Conversion cylinder
- Thread starter tranders
- Start date
I now have a Howell for both my Colts and my Remingtons.
Given the pop-in pop-out nature of the remmi, I am quite happy with it, but for colt im thinking that a Kirst and ejection port would have been a better idea.
Even though the Howell Remington has 6 chambers you'll still need to load 5 if you intend on carrying it... So in essence they are both 5rnds as they come from the factory. I am thinking I may try to have a notch milled into it at some point, but Im ok with it at 5 for now, and dont see where the kirst would have been any better in this case.
Given the pop-in pop-out nature of the remmi, I am quite happy with it, but for colt im thinking that a Kirst and ejection port would have been a better idea.
Even though the Howell Remington has 6 chambers you'll still need to load 5 if you intend on carrying it... So in essence they are both 5rnds as they come from the factory. I am thinking I may try to have a notch milled into it at some point, but Im ok with it at 5 for now, and dont see where the kirst would have been any better in this case.
Howell only makes a 5 round cylinder for .45 Remingtons now. The old "R&D" they used to make had 6 rounds. Taylor's still sells the 6 round Remington. All of the .38 Remington cylinders are 6 round though.
I prefer the Howell 5 round for my .45 Remingtons. They have extra cylinder stop notches for safe 5 round use.
Model12Win
Moderator
Just sell it and buy a Rem '75.
Bishop Creek
New member
Old South Firearms has ungated Kirst "Pale Rider" 1858 Remington conversion cylinders on sale for $235. Good folks, I have purchased from them in the past. I have owned one these models for over a decade and it still works flawlessly in my 1858.
http://www.oldsouthfirearms.com/kirstkonverters.aspx
http://www.oldsouthfirearms.com/kirstkonverters.aspx
I have a Kirst for one of my Pietta NMA 1858's and a R&D for my Pietta 1860 Army.
The Kirst that Bishop Creek linked is what I have. You can cut the back plate and your gun allowing you to load cylinder while it's still in the gun.
Or take it off the gun to load it. This gives you more options.
The newest Kirst Conversion Cylinders have the loading gate which is nice.
The Kirst that Bishop Creek linked is what I have. You can cut the back plate and your gun allowing you to load cylinder while it's still in the gun.
Or take it off the gun to load it. This gives you more options.
The newest Kirst Conversion Cylinders have the loading gate which is nice.
44caliberkid
New member
You can't go wrong buying from Walt Kirst.
Keep an eye on gunbroker. I picked up one of my Pietta 1860 Army's used with a conversion cylinder for the price of a new conversion cylinder.
Example:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/778460653
Here's my Kirst:
And older R&D:
Example:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/778460653
Here's my Kirst:
And older R&D:
Last edited:
Aguila Blanca
Staff
I have owned two Remington 1858s. One of them was converted with an original R&D conversion cylinder, from back when they were 6-shot; the other was converted with a Kirst conversion. Both worked and shot well. I never bothered hogging out the loading gate area on the one with the Kirst, so for both I had to remove the cylinder from the gun to reload. as has been commented, that's easy enough to do with the Remingtons, not at all easy with a Colt 1851 or 1860.
If I were going it today, I would choose the Kirst with the loading gate, only because it makes for a more complete, more convenient conversion for firing metallic cartridges. That said, both the R&D and the Kirst are top shelf in quality.
If I were going it today, I would choose the Kirst with the loading gate, only because it makes for a more complete, more convenient conversion for firing metallic cartridges. That said, both the R&D and the Kirst are top shelf in quality.
Driftwood Johnson
New member
Howdy
I have two 1858 Remingtons with the original six shot 45 Colt R&D cylinders that Taylors sells.
Ken Howell took out a patent on his six shot cylinder for the 1858 Remington because six 45 Colt rims would not fit in a cylinder that size without interfering with each other. So Howell bored the chambers at a slight angle, less than 1/2 of one degree, so there would be room for six 45 Colt rims without interfering with each other. No, the slight angle does not make any difference in accuracy, these Remingtons are the most accurate 45 Colt revolvers I own, more accurate than my Colts, clones, or Rugers.
For some reason, Ken sold his patent rights to Taylors. Taylors now has somebody else making their cylinders. Because he sold his patent, Howell cannot make a cylinder with angled chambers. So the only six shot cylinder he offers for the 1858 Remington is chambered for 44 Colt, not 45 Colt. Do not make the mistake of buying that one.
Personally, I never saw the need to put a gate on my Remmies. It is so simple to pop the cylinder out for loading and unloading, that I never saw the need for a loading gate. Plus, you need an ejector to pop out the rounds if you have a loading gate.
On top of that, using the six shot cylinder without a loading gate, I can pop the original C&B cylinder back in if I want to shoot my Remmies as Cap & Ball.
Yes, the cylinders are expensive. My excuse is that I bought my Remmie so long ago (1975) that it had long ago amortized its expense, so buying the cylinder was like buying a new cartridge gun for just the price of the cylinder.
Not long after I converted my first Remmie, I lucked into a used Uberti Stainless Remington that came with the R&D cylinder for a great price.
I have two 1858 Remingtons with the original six shot 45 Colt R&D cylinders that Taylors sells.
Ken Howell took out a patent on his six shot cylinder for the 1858 Remington because six 45 Colt rims would not fit in a cylinder that size without interfering with each other. So Howell bored the chambers at a slight angle, less than 1/2 of one degree, so there would be room for six 45 Colt rims without interfering with each other. No, the slight angle does not make any difference in accuracy, these Remingtons are the most accurate 45 Colt revolvers I own, more accurate than my Colts, clones, or Rugers.
For some reason, Ken sold his patent rights to Taylors. Taylors now has somebody else making their cylinders. Because he sold his patent, Howell cannot make a cylinder with angled chambers. So the only six shot cylinder he offers for the 1858 Remington is chambered for 44 Colt, not 45 Colt. Do not make the mistake of buying that one.
Personally, I never saw the need to put a gate on my Remmies. It is so simple to pop the cylinder out for loading and unloading, that I never saw the need for a loading gate. Plus, you need an ejector to pop out the rounds if you have a loading gate.
On top of that, using the six shot cylinder without a loading gate, I can pop the original C&B cylinder back in if I want to shoot my Remmies as Cap & Ball.
Yes, the cylinders are expensive. My excuse is that I bought my Remmie so long ago (1975) that it had long ago amortized its expense, so buying the cylinder was like buying a new cartridge gun for just the price of the cylinder.
Not long after I converted my first Remmie, I lucked into a used Uberti Stainless Remington that came with the R&D cylinder for a great price.
Bishop Creek
New member
I own both Kirst and Howell (R&D) conversion cylinders for my .44 and .36 cal 1858 Remington's and neither one required any fitting at all. Both dropped right into my Pietta 1858s. Your mileage may vary.
I got my 1860 conversion from Taylors, where I had also gotten the gun.. It was a total drop in fit for me. Picked up the 1858 one right here from Gasmandave (who was awesome to deal with BTW) and was pretty much exactly like the one from Taylors, except designed for the Remmi... Not sure if originally came from there or not as it was used when Dave got it as well, but it sure seems to be the one they advertise.. It was a 100% drop in as well. Cant really speak for the Kirst as Ive never tried one, and as stated by BC your millage may very with any of them. As I understand it though, fitting it isnt really a big deal if it does need it.