triple 7...

Earlier in the thread there was discussion about where to come by pure lead for casting BP bullets. I know the local dentist who saves me the lead foil squares which come off of every piece of x-ray film he uses. Today I picked up a box which had about 10 pounds of lead in it. I bet all dentists just throw it in the trash so if you would just ask yours, you might talk him into saving it for you.

Remington Kid, you use .454 balls in your Pietta I think. Dixie recommended .451 balls for mine. You helped me pin mine down to a 2004 model (thanks) so I'm wondering if yours is made to different specs or are you just shaving off a little thicker ring from the ball when you seat it?

Steve
 
Thanks mike! The holster is brand new, I ordered it at the same time as I did the gun and it has a nice tight fit,(actually I'm giving it a little stretching right now because it was too tight), I ordered the cylinder case in a different color on purpose, I just like the contrast of having the different colored leathers and it makes my belt look like I've scavenged stuff from different places. I have the same type holster for my target version and it's got a little more "character", lol, :p It's been in the woods with me a lot and has started the fading process. I'm going to let it fade a bit more and then saddle soap it and give it a tiny bit of linseed oil. I REALLY had to give it a stretching when I got it because they don't make that holster for the target sight 58's. It got a little soaking in hot water and then I greased my pistol really good and wrapped it in saran wrap and shoved it in the holster and let it stay there until the leather dried. Now it's a perfect fit! :D
 
Steve

I never thought about getting lead from a dentist, that's a neat idea. :)
I use a .451 ball in my gun but I've been thinking about the .454 I like the idea of a little heavier projectile and I read somewhere that the larger ball engages the rifling in the barrell a little better and gives better accuracy. On my last shopping trip for supplies I bought 200 of the .451 balls and I have probably 60 or so left over so it's about time for a shopping trip again, :D I may just get the .454 this time and try them out.
 
Steve, My Remingtons will take either one .454 or .451. The right way to check it out is to take the cylinder out of your gun and grease the inside of the barrel. Now holding your gun with the barrel striaght up take a .451 ball and place on the end of your barrel and useing a board set on top of the ball hit the board with a hammer so that the ball is seated flush with the end of the barrel. Now take a wood doll rod and hanner and tap the ball all the way through and out the breach side. Check the rifeling on the ball with a Mic. and see what you have. Now Mic. the inside of your cylinder chambers and see if they are close. Sometimes it will be off just a little and that could be the machining or your Mic. depending on how good it is.You want a ball a few thousands over the average between the two.
As for shaving lead both size balls will do that in most Remingtons. Mine no longer shaves the balls because I know that either one will do that so I chamfered the mouth of my cylinder chambers to make loading a little easier.
As far as which size is more accurate it's really hard for me to say because both will shoot a better group than Im capable of:D
The little bigger ball just seems like a better idea to me. There are some great shooters out there you say they get better accuracy from the .451 and others say the .454. You just have to try it and see what works best out of your gun. Hope this helps, Mike
 
Low Key, Wetting that holster to get a perfect fit is a good idea. Now the scanvenger look Im not sure about. Didn't your wife teach you about accessorizing your outfit? :D She would have a heart attack if she knew you were wearing brown with black.:)
That idea Steve had about getting the lead from your dentist is a good idea.I'll bet that's really pure lead. Mike
 
My hunten and hiken buddy:)
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low key,there is another way to fit a holster as well as wetting,which also works great,use virgin olive oil all over the holster while your gun is inside.the olive oil will soak in and not rub off on your cloths.i do all of my leather this way after the wetting process.it works great.i've done some of my duty gear the same way like my handcuff cases,i hate my cuffs jinggling while i run or go upstairs so i get small cases and form them to my cuffs.silly,aint it.lol.
 
Mike, that is one sweet lookin rig you got there! As far as my accessorizing goes, my wife has given up on me, lol, she knows I'm hopeless! :p
I actually can't claim the idea of wetting the holster to fit it, I have to give credit to Gary4V50 for that. I picked it up in an old thread I was reading and decided to try and it really works good :)

Kevin, is the olive oil to get the leather to stretch or is it more of a finish to waterproof and stop the squeeks? I know where you're coming from about your gear rattling while on duty. You never know when you might need to be quiet, and a clinking handcuff could ruin your night. :(
 
The Olive Oil Softens The Leather After The Wetting And Helps Form The Holster To The Pistol.it Will Change The Color A Bit At 1st But As It Soaks In The Color Comes Back.i Picked This Up From A Cowboy Action Shooter Where I Bought My Rig For My Vaqero .45.he Said To Do This And Then As You Dry Your Cloths Set The Holster W/gun Inside On Top Of The Dryer And This Speeds Up The Forming.he Stated It Will Help Keep The Leather From Cracking Over Time And Keep It Soft.he Did State That It Has To Be The Virgin Olive Oil.
 
Kevin, Thats a good idea about the Olive oil. My Dad was a firm believer in that stuff and that's all he used to sharpen his knives on an oil stone. I still do and use nothing but the best right out of my wifes kitchen :)
 
Well,when I Bought My Western Rig This Guy Seemed To Know What He Was Talkin About And So I Did It And It Really Worked Good.i Have Since Done This To My 2 Holsters For My Rem's.they Fit Like A Glove.
 
