Help With Pietta Remington 1858!!!

K

Kog73

Inactive
Hello, uk shooter here, who's just gotten into blackpowder shooting after having gotten his firearm certificate.

Anyway, I recently bought a Pietta 1858 long barrel (12") and was able to do some further browsing and got a second hand pistol stock for it (shown below, i've compared it with a standard replica of glock pistol of some sort, to getan idea of it's length)

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But im getting a real issue with powder burns on my face from,what i imagine, is powder residue from the the cylinder blasting into my face. I'm wondering what the best way of solving this problem is? (other than growing a thick beard)

I've recently purchased a set of safety goggles, and im tempted to wear a thick balaclava whilst shooting as well (not sure if it'd catch on fire though, any thoughts on this!) but I would like to try to find a way of reducing the residue going on my face somehow, as it's hard to concentrate on shooting whilst bracing myself for the puff of powder in my face...

Thanks for any and all help,

Kog,

Liam

oh if it helps, im using a load of 13-13.5 grains of triple se7en, semolina as filler and remington percussion caps. I tend to wax the bullets as well before loading them in
 

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Good luck! If you grow a beard, you will probably set it on fire. Those shoulder stocks are more show than go.
 
Liam try shooting without any filler, it doesn't help accuracy anyhow, but it WILL burn when heated by gunpowder. Then change from using lube over the ball to a lubed wad (or lube pill made out of tallow, paraffin and beeswax), over the powder and under the ball. The more flammable material you put before the powder, the more burning residue gets thrown out of the chamber between it and the forcing cone. I used to have a Colt 51 carbine by Pietta and the fouling blowback was minimal using the wad etc. Good luck.
 
I think you need new nipples: Treso or Track of the Wolf stainless steel. If you're getting that much blowback the nipple flash holes are too large.
 
Kog

BTW,

If you are able to completely obviate the powder-in-the-face syndrome, you will have killed about 33% of the fun.

I am only half kidding here. Every time I shoot I get powder in my face. Apparently not to the extent you are experienceing though.

Here is a long shot......

Remingtons tend to have a stout hammer pull. I THINK (and I only think because I do no know) that the high spring tension may have the affect of holding the hammer more tightly over the nipple upon detonation (not exactly the correct term but I am too lazy to think about it) and reducing movement of the hammer away from the nipple as the powder burns and the gases expand.

If your hammer cocks very easily, you might want to investigate spring tension. In some Remingtons the set screw which holds the hammer spring in place while the grips are removed also provides a minimal hammer spring tension adjustment. Get hold of the right sized screw driver and carefully check that the set screw is tight.

Here it would be helpful to learn, from those who have reduced spring tension through a modification, if the mod has resulted in any increase in the pressure which vents through the nipple.
 
If you hold a revolver like a rifle, close to your face, you'll get more crap in that same face that you would not if you held the gun at arm's length. Apparently that was a common problem with the original revolving rifles.
I'd be concerned about the left hand if it's held in front of the cylinder.
 
Its kinda the nature of the beast but Im with sltm1 change your load and try to keep yourself back as far as you can, I have a 51 with stock and I dont have problems with it and I load 20 grains with lubed felt wad.
 
Thanks fo all the replies guys, much appreciated,

sltm1 - that sounds a great idea i'd never thought of, i'll probably switch over to wads for when im using the stock, my club seems to have a massive grudge over those wads for some reason (not as large as their grudge to pyrodex though...)

mykeal - Nipples are not the problem, when i purchased the gun (second hand) i replaced all nipples as they'd all been worn down, and these new nipples have very small holes, they have difficulty igniting pyrodex with normal caps, thus the `hot` remington caps and triple se7en are what i've switched to.

pohill - i place my left hand, on the trigger, that's right! i'm one of the rare left handed shooters out there, but my dominant eye is also my left eye, so no issues, my right hand is cuping my the original pistol stock and part of my left hand, nowhere near the cylinder, if that's what you're wondering

Noelf2 - No, this isn't precussion cap fragments, the whole right side of my face is peppered with small circular cuts and a large rash, to which one of the club members said it was `powder burn` and it does look as though someones put hot powder at my face

Doc Hoy - Indeed i have, great to see so much help in such little time!

Powder in my face doesnt bother me (love the smell of it!) and only requires a quick wash off, but the peppered cuts are annoying, and i wouldnt want to risk getting any in my eye (that's why i bought safety goggles straight after)

Im not quite sure what you're trying to say with regards to cocking of the hammer though, sorry, but i'll just say the hammer on my gun, doesn't pull back any easier than over blackpowder pistols that i've shot at the club, however it does get a notorious case of cylinder binding (getting some decent wax for the pin next time im shopping!)


Thank for all the replies guys, look forward to shooting with less hassle next week, providing i can pick some wads up locally! (although i have bought another blackpowder pistol that I need to go collect in a fortnights time, for a bit more fun!)

Kog,

Liam
 
I guess you could always shoot it wearing a welder's mask.. ;) I have the same Pietta 1858 Buffalo model that you have, less the shoulder stock. Was considering getting a shoulder stock for it, but got an 1858 carbine instead. Never shot the carbine with percussion caps though. Converted it to 45LC to avoid cap fragments and hot debris from the caps to the face (a very common issue).

Afterthought - How wide is the barrel/cylinder gap on your remmie?
 
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noelf2 - im not really sure how to measure that distance, i imagine i'd needto use a set of calipers, but i haven't got any lying around im afraid.

I'd love to get a conversion on another blackpowder pistol, but full bore pistols are completely banned here, only thing you can get your hands on are Long Barrel Revolvers, and many clubs dont alow them anyway, and i dont really like the coat hanger stock extension the Taurus has
 
Tip on wads, if you can't find any locally then make your own. You'll need 1/8in med-hard felt,(http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html), a leather punch appropriate size for your 44, and what ever lube you're now using. Punch out the wads and coat with your lube, I was using BoreButter and I melted it in a small pan then put the wads in to soak it up. Now I only use lube pills I mentioned above.
Recipe for pills:
1/2 paraffin (one cube out of 1 lb pkg)
1/2 Bees wax
2 tsp tallow
To make the pills harder or softer adjust the amt of bees wax up or down, more makes them softer.
 
Those butt stocks are nice looking on the guns but I believe I just hold that pistol out there at arms leinth in hand. All the things said about loading with powder wad and then ball seems to be the way to go also. :)
 
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