Remington Pocket Problems

[Matt Maier]

I have a Pietta 1863 Remington pocket replica. I took it to the range recently for the first time and found several problems. First off, it would appear the loading cutout was not machined with enough clearance as there is interference and I have to force the chamber into alignment with the loading lever when I have a ball over the mouth of it. Second, the caps do not seem to seat properly. I am using #10 caps, and the fit over the nipples but I have to cock and fire twice, once to seat the caps and a second time to actually fire the chamber. Has anyone else had these problems?

 

[Patocazador]

I can help with the nipple part of the problem. Your caps aren't seating all the way down and the first hammer blow is doing that. This is because the caps don't fit the nipple. It's very common and it seems that Remington # 10 caps are the best fitting ones for most cap & ball revolvers.
To use up the ones you have, place the cap on the nipple and push down steadily with a dowel end or the side of a popsickle stick. If you're careful, you can manually seat it by using thumb pressure on the hammer to push it on.

If Rem. caps don't fit, use # 11s and squeeze them between thumb and forefinger to make them stay on the nipples.

 

[cynthialee]

He is right about the nipple.

As for the other issues:
a trip to the gun smith is in your immediate future I suspect...

 

[hawkeye2]

As with all C&B pistols replacing the nipples with a set of Ampco aftermarket one will solve the cap fit problem. I replace the nipples in all my revolvers before even firing them the first time.

The frame opening should be large enough to allow the ball to align with the loading lever (it is on the one in my hands). The rammer portion of the loading lever does project into the frame opening and that is easy to change. With the cylinder out and the loading lever latched mark the rammer at the point where it comes out into the frame opening. Take the assembly out of the revolver and cut the rammer off at the mark. You will be shortening it by about 1/8" but it will still be long enough to seat a ball below the chamber mouth. Use a small ball grinding stone in a Dremmel tool to re contour the end of the rammer to match the ball, deburr, touch up with cold blue, reinstall and go shoting.

The frame opening in this and most other revolvers can be enlarged easily and without any loss of strength as long as you don't go overboard.

 

[ZUG]

Don't "fart" with it -- return it for one that is made correctly. You paid good money for it and you should not settle for junk quality!

 

[nkbj]

I have a Pietta 1863 Remington pocket replica. I took it to the range recently for the first time and found several problems. First off, it would appear the loading cutout was not machined with enough clearance as there is interference and I have to force the chamber into alignment with the loading lever when I have a ball over the mouth of it. Second, the caps do not seem to seat properly. I am using #10 caps, and the fit over the nipples but I have to cock and fire twice, once to seat the caps and a second time to actually fire the chamber. Has anyone else had these problems?

Please if you could, show a photo of the way the loading lever is. Thanks.

 

[Matt Maier]

The loading lever is fine. It is the frame that is causing interference. I took a look at it and found that the cutout is not machined and still has an unfinished cast surface. I think with some careful filing that can be fixed.

 

[LeMat1856]

MattM01,

i'm with zug - send it back. dixie and cabela both have "no questions asked" replacement policies and ,iirc, cabela even sends a prepaid return mailing label. i've done it myself to both places with good results, but call in advance to get a RMA (return merchandise allowance) number for your records.

you should be a happy camper and back at the range in a couple of weeks.

good luck,
~d~

 

[Matt Maier]

Return is not an option, I bought it at a muzzleloading gun show, not from Dixie. Perhaps I was an idiot for doing that but I don't have the money to buy another one, so I have to try and make it work for me.

 

[Zonie]

First off, it would appear the loading cutout was not machined with enough clearance as there is interference and I have to force the chamber into alignment with the loading lever when I have a ball over the mouth of it.

Before you start whittling on your guns frame first remove the screw that holds the loading lever in. Then remove the loading lever and attached ram.

Now, try putting a ball into a chamber and rotating it under the area where the loading lever ram was.

I'm betting the cylinder will rotate into position with the ball sitting there in the chamber.

The loading ram on my Remington Pocket pistol has a area on the right side of the ram cut away to allow the ball to miss it when it is rotated into ramming position.
It would be impossible to rotate the cylinder and ball too far because the ball will hang up on the far (left) side of the end of the ram.
If your ram doesn't have this small cutout, that's the problem.

With the ram removed, you should be able to file a suitable notch using a 1/8 diameter or 3/16" diameter rat tail file.

The notch in my loading ram looks like it was cut with a 3/16" diameter cutter and it is about 1/8 inch deep.

 

[Tinker2]

a trip to the gun smith is in your immediate future I suspect...

+1 take it to a good gunsmith.
# 10 Remington work the best (only ones that do) on mine.


William Alexander

 

[Matt Maier]

Again it never was the loading lever. I have said this several times yet none of you have listened to me. I know this because the ball cleared the loading lever when I took it to the range. The ball did not clear the frame. However, now I have fixed this problem and my revolver works perfectly.

As soon as I can I am going to get Remington caps. Oddly enough, caps from a 40 year old tin of caps marked Dynamit Nobel worked better than the brand new CCI's I used at my last range trip. All five caps went off the first time.

 

[swathdiver]

Until recently or maybe every so many years the manufacturers of these reproductions change the specs on the caps. Just because Remington #10s fit on all your others doesn't mean they will with this one. You may need #11s, #12s, #9s, CCI or RWS sizes. And Remember, CCI's #11 is not the same as Remington's #11, they're all different.

My Remington New Model Pocket uses Remington #11s.