1858 Remington Hot Loading

[sirdonas]

Hey all!!!

I just got a Pietta (Cabella's) Remington 1858 New Army Target .44 black powder revolver.

I'm curious as to what the max grains of powder the thing will safely take with the typical .451 round ball.

Anybody know?

[pkuptruck]

the MAX load recommended by ANYONE for this piece, is 40 grains...

Afterall, it isnt a WALKER or MAGNUM pistol...

that being said, I have used up to 45 grains, without any incident..
( and by incident I mean, it fits the cylinder with ball... it did not
(for me) cause chain fires.... it did not detonate......

Make DAMN sure you grease the front of the cylinders before you shoot
it as well, no matter what load you use...

( FYI - I have 4 of these... two cabelas type piettas, and two traditions ( also piettas) brass framed ones. I have 6 total extra cylinders fitted to the blue ones... for quick reloads... )

[sirdonas]

Yeah, from what I've read 35 seems to be a pretty good load to use. Too much more than that and powder is still igniting a foot out in front of the barrel! LOL

[45/70fan]

You can load those black powder revolvers to max recommended loads but don't expect to consistently hit what your shooting at. I've been shooting black powder pistols for close to 40 yrs, the most accurate loads are usually down around 20-25 grs of 3Fg black.
Revolvers are more sensitive to powder charge variations than are single shot rifles and pistols, once you find a charge that your particular gun shoots well don't vary.
When loading a black powder revolver you must use a pure lead ball that when rammed into the chamber/cylinder there is a ring of lead shaved off. Secondly ram the ball into the chamber to a consistent depth time after time. Seat the ball just deep enough to get some grease on top of and around the ball and the cylinder can still revolve. To do this what I recommend is that you use some type of filler on top of the powder, ie: corn meal, cream of wheat, fiber wads, etc.
A typical load in my 44 cal Ruger old army is a .457 Round ball, 25 gr of 3Fg powder, 1/2 of a 38 spl case filled with corn meal. (this is a case cut in half with a wire handle soldered into the flash hole and dipped into a container of corn meal). Top the ball with a suitable grease, I use crisco.
The corn meal filler and grease will insure you don't get a chain fire, plus it keeps the barrel lubricated and powder residue on cylinder face soft so the cylinder will continue to revolve after multiple shots.
The various brands of black powder revolvers all use slightly different diameter lead balls varying between .450 to .454 with the Rugers using a
.457 ball and .454 hollow base bullet. The trick is to find a ball diameter that shaves a ring of lead from each chamber, chamber diameters do vary in individual guns and from mfg to mfg. If you use a black powder substitute make sure it is one recommended for pistols.
Have a safe and fun time shooting your BP revolvers.

[BoBBerRider2009]

best load i have had with my colt 1860 army .44.is 35 gr 3f,a fiber wad,.454 ball and wonder-lube the wad and the ball then load..i use magnuim caps. im shooting bout 2-2.5 groups at 50 yards on a bench rest and i can make deer grouping at 60 ..i have actually took mine out and shot two deer with it last year..it dropped them dead.. hit em just behind the shoulders and that ill do it and the ball was moving so slow when it got through the skin it took everything out within a 3" circle all the way through it it is pretty devastating if ya hit em good and close about 60 yards max..

[sirdonas]

i took it out last weekend for the first time. at 35 I hit an 18 paper target once out of 6, at about 27 I hit it 3 out of 6. Granted that wasn't on a rest or anything, but I can sure see how drastic of an effect the different loading has. I may take it out again this weekend to see what else I come up with. will keep y'all posted.

Thanks again for all the advice!