Some more black powder pistol questions......

[cciota]

I received my Remington 1858 New Army pistol from Cabela's a couple of days ago. A very nice pistol. I have taken it apart, cleaned it and read the manuals that came with it. One manual was from Cabela's and one was the manufacturer of the pistol, F.LLI Pietta. Here are a couple of questions I have.

#1. The Cabela's suggested load of FFFG for the .44 caliber with a .451 ball is 35 grains of black powder and 28 grains of Pyrodex with a .451 ball. The manufacturers suggestion is 12 grains min. and 15 grains max with a .454 ball. Why is the manufacturer so much lower? Everything else I have read suggests around 30 grains.

#2. Should I take the nipples out of the cylinder and put some type of anti sieze lubricant on the threads before firing it.

#3. When I cycle the plunger into the cylinders, it wants to hang up on a couple of the cylinders. Will this smooth out after using it a few time? Or do I need to do a little "fine tuning"?

I'm going to the local gun show tomorrow and seeing if I can find a few more things that I need. Hopefully, I can get out Sunday and do some shooting with it. Thanks for the help guys!

[mriddick]

I can't say on why the difference, maybe it's just the manufacturer being cautious? I use 19 in mine BTW but really with the restriction of length in the cylinder I doubt you could blow one up if you tried... But I'm still staying with 19grs it's a comfortable load to shoot and accurate enough for me.

Anti seize on the nipples probably can't hurt, I've never used it and have found only out one nipple out of 6 will stick :)

They will smooth out after some use, it might be best to dry cycle it some and see how it does (do not dry fire on the nipples).

[alismith]

To answer your questions:

1) Go with the higher charge. I have no idea why the manufacturer has such a low charge unless it has something to do with libel suits. They cylinder can't hold so much BP that it becomes dangerous. If you overload it, the only problem you'll have is you won't be able to fully seat the ball.

2) Take the nipples out of the cylinder, clean them, then dry them off before reinstalling them. Any liquid lubricant you might put in will only foul the powder charge. It's better to just dry it completely, then put them back in.
The only time I lubricate anything on my pistols is when I know I'm not going to be shooting them for a while, but just before I do shoot them, I take them apart, dry them completely, then load them. BP acts llike a sponge to any type of liquid that comes near it.

3) The cylinder should smooth out with use. If it doesn't, then maybe some fine tuning will help.

Good luck with your new pistol. Let us know how well it shoots when you take it out.

[old Grump]

Different gun but basically same concerns. I have a Ruger old Army 45 caliber using .457 round ball and my first load out of it was a suggested 45 gr of FFFg powder. Well I made a lot of smoke, a lot of fire and shot a 4" group at 8 yards.

Since then I discovered most use corn meal fillers and felt wads and grease up the chambers after the ball or bullet is in place and I do none of this. I have gone down to 20 grains with the same powder and ball and get 4" groups at 30 yards. I have never tried it farther than that and have no intention of using it for a hunting gun. That light load is almost like shooting a 22 but with way more smoke and more fun. Oh yeah, the holes are a lot bigger too.

This is shooting from a rest, not so small standing up on my hindlegs and shooting one handed. Then I am minute of gallon jug full of water accurate. Anti-seize on the nipples yes I do, just a teeny dab. As far as cleaning it I just take it apart and take frame, cylinder and brush into the shower with me and get both of us clean at the same time. I love stainless steel.

I have a couple of chambers I have to squirrel around a little to get the plunger to go in but in spite of my ball being seated deep inside the chamber and not up front where they tell you is the most accurate it doesn't seem to hurt anything. I don't have any gobs of lead being shaved off as far as I can tell and my groups are pretty consistent. I wouldn't want a good shooter shooting at me with it. Even with my powder puff loads.

[Kadmos]

Rule of thumb with these is to start a bit less than 1/2 of the caliber.

figure about 20 grains of FFFg to start.

Assuming you have a steel frame, you really can't put too much powder in these.

Once you get around 35-45 grains its going to overflow anyway. Just make sure you are only compressing it with a wad and ball, or just ball and you really can't overdo it from a safety standpoint.

You will however waste powder that way. Somewhere between 20 and 35 grains it will probably be most accurate. A lot of people find the 27-32 range to be the best.

Yes, get those nipples off before you fire it. Be careful and use a good wrench. They are usually on way too tight and dealing with a stuck one later will suck.

I use a touch of oil on the threads of each, then snug (not tighten them down) and never have a problem. I just touch the oil spout to the threads, so thats less than a drop, but pretty covered.

If you like you can put a cap on each chamber and blow out the oil before the first load of the day, but I don't find it to be necessary.

Yeah the plunger will wear in a bit, if you want to you can sand it down a bit, thats up to you.

BTW Perma-blue seems to be a real good match on these guns, so if you sand, or after some wear, it's pretty easy to touch up.