Pietta 1860 Army

[2wheelDuke]

This isn't exactly muzzleloading, but I guess this section is the closest for Cap & Ball.

I just bought a Pietta 1860 Army in the Swappin & Sellin section from Mac60. It was a great transaction with him. I got my new piece in the mail on Saturday.

Today I finally had time to go to Bass Pro for what I needed and go shoot.

Bass Pro was all out of .454 balls. They did have .451 balls, so I figured I'd try them. I also grabbed wonder wads and a pound of Goex FFFg. They didn't have #10 caps, only #11 magnum caps.

I scrounged thru my old stuff and found a partial tin of #10 caps that I probably bought in about 1998. I'm not sure if I bought the wrong thing or somehow wound up with them from my friend's single shot .36 cal. Anyhow, I was happy to have them.

I wound up having a heck of a time getting the wedge out to clean the gun before it's first firing. It was still in the factory cosmoline. I wound up banging up one of my brass punches. After a while, I resorted to padding the jaws of my vise and clamping the barrel in there. I was finally able to get it out with a steel punch. I managed to not booger things up at least.



That had me behind schedule, so I raced off to the range, only to get there and realize that I'd forgotten my powder flask.



I made do just pouring powder from the can into my measure, using a target backer to catch the excess.

I was happy to see that the .451 balls did shave a lead ring when seated.



I didn't see 1st 3 shots because they were high, on the edge of the paper. I had to aim almost a foot low to hit the center of the bull at 15 yards.

I didn't have a whole ton of time, so I only got to shoot 2 cylinders. It was fun, and I can't wait to mess with it more.

I also set the camera up and tried to get an action shot.



Now I need to tear it back apart for cleaning. I look forward to getting some more range time in.

[mikeym1a]

Sounds like you had fun,, in spite of everything. as to the sights, I read somewhere that the originals were regulated for 50 yards. Don't know if that is the case for your piece, but, just thought I'd mention it. Always wanted one. mikey

[Fly]

The wedge should never be driven in that hard.When you install the wedge, insert it till
you take most of the cylinder back & forth play from the cylinder, but leave about .003
to .005 of end play.

They all shoot high.I grind some off the top hammer sight on mine.Some install a higher
front sight.Some just ajust there shooting.

Have fun with that guy, Fly

[mac60]

I've driven to the range and forgotten stuff many times. It's usually my spotting scope or else my front rest. I even drove off and left a gun at the range. The owner called and described the gun and asked if it was mine. 25 mi. (one way) drive to go get it. Anyway, glad you got a little range time with!

[dondiego]

I press my barrel wedges in thumb tight only and then check for clearance of the cylinder. I have one Pietta that I can remove the wedge with my thumbnail! Hope to shoot a bunch of Cap and Ball this weekend when I head north for the morel hunt. Those are some elusive devils, those morels! I have bagged 29 nice ones so far near my home. My friend found over 400 up north.....heading north this weekend! The search continues!

[doc1876]

Black powder gets EVERYWHERE, take the whole thing apart, and use good Dawn and hot water. Dry well, and then grease everything. never use gun oil, as this is too thin, and after about 12 or so shots, it will lock up. Axel grease on the pin, keeps the cylinder running all day.

[Hickok]

They all shoot about 9 inches high at 25 yards, as I believe the combat zero was about 75 to 100 yards. You can make a nice new front sight out of a brass key. The front sight will drive out when hit from the rear, the flat side facing you when aiming.

You can trim the new piece of brass down for the elevation/zero you want.

I love the cap and ball revolvers.

[Omnivore]

When you install the wedge, insert it till you take most of the cylinder back & forth play from the cylinder, but leave about .003 to .005 of end play.

This subject deserves some more discussion. Ideally, the cylinder arbor is bottoming out inside the barrel when the wedge is pressed in, such that pushing the wedge in any farther makes no difference in cylinder gap. Most Piettas, I believe, are set up that way. That's why you hear the stories about difficulty in getting the wedge out on a new Pietta-- You can actually drive the wedge in "too hard" without locking up the cylinder.

Uberti's Colt repros on the other hand, are inherently "defective" in that installing the wedge also determines the cylinder gap (and the sight zero) depending on the depth to which the wedge is inserted. If you were to drive the wedge in on an Ubertu as tight as Pietta does it at their factory, the cylinder would be locked up tight, disabling the gun.

The fix in that case is to cut a shim plug to be inserted into the arbor bore in the barrel. The thickness of this plug will determine the cylinder gap, and keep the gap (and the sight elevation) consistent. I threaded my shim plug so it could be removed using a threaded rod, for the purpose of fine, "fit and try" adjustment.

Actually the "real" fix would be a new, longer cylinder arbor, but unless you're an expert gunsmith, or you want to pay for one, the shim works pretty well and is relatively easy to make and install.

Once again; If you're adjusting the cylinder gap according to how far the wedge is driven in, it is because of a defect in the gun's manufacture. Until it's been corrected you'll never have a consistent cylinder gap or sight regulation. Before I fixed it, I noticed my Uberti wedge would walk its way out a little bit while I was shooting.

These are VERY cheap guns, and compromises in manufacturer have to be made somewhere. Otherwise thay'd be priced like a S&W Custom Shop revolver.

If your Colt is set up properly, you'd push the wedge in hard with your thumbs, and then tap on it lightly a few times to seat it. Same for getting it out.

It wouldn't cost them a dime to install taller front sights so you could file them to your desired regulation, but then I've seen where people have complaigned about having to file the sights on a new muzzleloading rifle. I guess people expect to pay 300 dollars for a new gun and have it already sighted in by someone spending a half hour on that one process at the factory.

If your new 200 or 300 dollar gun shoots to POA, then you're very lucky, if not, get out your files or what have you, or make up the cost difference by spending another 500 or $1,000 on expert gunsmithing.

[tinsmith]

I installed a new higher front sight on my Pietta Colt 1860 Army last week. I used a piece of 1/8 thick brass and carefully filed and polished until it just tapped into the semi-circular slot in the barrel. It was tricky to do as that sight is so hard to hang on to when working on it! My new sight is a little over 3/16" high (not counting the part that fits in the slot). I shot the Pietta monday . At 25 yards off a rest, it grouped just a couple of inches high. BTW, from a rest, I placed all six shots in the black of a standard 25 yd pistol target at 25 yds. Not a target grade gun, but accurate enough to be fun. Looking forward to some more shooting as the weather improves.
Question: I was considering buying and trying some .44 felt "Wonder Wads" to place between the powder and ball. If I use these, do I still need to put BP revolver grease over the balls? It is messy and I would like to eliminate that step.

[dondiego]

If you use the wonder wads over the powder you shouldn't need the grease over the ball.