'58 Rem. progressive twist?

[dualsport]

I recently acquired a old Hawes Italian 1858 Remington .44. In researching this model (a new one to me) I saw a reference to the originals having progressive twist rifling. True? Any repros have it? Thanks.

[Omnivore]

Pietta makes a repro they call the "Shooter's" model;
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_187_189&products_id=4098
It is said to have progressive rifling, as are the originals.

[Omnivore]

I used to think I knew what "progressive rifling" meant, but now I'm not sure.

There is a guy on YouTube, called capnball I think (or maybe it's cap&ball or cap-n-ball), who has demo'ed a lot of really nice original percussion guns. He described the "progressive rifling" on an old revolving carbine as progressive depth, wherein the land diameter is larger at the breech, making for shallower rifling, and the land diameter gets smaller toward the muzzle, making for deeper grooves.

I thought progressive rifling meant a progressive twist. Maybe there are both types, depending on the maker. Dixie doesn't specify-- they just say "progressive rifling" rather than "progressive twist" or "progressive depth" or some such.

[bob208]

the term should be gain twist. starts slow and gets faster at the muzzle. progressive rifling generaly means progressive deeper at the breach and getting tighter at the muzzle like a choke. the 61-63 springfields had progressive rifling.

[dualsport]

Pietta makes a repro they call the "Shooter's" model;
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_187_189&products_id=4098
It is said to have progressive rifling, as are the originals.

WOW! It's nice but $750?!

[HARRYMPOPE]

i believe it refers to progressive depth rifling.thats what the British called what they did on .577 muskets anyhow

George

[Omnivore]

WOW! It's nice but $750?!

If it's a high quality revolver, it's in the price range of many others. I've never had the pleasure of trying the Shooter's model, but those who own them say they're very happy with them-- that you've never really tried a '58 Rem until you've tried the Shooter's model or an excellent original.

I can say that both my Pietta and Uberti are OK, but they have little quirks like a rough forcing cone or a loading ram that's not fit quite right, or a slightly rough bore, etc., along with a finish that's more utilitarian than beautiful. But what can we expect for the low price? I'm somewhat in awe that they can turn these out at all for that 200 to 300 dollar street price.

I've considered lapping the bore in the Pietta, using a tapered mandrel, to create a progressive depth rifling, lapping the forcing cone to remove the deep tool marks, reaming the chambers to 29/64ths (.453"), reaming the loading ram bore and making a new ram that fits tighter in alignment with the chambers and has a tad more length at the back, but that's a pretty tall project considering I'd have to build tooling for it. Might be "cheaper" to buy the Shooter's model, but it depends whether a person has more money or more time (I seem to be short on both). These repros don't appear to be very serious attempts at gunsmithing-- more like they were simply trying to meet a price point and still end up with something that functions (more or less). Still and all, they are both fun and educational to play with and sometimes they are good shooters in spite of their shortcomings.