Half and half olive oil and beeswax is what I use for lubing minie balls, patch lube for round ball rifles and to top off the cylinder over the ball in my 1858 Remington chambers. I also use it on leather and as a finish on the osage orange bows I make. I've been forming leather to the pistol I'm making a holster for by saturating the holster with rubbing alcohol and forming the wet leather around the gun. It dries a lot quicker than water and won't rust your pistol. I was able to make a channel for the front sight on the Remington that stays formed by that method.

The x-ray lead I mentioned seems to be pure lead by the low tech method I use. (thumbnail) The impression I can make on an ingot of it is the same as on an ingot of known pure lead and deeper than on the alloyed ingots I use for casting .38s.

MPP1423, I even used my olive oil/beeswax lube on my duty leather. When you have to get your leather replaced after it gets all chewed up and are trying to slide all the stiff, new stuff on a stiff ,new belt, that minie ball lube works like a charm. It wipes right off of the outside (we had clarino) but softens the inside and stops a lot of the creaking.

Kid, I'm afraid to try to get my Remington to shoot better than it does now with the .451 balls! If it got any better, they wouldn't even believe me at the liars table at the coffee shop and those guy's tolerance is pretty high due to all the exposure they get!

Steve
 
Steve,we Also Use Clarino As Duty Gear But We Also Can Use Nylon And Plain Black Leather Whick With Our Tac-uniform Thats What I Wear.it Holds Up Good And Looks Good Also.hell,we Have 4 Different Types Of Uniforms.i Never Know Which One Im Wearing Till I Go To Work.lol
 
Right now I just have the pistol stuffed in the holster, havent had time for the greasing and wrapping that I have to do to wet the holster, Im going to try the olive oil this weekend though. I snapped a pic of my refinished remington last night. It's not that great quality but gives you an idea of what its looking like. I still have the nooks and crannys to re-do and I'm not sure if I would call this a patina finish or just barenaked remington! :eek:

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Let me tell you, birchwood casey blue and rust remover does a number on the blueing and some 0000 steel wool afterwards makes it really pretty! :D
 
Low Key, Now your ready for rust blueing, It only takes a week of your time and not being able to see your wife and kids much:)
It looks great! If you want to ad a little of the brown or rust look you can use Birchwoods rust blueing or the plumb brown. Just takes a couple of times to give it that aged look.It will also look a little older on it's own if you use it alot.
When you get a chance go to one of the sites that sell the originals and look at a bunch of them for the look you like best.When I do that and I see how some of them are so beat up with dents and dings it makes me wonder how many were dropped on rocks in battle or used as a club or hammer.
The higest priced original I have seen was $32,000.00. My wife just didn't understand when I told her I had to have that one, she just laughed at me:(
 
Boy I'm glad I found this forum.

Mike, my Remmy came with the old looking yellow fake ivory grips as well as the wood grips. The fake ivory do not fit as well as I think they should and am still working on them to fit better, but I'm not sure I can. I don't think they are the high dollar ones.

I used to have Hacker Martin's Rust bluing/browng recipe(it's in Foxfire book # 5, I think, the one about Muzzleloading rifle making). I had all the chemicals, but you can no longer get some of the ingredients from a drug store due to 9-11 I think. This recipe will rust thru to the bore if you do not kill the process. I loved it and it'll make new steel look like it's 200 years old in a hurry. It also can blue with a different curing process.

I'm glad to hear that the Birchwood-Casey stuff works well. I have used Plum Brown also.

Now to get the new remmy's to look old.....:)
 
Low Key, the "patina" finished Remington Dixie sells looks just like yours does now. I've been letting mine accumulate a little surface rust for a few days, then killing the rust but am beginning to suspect I'll be about 136 years old before that method finally arrives where I want it to go. I may try some other way as soon as I finish wrestling with the dilemma about whether or not to draw-file the barrel to remove the BLACK POWDER ONLY/MADE IN ITALY.

I've been trying to post a picture but keep getting an error- can't upload file. Guess I need a bigger hammer..........

Steve
 
Steve, You need to use the picture Icon at the top of your post. Then you need to paste in the address to the picture and it will load it for you.Several of us have had the same problem as your having. I have been suggesting useing the "Photo Bucket" site to store your pictures and it's easy to upload them from there. Also a good idea to keep the pictures around 480x640 pixels and a resolution of 72 works great.
Useing the plumb brown or the rust blueing is a good way to go to get that Patina look. Just do it one or two times and it will ad just enough to give it the wore look. Mike
 
Old Dragoon, Welcome abord and glad to have you joine in with us. Most of the guy's on here are great but we have a few "nuts "too :) I wont mention any names but one goes by Low Key and the other goes by MP1423 :D These guy's like to load em up and get er done!:D Just kidding, we have great people on this site who are willing to help and share what ever they have learned and we are all anxious to learn more.
The ill fitting grips are a pain on several of the Piettea and some of the Ubertie repos. That's one of the reasons Im thinking about making my own on the long winter nights we have coming soon. Maybe out of Mastodon tusk. It's not protected and they have have lots of it.Can't find ivory much older than that:)
Sometimes you can make them fit better if they are not to far off and if they left you enough meat to work with. You need to go slow and I have found that a pack of cheap emery bords from the Dollar store are great for this. Also a piece of sand papper wraped around a popcicle stick works well. I like to leave the gun laying close by so I can keep checking the fit. If you have to remove alott then you can use a basterd file. Just keep all your filing or sanding level and even as you work or it may look worse:eek: Mike
 
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