Newbie here.
Just received my Cabela-ordered 1858 New Army .44 calibre Remington (Traditions, made by Pietta).
There seems to be a problem with the bullet loading "ram" not lining up with the cylinder - I define the "ram" as the part that pushes the lead bullet into the bullet chamber when you push down on the loading handle.
Let me see if I can describe this ....
The way I understand loading - one pulls the hammer back to half-cock, which allows the cylinder to rotate counter-clockwise (when looking toward the back of the revolver - looking towards the handle). There are audible clicks as the cylinder rotates at half-cock, and after the click the cylinder will not revolve the other way (backwards, clockwise). But after the click, the bullet loader "ram" will not fit in the bullet hole - it seems to be off by about 10 degrees or so, i.e. one edge of the "ram" hits the front of the cylinder and will not go into the bullet chamber.
I can pull the hammer back to full cock, and the loader "ram" will then fit entirely within the bullet chamber, but who wants to load bullets at full cock. At half-cock after the cylinder clicks into position, when I look down the barrel, the bullet cavity in the cylinder is not lined up with the barrel, about 10 degrees off - seen another way, when looking down the barrel, the hole in the nipple at the bottom of the bullet chamber is not centered with the barrel, the nipple hole is off to the side somewhere between 1/16 - 3/32"".
I can get the loader ram to fit in the bullet cavity if I very slowly rotate the cylinder at half-cock until I feet the metal tang in the frame behind the cylinder begin to engage - but this is real tricky - if you go too far, and the cylinder clicks, you have gone too far and the loader ram will not go into the bullet chamber.
I assume that after the click of the rotating cylinder at half-cock, the bullet cavity should line up perfectly with the loading ram - otherwise the bullet will not be seated, but will be jammed just inside the chamber and be sticking up halfway out the front of the cylinder, and you cannot rotate the cylinder backwards to line up the loader ram to fully seat the bullet on the powder????
Do I have a defective revolver, or am I missing something very basic?
Jon
Just received my Cabela-ordered 1858 New Army .44 calibre Remington (Traditions, made by Pietta).
There seems to be a problem with the bullet loading "ram" not lining up with the cylinder - I define the "ram" as the part that pushes the lead bullet into the bullet chamber when you push down on the loading handle.
Let me see if I can describe this ....
The way I understand loading - one pulls the hammer back to half-cock, which allows the cylinder to rotate counter-clockwise (when looking toward the back of the revolver - looking towards the handle). There are audible clicks as the cylinder rotates at half-cock, and after the click the cylinder will not revolve the other way (backwards, clockwise). But after the click, the bullet loader "ram" will not fit in the bullet hole - it seems to be off by about 10 degrees or so, i.e. one edge of the "ram" hits the front of the cylinder and will not go into the bullet chamber.
I can pull the hammer back to full cock, and the loader "ram" will then fit entirely within the bullet chamber, but who wants to load bullets at full cock. At half-cock after the cylinder clicks into position, when I look down the barrel, the bullet cavity in the cylinder is not lined up with the barrel, about 10 degrees off - seen another way, when looking down the barrel, the hole in the nipple at the bottom of the bullet chamber is not centered with the barrel, the nipple hole is off to the side somewhere between 1/16 - 3/32"".
I can get the loader ram to fit in the bullet cavity if I very slowly rotate the cylinder at half-cock until I feet the metal tang in the frame behind the cylinder begin to engage - but this is real tricky - if you go too far, and the cylinder clicks, you have gone too far and the loader ram will not go into the bullet chamber.
I assume that after the click of the rotating cylinder at half-cock, the bullet cavity should line up perfectly with the loading ram - otherwise the bullet will not be seated, but will be jammed just inside the chamber and be sticking up halfway out the front of the cylinder, and you cannot rotate the cylinder backwards to line up the loader ram to fully seat the bullet on the powder????
Do I have a defective revolver, or am I missing something very basic?
Jon
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