Pietta 1860 Aemy manual interpretation needed

[Mr_Sheesh]

Hi all - Doing my research here on these, the manual is downloadable as a PDF file from Pietta, which is nice, BUT. Reading it, the loading sequence says to fire caps to clear the nipples, then:

Place hammer at half cock position (loading cock position) and rotate cylinder to remove all spent caps. Hold the muzzle upward. Using a revolver powder measure, pour a measured charge into a chamber.

Rotate cylinder. Repeat procedure for the other chambers. Lay a pre-cut patch or a dose of semolina over the muzzle.

In that last line, I am guessing they mean over each powder charge, in each cylinder, from past experience? I wish they'd say what they meant! Just wondering if I'm guessing right here, tho, best to make SURE.

[Beagle333]

Yes, this would be the point after loading the powder where you would add the lubed felt wad to each cylinder, and with your finger, push it in just enough to sit the ball on the chamber (trying to keep the wad from turning sideways as you fit it in there). You don't ever push anything down the barrel of a revolver. Then you would put the ball on the wad and advance the cylinder to line up with the loading lever.

Be sure you pack the ball and wad down firmly on the powder charge. You don't want any space between powder and ball.
Have fun!!

[Mr_Sheesh]

Thank you - Thought so, it must be an Italian/English translation error or something.

[rodwha]

I don't waste caps. If you feel you need to swab the chambers use a patch with a little rubbing alcohol which will evaporate fairly quick, or even a wet patch first.

I always felt it best to completely load each chamber before I rotated to the next. No way to accidentally spill anything or miss a chamber.

[pietro]

.

FWIW, I've been shooting a Pietta M-1860 for over 30 years, and have never needed or used a patch between powder & ball.

The ball should be large enough to shave a thin ring off as it's seated in the chamber mouth, which seals the front of the chamber - also though some folks like to spread a dollop of Crisco or other lard atop the balls after all chambers are loaded, to keep hard fouling at a minimum.

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[quail4jake]

SEMOLINA?! No wonder the Italians lost the war...not only were they putting pasta in their guns, when Mussolini ordered shells they sent him rigatoni! ay marrone!:veryconfu

[Atlast357]

Thank you - Thought so, it must be an Italian/English translation error or something.
Yep, here we use Corn Meal as a filler between powder and ball. Ialian would be "acorn amealia"

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'll start with the wads, the manual wants me to limit myself to 13.0-15.0 Gr. FFFg but I'm told the Max is 30.0 so I may try about 25 grains, working up as I get to work with it.

I understand they come with LOTS of oil in the cylinder, so I'll likely rinse it out with lighter fluid or the like to start. rodwha, loading each cylinder in turn makes sense, probably a faster procedure, I imagine neither of us will CAP the cylinders until they're all loaded though, not saying you would. I tease a LOT and tend to joke that I still have all remaining 3 fingers (tho I count 8 + 2 thumbs) just to tease folks :) Humor's fun.

I ordered .454 balls and a mold so I'm planning on the ring sheared off during seating, some say .451 will do but I really don't like the idea of a chain fire much, seriously... I may try Cream of Wheat instead of the wads (same thing really as Semolina) for a fire blocker, probably not a flavored CoW though. (I have some OLD chocolate that I should just toss out, next time I get to that area of the place.) Or instead of that maybe Crisco, none here at this time but I can get it.

[Atlast357]

Mr Sheesh, your heading in the right direction starting with light loads and .454 round balls, however
Cream of Wheat, Corn Meal or Semolina is a filler not fire blocker. The object is fill the cylinder chambers
with powder/filler to insure when ball is seated there is no ,zero ,nada air space between ball and powder.
Black powder needs to be packed for proper ignition and burn to yield a proper burn.
Don't worry about chain fires or mess with wads just yet. 25 grains fffg is a good load to begin. Top off almost ( 1/4 ") to top of chamber with filler then add the ball and seat it tight..........let us know how you did.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Have to get everything and get out to the field somewhere, if I popped that off a few times HERE I'd be in trouble. Unreasonable neighbors LOL

[Dan Cash]

Hi all -Using a revolver powder measure, pour a measured charge into a chamber.

Rotate cylinder. Repeat procedure for the other chambers. Lay a pre-cut patch or a dose of semolina over the muzzle.[/COLOR][/B]

In that last line, I am guessing they mean over each powder charge, in each cylinder, from past experience? I wish they'd say what they meant! Just wondering if I'm guessing right here, tho, best to make SURE.

At the risk of being called over critical, let me help you say what you mean. You manual refers to the (singular) cylinder and multiple chambers bored there in. The chambers are not cylinders though they are cylindrical in form.

[rodwha]

My BP guns are meant to be hunting firearms. Instead of searching for the most accurate load as many who compete do, which is generally where the fillers are used as it not only takes up the gap as the rammer can only seat the projectile so deep, but also to bring the projectile closer to the mouth of the chamber. I looked across the information available and started with more energetic powders (I use 3F Olde Eynsford and Triple 7) and began at 25 grns using my custom bullets, which gives them roughly .44 Spl performance. However the most accurate (despite the projectile used) load has been 30 grns according to my adjustable rifle measure. Weighing 30 grns volume of Olde E shows about 33 grns weight. This is easily .45 ACP performance.

My chambers ran about .446" with my bore being .452". That's a bit much to obturate to fill so I had the chambers reamed to .449" and chamfered and use .457" balls as I have a ROA as well. But I don't shoot balls much anymore as I prefer a bullet with a wide meplat.

Some people prefer to use the largest ball (.457") as they claim it to be more accurate. Some of the data I've seen shows that the larger ball increases the velocity. As there's a longer driving band to create friction and slightly more mass to get moving this makes sense. I don't know if using a .457" in an unmodified Pietta is a good idea though. Not sure how much additional stress that adds and whether it's enough to bend any parts of the loading assembly or not. I don't notice any additional force necessary to load on mine but some feel it's not good.

[mazo kid]

That manual may be a kind of generic rifle/revolver manual. Never use patches over the powder in a cap and ball revolver! As was mentioned above, you want to shave a thin ring of lead when pushing the ball home. Also, is your gun a steel or brass frame? If brass, then stick to the lower charges to help prevent shooting "loose".

[Mr_Sheesh]

Steel frame, the 1860 Army by Pietta.

Dan Cash, true, tho I was thinking I'd typed "in the cylinder" not "in each cylinder", oops.

[Gtek]

A can of Brake clean with that magic little plastic tube is a nice thing to have with you, just be careful around the wood.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I'm still trying to figure out the whole cleaning thing, a muzzeloader rifle's a lot easier to clean :)