I got a GREAT birthday present......Pair of Remington 1858's

[oldracer]

Last week I was looking around on GunBroker and there were a pair of consecutive numbered ASM 1858 Remington new model revolvers. I mentioned to my wife who was near by they would be a nice birthday present and that she could afford them easily. She surprised me and said go ahead and get them if they are in good shape so I contacted the seller and they had been shot a cylinder load in each one and the owner had decided black powder was too much trouble! They had been cleaned, had no rust and they were guaranteed to be in good shape so I got them. Sure enough they are neat and in great shape. I have wads, balls and spent an hour last night making a tool that allows me to pull the nipples for cleaning.

Pretty nice birthday present I'd say and tomorrow I'll try them out during my RO duty day at lunch time. The trigger pull is much lighter than the Colt-Walker I used to have so they should do well.
John

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Happy Birthday! If one is nice, two are always better!

[RED BEAR]

That sounds like you cleaned up. Happy birthday.

[arcticap]

I once bought an unfired ASM Remington that had a frame that was made with non-magnetic stainless steel.
I think that the frame was painted instead of blued to save on finishing costs or to help better color match the blued barrel and cylinder.
I would have never known that it was non-magnetic other than I had decided to put a magnet to it for no reason.
At first I thought it was aluminum until I put it on a scale to compare its weight and realized that would have been impossible.
It was made in 1999 and proof marked "BM".
It had a serial number that began with the letter "E" stamped on the bottom of the grip frame and the number "300" was stamped on the barrel under the loading lever.
ASM made some real museum pieces.

oldracer, what's the proof date code stamped on your 2 ASM Remingtons?
It's usually 2 letters inside of a small box on the side of the frame [or Roman numerals].









The frame also had a small casting mark above the trigger guard.

[oldracer]

Thanks for the info, I took a look and the frame is marked "BM" on both guns so they were made in 1999 probably. The last two numbers on the bottom of the gun a xxx66 and xxx67 which the fellow who was selling them said it is hard to get consecutive serial numbers? One had been fired as the area around the nipples was not super clean and the cylinder of the other doesn't appear to have ever been turned as there are no marks on it.

What load did you use on yours as I an thinking of 40 grains of Goex FFG as that is what I used in the Colt-Walker I had although I used 50 grains I think? The FFG worked okay although many forums say to use FFFG but there doesn't seen to be a lot of difference?
John

[JBinMN]

Happy B-day! & Great deal on the revolvers!

[KCSO]

Just make sure when you put the nipples on you get them tight. If they are loose this will cause chain fire.

[toot]

Remington's rule!!!

[Texas by God]

About 30 grains of 3f to start. If the loading lever opens itself when you fire; that's too much

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[Jkrem]

Happy birthday TbG

[northmn]

A Remington replica only holds a limited amount of powder and I doubt you can load 40 grains of black. I enjoyed loading about 35 grains in my Colt/Remington replicas. As stated, makes sure the nipples are tight and grease the ball. We used to have a fun event where we would time it and see how fast you could knock wood blocks of a plank. Kind of like modern bowling pin.
DEP

[KCSO]

I shoot Remington's 45,36 and 32 for fun and target. In the 44 I use a 38 special case 28 grains of FFFG and a wad and either a ball or a lee bullet, depending on the target. That is way plenty for anything you might need the gun for. Check out Mike Cumpston's Percussion revolvers for the exact figures on fps and energy. The 36 uses 20 grains of FFFg and a wad and a ball.

You don't need a max load to kill paper or rabbits you want accuracy. With the right load for your gun you should expect 2-3" at 25 yards.

[oldracer]

Thanks for the info about the book on percussion revolvers as I got a copy of it. I copied it to my iPhone so I can read it when waiting at the doctors office for me or my wife as we both have lots of appointments now days!
John

[trails4u]

I love my '58 Remi.....and my Colt lovin' buddy hates it! I also have some Colts.....probably a few more than the Remis, but I love, love, love breakin' out the '58 and shooting as well as he can!

[charlie b]

A Remington replica only holds a limited amount of powder and I doubt you can load 40 grains of black. I enjoyed loading about 35 grains in my Colt/Remington replicas. As stated, makes sure the nipples are tight and grease the ball. We used to have a fun event where we would time it and see how fast you could knock wood blocks of a plank. Kind of like modern bowling pin.
DEP

I used to load mine with as much powder as I could fit under the ball (no wad). IIRC 35gn or so was about all that would fit. I made a spout for my powder flask that would pour that amount. Muzzle velocity was somewhere in the 1400fps range. Fun to shoot.

[mazo kid]

A belated happy birthday, sounds like you treated yourself well. As others have stated, you won't get Walker-type loads in that shorter cylinder. Loose nipples cause chain fires? I have been shooting percussion revolvers for 47 years and never heard that before. Loose caps....maybe. Lots of opinions on the cause. You will want pure or very soft lead to cast into round balls. A thin "washer" of lead should be shaved off the ball when loading it into the cylinder. Use either a lube cookie (or lubed wad) under the ball or apply grease over it when loading. Good luck, and have fun with your new toys!

[oldracer]

Well they sure shoot! Ran two cylinders through each one and they shot the center out of my target at 25 yards. I bought one of the RMC nipple wrenches this week and made sure all were tight. I used 30 grains of FFG Goex and that went bang very well.