putting the wad over the ball. Depending on the situation I sometimes grease over the ball, but have never put the wad over the ball.

 

[Homesteader]

You've just described how I do it, and have for a long time. Powder, wad, ball, then grease if you think it's needed. (I generally do not, and I've never had a chain fire in right around 3 decades.) In my early days it was just powder, ball, & grease, but I lived in a cooler climate then.

BTW: I just ordered the Black Powder Handbook. Finally! Thanks for the impetus.

 

[4bore]

there nice little pistols got one from dixie its a bit stiff but nonetheless still fun.
not had a richchet yet from it but been smacked a few times once in the forehead with a bounce back
hurt like a mothers uncle. bounce backs always a problem with pedestrian velocities had the same problem with big bore pcp airguns 40-50 cal 600 -700 fps. under 700 fps seems to encourage bounce back imho :v

 

[peashooterJoe]

I shot the 7 gn loads and got three balls stuck in barrel, three different occassions.It didn't sound right, so I checked everthing before I fired again, boy was glad of there was no damage. So I would think about trying that small of a load. I now keep my load at 12gn minimum, just to be on the safe side.

 

[mec]

got this one a few months ago from Cabelas. This was the only place I could find one with a steel frame. suspect there is nothing wrong with the brass framed/ nickle plated ones though. The chambers are at slighly less than .317" which is tighter than the uberti colt pocket models and the chambers are a bit smaller than the colt replicas. All chambers align with the barrel. The timing is perfect and the only complaint might be the presence of quite a bit of Pietta literature on the side of the barrel.

These are full loads. In fact, the Swiss powder thrown from the same measure weighs a bit more and compresses less than goex or pyrodex. I broke a loading lever trying to swage the ball in on top of the swiss but it worked fine with the other powders.

It shoots high and is no target or small game revolver but it does work well and is pretty neat.It is smaller than I gathered from seeing pictures and makes the colt pocket models look big in comparison.

 

[leatherjunkie]

Lots of people use the wad for loading bp revolvers.
I do not. I just load powder, ball and greese, works just fine for me.

when using a wad, you will load powder, wad, ball.

 

[Zonie]

With brass frames being known for their weakness and brass frames being incorrect for a 1851 Colt (unless you have a Confederate Pistol) I thought I might mention that the original Remington Pocket pistol was indeed made with both a brass or a steel frame.

I am sure the brass framed Remington Pocket would be just about impossible to damage with any black powder charge you could get into its little chambers. :grin:

IMO, they are a neat little gun. They remind me of a baby 1858.

The Lyman Black Powder Handbook doesn't list any data for a LeMat. In fact, they really don't identify the gun their testing by style or model (except the Walker and the Ruger).
The data I gave above could have been data from a .31 cal Colt.
That's why I use the book as a general guide and not an absolute for the loads they give.
zonie

 

[leatherjunkie]

I just happen to have the brass framed .31 that you are talking about.

I love the look of brass frame with blued parts on the gun more than all steel blued gun.

I also know that if my .31 was all steel i could convert it to .32 carteridges. dont want to do that cause the brass frame is better looking to me.

 

[mec]

LeMat chambers are slightly smaller than Colt and Remington types. 30 grains of fffg under a ball is a fairly full charge. Here are loads from two different Lemats:
Load Velocity Spread
Revolver 1 .451” Ball 28 Pyrodex P 835 fps 60
Revolver 2 .451” Ball 28Pyrodex P 699 fps 109
Revolver 2 .451 “ Ball 28 Goex FFFG 701 fps 78
Revolver 2 .451 “ Ball 24 H777 816 fps 96
Revolver 2 .451” Ball 28 Swiss FFFG 796 fps 87
The first was shot only with pyrodex and is quite a bit slower than the second revolver.


the LeMat makes a reliable and accurate revolver but the shot barrel is difficult to set off reliably due to the short hammer throw and other factors.