Finally shot my 1858 Remington for the first time yesterday.

[hunter64]

After acquiring all the paraphernalia that one needs for a BP revolver I finally made it to the range yesterday to try it out for the first time. Loaded with 20 grn.'s to start, wonder wads then bullet, capped her up and let loose. Oh my goodness this was fun. I pulled the cylinder and to see how dirty the barrel was and it wasn't to bad, pulled a brush thru and a couple of patches and continued on. Loaded 25 and 30 grains and I could keep all the shots on the 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper. Tried to see how long I could go without it binding up and I got 3 cylinders full and then it quit. I made some paper cartridges of just measured amounts of powder and they worked great. Just dropped them in each cylinder and put a wad over top seated it down and then the ball and caps, really sped the reloading time up. Next time I would like to run it off some sandbags and get some accuracy work going. Cleaned it up at the range with some moosemilk and set it aside to play with other stuff. I cleaned it when I got home and since I hadn't taken it apart since I bought it used I totally stripped it down, nothing to it. The insides didn't have any black powder residue on them. Cleaned everything with hot water/soap and put it in the oven on a cookie sheet for 10 min at 150F. After I pulled them out and oiled everything with olive oil and put it in the safe. I just pulled it out and checked it and no rust and everything is good. It was alot of fun and very addictive.

Do you guys break it down totally every time or just every other time or what is normal for the innards to be cleaned? I was thinking of taking a big plastic jar/barrel of some kind filled with soapy water to the range and after I was done, take off the grips and put the whole revolver in the jar. Any thoughts?

[waksupi]

Hunter, I do believe the olive oil is going to gum up the works. Stick to some light gun oil, like Ed's Red.

[floodgate]

hunter:

I usually take them completely down for cleaning; including pulling the nipples and "pumping" the washing solution thru the chambers. An old-old-timer taught me to use COLD water for the first wash, then finish with boiling hot - the cold water seems to break down the fouling better. I wipe all the parts down while still warm with RIG on my hands, a rag, and pipe cleaners for screw-holes and nipples; then re-assemble and wipe down the outside once again. I've never had a rust problem, working this way, and I tend to store them for months / years before I get the bug to shoot them once again.

floodgate

[Bull Schmitt]

Visit the SCORRS (http://www.scorrs.org) (Society of Remington Revolver Shooters) for a lot of info on shooting these revolvers

[hunter64]

Bull thanks for the link, didn't know they existed and thanks for the other suggestions, I think I have been bitten by the BP bug.