Remington 1858 New Improved Army Revolver

[Ovidio]

Hello Gentlemen,

in my quest for mental balance, I’m slowly starting to think about a further step in downshifting...
I saw a nice article about the Remington 1858 Army revolver, and about the conversions to cartridge loads.
Uberti makes one of those, that can be ordered with two cylinders, one for cap and ball, one for cartridge.
Anybody ever used or owned one?
Any suggestions or comments?
I like the idea of having one big, elegant revolver for cap and ball, black powder cartridge and normal .45 LC loads.
That could be my entry gun in muzzle loading arms or just black powder...
Somehow, that firearm just got me.
Could be my birthday present.

Information

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[Eaglelord17]

I have a 1858 Remington copy in .44, cap and ball. Its ok, a lot of effort though to shoot. Messy to clean, pain to load, I so far have only been able to shoot about 12rds in a row before the black powder fouling got too bad. Not a everyday range item for me, likely only once or twice a year will it be shot going forward.

[Ovidio]

That is why I was being temped by the convertion model. It can be shot with cartridge and, when you get masochistic, you can go cap and ball.
As a gun, do you like it?
Uberti, Pietta or Pedersoli? Or others?

[Eaglelord17]

Mine is a Pietta, I couldn't tell you the difference between the manufacturers or anything. I only bought it as it was a bit of a deal from a friend and came with all the accessories (bullet moulds, felt cutter, powder flask, etc.).

As far a it goes, it feels about as basic as a revolver can get. You have to flip the gun upside down everytime you cock it with a cap or you might drop the fired percussion cap behind the cylinder and jam it up. You don't really get to spend much time on accuracy as you really can't shoot it much. Reloading is a chore and cleaning is even more so. I wouldn't buy it again if I could go back in time, though now that I have it I am just going to keep it.

It is just a difficult gun to enjoy as the fun factor is heavily outweighed by the pain of use and as such is only going to be used on very rare occasions. I can think of many other guns I would rather put the money towards than another black powder revolver, for me the best way to enjoy black powder is with a rifle-musket as they are much easier to clean and are pretty satisfying (I am very excited to get my Parker Hale P53 Musketoon back on the range in the summer).

[Ovidio]

Thanks. That is quite a killing answer for the cap and ball version.
With cartridge, I guess that the gun would be quite more enjoyable.
I’ll see if I can get one in the hands before committing myself.
There are still a 1911 clone or a Colt 1873 in my sights, so...

[RCS]

I have converted both the Uberti Colt 1861 and 1851 to cartridge using incomplete revolvers found at gun shows years ago. I did have 38 S&W cylinders but had to make the ejector rod housings, recoil plates & firing pins and loading gates. I use hollow base bullets and Unique but you can also load black powder cartridges. Would never go back after using cartridges.

The S&W Russian is also Uberti in 44 Russian caliber, very nice to shoot and reloadAttachment 113886

[browningautorifle]

I had an 1858 army Remington and 1860 army Colt, both cap and ball. Both shared the hiccups and then a Remington 1858 new army came along in cartridge. Much better than C&B. I ended up selling them all to one man... All were repros but I forget what manufacture.

[RCS]

You could just purchase one of each variation and enjoy them both, the reproductions are not that expensive

photos show both my repro Colt 1851 revolversAttachment 113892Attachment 113893

[Aragorn243]

I must be in the minority but I have a lot of fun shooting cap and ball. I have a Walker I can't hit the side of a barn with but I used light loads as it was the first time I shot it and was paranoid about all the chambers going off at the same time. I have a Remington New Army and a Colt Navy. Also have a Colt Navy original that I'm not inclined to shoot, 1863. The others are all repros.

If I want to shoot a revolver, I'll take a revolver, have one in 45LC and a couple of 22's along with a couple Nagants. I think the entire purpose of having a cap and ball is to shoot it cap and ball. Took a young friend along for the Remington and we both had a lot of fun. The smoke, noise, etc. I don't shoot them often but I don't shoot anything often. Went three years once without going to the range. I was only there a couple times last year. Trying to conserve ammo now.

I also didn't find them hard to clean, easier than a rifle and I'm super paranoid about rust.

Summary, I think you need the right attitude to enjoy them. Base your purchases off that. Nothing wrong with not liking them, lots of things I don't like doing that others do.

[Patrick Chadwick]

No classic-automobile enthusiast would buy a Model-T Ford and then want to run it on dragster fuel.
Likewise, I just don't get the point of buying blackpowder guns and then wanting to use nitro-powders in them.

Yes, I'm old-fashioned. And getting a little bit older every day!