Accuracy load for 1858 Rem. New Army ?

ConRich

New member
I'm new to cap & ball type revolvers, have a Pietta 1858 New Army and looking for accuracy.

So far I've loaded .451" store bought balls and .454 " balls that I cast with a Lee mold, I used #10 Remington caps and 20 grs. of Pyrodex P, a wool wad, and enough COW to get the ball close to the face of the cylinder.

What can I do to reduce the size of my groups ?

Has anyone used mini balls, or REAL bullets in this type gun, and if so, what were the results.

Any advice will be appreciated,

Rich
 
I'm new to cap & ball type revolvers, have a Pietta 1858 New Army and looking for accuracy.

So far I've loaded .451" store bought balls and .454 " balls that I cast with a Lee mold, I used #10 Remington caps and 20 grs. of Pyrodex P, a wool wad, and enough COW to get the ball close to the face of the cylinder.

What can I do to reduce the size of my groups ?

Has anyone used mini balls, or REAL bullets in this type gun, and if so, what were the results.

Any advice will be appreciated,

Rich
Jump up to 25 gr to start with, and forget the filler. IMHO it is a waste.
It is inert and does nothing to improve power or velocity. And you aren't really saving any money.
Once at the 25 or even 30gr load, the ball will be traveling a tad faster and should stabilize better.
From there it is practice practice practice.
Once you are on paper, and get reasonably dialed in, go to a smaller target.
My target is a piece 4x4 (3 1/2 x 3 1/2) about 6 inches long, mounted vertically on a iron rod.
I hit way more than I miss. a soup can works well too. place in on the rod, open end down.
Stay with the round balls until you get reasonably proficient. Then there are numerous conicals you can try.
I custom cast 195 and 190 gr ones and prefer the 190's. More info??? PM me.
 
I conducted studies using my revolvers with and without filler, and found that using filler to keep the ball seated closer to the cylinder face always produced superior accuracy to not doing so.

Steve
 
In the first I will ask you to excuse my bad english.

I know nothing about Pyro. and other T7ven (we can't use it where I live). Normally I put 18.5gr BP Swiss Nr1 and one 38SP case of corn flour for .451" bullet. This bullet is at the higt of the cylinder, a bit grease and it works good enough for me...
There is an relatively old picture of a New Pietta Remington Army at his first day shooting.

I'm not sure the link will work right: http://www.cjoint.com/doc/15_06/EFpt5sE4zx1_1er-essai-Pietta.jpg

13 bullets like for the MLAIC and the 3 bad doesn't count....

Best regards.

Erwan
 
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Filler is what we all use here at the Nationals for accuracy and have been for
a good number of years. We all shoot here for one thing only, accuracy.
Everything here has been tried . Velocity doesn't mean a thing.
 
OK, I do use COW and a wad to bring the ball up close to the face of the cylinder. With a .454" ball, and Pyrodex P, approximately how much powder should it take to get me in the ballpark ?

I'm using 20 grs. now and getting 8 - 10" groups shooting offhand at 15 yds.
I can usually shoot 1-1/2" to 2" groups with my centerfire pistols at that range.

I read somewhere that real black powder would yield better accuracy than the substitutes like Pyrodex, if that's true, please tell me, I'll change.

I've also heard claims that mini ball and conical type bullets would yield better accuracy than round balls. Any comments on that ?

Any advice will be appreciated TIA,
Rich
 
I can only tell you what holds the revolver National records and what it takes to
win matches. Round ball, .454, Black Powder 16-20 grains Goex or Swiss FFF
Cream-of-wheat enough to get the ball to the face of the cylinder. There are
other things involved but this is what the guns requirements are. If anyone
disagrees with this please come to Friendship. And show us a better way.
We will listen.
 
Thanks Kwhi

Thanks, that is just what I needed to know. I've been reloading and shooting matches for many years now, all centerfire, so I know what you mean about the many other things that are involved, I'll sort those out in the learning process as this cap & ball game is very new to me.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction, I really appreciate your advise.

Rich
 
I use FFFg BP at 25m (27 yards) for training and championships.
I can't say anything about black powder substitutes, but an Pietta or an Uberti works good with only 15 to 18 grains of swiss FFFg (Swiss bottle called Swiss Nr1) and sufficient filling like corn meal or semolina for the precision: bullet top of the cylinder and with a bit grease...

Erwan.
 
Something to consider is the timing of the gun. I've had timing issues with new pietta revolvers, especially with extra cylinders. Check chamber/barrel alignment.
 
My pistols are meant as sidearms for hunting, and so I require performance as well figuring something about equivalent to a .44 Spl is minimum and .45 Colt is preferred.

My Pietta Remington NMA does best with 30 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford or Triple 7 powder with my 170 and 195 grn WFN bullets or even a ball. I get about 3.5" groups offhand at 15 yds.

I have considered trying felt wads to brin my projectiles closer to the face of the cylinder. Who wouldn't want better accuracy if it can easily be had?
 
This is what I am talking about at 25 yards 10 shots

Untitled33.jpg


The "10" ring is just a little over 3 inches in diameter. So this group is around 11/2 inches dia. Center to center.
 
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I am at the Nationals at this moment . Been here since Friday. Going to shoot
the 100 yd. pistol match tomorrow which is Wednesday. Wish me luck.
Phil
 
Sorry if you don't understand what I'm writing: I'm no more american that the last time... :-/

Good evening

The "10" ring is just a little over 3 inches in diameter.

The ten zone in USA is Ø3" ? Here te same zone is only Ø1" (25,4mm) and the largest ring of the ten is only 51mm for 25 and 50 meters...

In the picture I gave you can see nine bullets in the size of the zone of 51mm with an revolver used for the first day and first hour without banc: free hand (we says it like that where I live)...
That's why I have say that the accuracy is enough for me: that gives 94/100 points at 25 meters for the first shoot of this revolver. An sufficient shooting to go in national championship (in may I did 97/100 with an Artax).

For this first day I don't found it pretty good but promissing: normally my revolver is a remington Army .44" Artax an not a Pietta...

Please if somebody who can tell me the dimensions for the shooting target 25 and 50 meters in USA ? It is not urgent: now the summer is comming and I'm at the 100 meters stand with a Sharps .54" paper cartridges Pedersoli till september...

Best regards.

Erwan.

Edit: for me too, I use only Swiss 1 FFFg BP...
 
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