GatorFarmer
Member
What today is called the Remington 1858 revolver was something of an "also ran" compared to the Colt 1860s, selling fewer than the Colts at the time. Though the design benefited from a fire at Colts and contracts related to the Civil War.
Years ago, the gun was not even called the 1858, and was not available in 1858, often being called the Remington Army .44 or Remington New Army .44, the version as produced today is generally a copy of the improved 1863 model...but despite all that the gun is generally sold, in clone form, under the title of "1858 Remington".
Thanks to a cylinder that is easier to remove than a Colt and benefiting from a top strap familiar to modern tastes, the erstwhile 1858 revolvers are probably more popular now than ever and I believe outsell the Colt copies.
My particular example was made by Pietta in Italy quite recently and came to me as a percussion gun. I ordered mine online from Cabelas before Christmas during a sale. Thus a big bore blued steel and walnut revolver cost me only $199....plus five dollars for shipping.
Cap and ball black powder revolvers and replicas there of are not considered firearms under the GCA of '68, thus can ship to your door in most states.
Mine sat largely ignored until I ordered a conversion cylinder from Taylor's for it. A drop in part, this switches the gun from percussion to firing .45 Colt cartridges. Albeit a reload is unlikely because this particular design uses a two piece cylinder and plate that must he removed to load and unload. It sells for much less than a gated conversion though, running about $250.
Designed for use with cowboy ammunition, these cylinders come with warnings not to use jacketed ammo or anything over 850fps. However the issue with jacketed ammo is said to be related to wearing out the rifling in the clones more than anything else and many users of .45 acp conversion cylinders do apparently use generic fmj.
I believe a small quantity of suitable pressure jacketed ammo should be okay for my purposes, but that is an at your own risk proposition.
So I assembled it and for approximately $455 now have a slow and awkward to load .45 Colt single action.
My Pietta clone has a relatively short barrel at 5.5".
I actually plan to carry it. Plenty of people carry J frames without a reload and this should be a bit more effective. It also blends in well thematically in the cowboy state and should suffice given that elk, deer and wandering cows are the likely threat.
I have 225 grain bonded jhp within the allowed velocity range. If they seem problematic, I will load it with 250 grain flat nosed lead cowboy ammo at a claimed velocity of 750fps.
Aside from the slow reload, it seems to poke a large enough hole and was a modest total investment.
Years ago, the gun was not even called the 1858, and was not available in 1858, often being called the Remington Army .44 or Remington New Army .44, the version as produced today is generally a copy of the improved 1863 model...but despite all that the gun is generally sold, in clone form, under the title of "1858 Remington".
Thanks to a cylinder that is easier to remove than a Colt and benefiting from a top strap familiar to modern tastes, the erstwhile 1858 revolvers are probably more popular now than ever and I believe outsell the Colt copies.
My particular example was made by Pietta in Italy quite recently and came to me as a percussion gun. I ordered mine online from Cabelas before Christmas during a sale. Thus a big bore blued steel and walnut revolver cost me only $199....plus five dollars for shipping.
Cap and ball black powder revolvers and replicas there of are not considered firearms under the GCA of '68, thus can ship to your door in most states.
Mine sat largely ignored until I ordered a conversion cylinder from Taylor's for it. A drop in part, this switches the gun from percussion to firing .45 Colt cartridges. Albeit a reload is unlikely because this particular design uses a two piece cylinder and plate that must he removed to load and unload. It sells for much less than a gated conversion though, running about $250.
Designed for use with cowboy ammunition, these cylinders come with warnings not to use jacketed ammo or anything over 850fps. However the issue with jacketed ammo is said to be related to wearing out the rifling in the clones more than anything else and many users of .45 acp conversion cylinders do apparently use generic fmj.
I believe a small quantity of suitable pressure jacketed ammo should be okay for my purposes, but that is an at your own risk proposition.
So I assembled it and for approximately $455 now have a slow and awkward to load .45 Colt single action.
My Pietta clone has a relatively short barrel at 5.5".
I actually plan to carry it. Plenty of people carry J frames without a reload and this should be a bit more effective. It also blends in well thematically in the cowboy state and should suffice given that elk, deer and wandering cows are the likely threat.
I have 225 grain bonded jhp within the allowed velocity range. If they seem problematic, I will load it with 250 grain flat nosed lead cowboy ammo at a claimed velocity of 750fps.
Aside from the slow reload, it seems to poke a large enough hole and was a modest total investment.
