Remington 1858 cylinder pin adventure

[jonathan butcher]

So I recently came into a Pieta Remington 1858 revolver which has an issue. The cylinder pin did not properly fit the cylinder frame hole, almost as if it were from another gun. The seller told me it had been sitting over a fireplace for years and the amount of patina and rust bore that out. The cylinder, cylinder pin and loading lever did not match the finish on the frame. The cylinder was also a mess with crud and rust. It looked like it spent a couple of decades above a fireplace in display. Finally, it didn't have any nipples! As I only paid $200 for it though and had an extra set of nipples in my spares box I figured I'd take a shot at bringing it to shooting shape. . Here's what it looked like when it arrived;

I spent some time filing and modifying the cylinder pin and finally got it working. I removed the ugly varnish from the grips, stained and TruOil-ed them. I worked on matching the cylinder and loading lever finish to match the rest of gun. Finally I tuned the action ( as best as my amateur skills would allow) and the gun now cycles correctly. I also lightened the main spring a little bit. Next off to the range!
To note, the Italian barrel markings on either side are intact, they're just very faint. There don't appear to be any date codes. Top barrel address, NAVY ARMS Co RIDGEFIELD NJ. There are no frame markings visible anywhere. Under the grips and on the frame is what I presume is the serial number, which matches the cylinder serial number. Which by the way I've never seen on an Italian reproduction Rem 1858. I don't know how old this gun is but it looks to me like an early example.

 

[bang]

Nice.
Take it you looked on bottom of barrel under ram lever or under trigger guard for markings?

 

[jonathan butcher]

Under the barrel are the last three numbers of the serial number.

Nice.
Take it you looked on bottom of barrel under ram lever or under trigger guard for markings?

 

[deermanok]

Looks good with what you did so far.

 

[hrt4me]

I'm interested in more details on these following three steps you performed:

...matching the cylinder and loading lever finish to match the rest of gun...

...tuned the action (as best as my amateur skills would allow) and the gun now cycles correctly...

...lightened the mainspring...

 

[William Lincoln]

Looks fine. Have you checked the cylinder to barrel trueness?
Make sure it locks up tight and true and go shoot it. Use
moderate,say 25 gr bp loads and it may well be a tack-driver.
Some Piettas had a progressive twist rifling. My experience
is that the Pietta 1858 NMA is a bit more on target than
similar ubertis. I have owned many of both brands over the
years. Yours was the made for US import and might have that
more accurate barrel. I have seen that barrel on ,not only
the shooters model, but other target Piettas and on one
that was just a seemingly plain NMA.

 

[sourdough]

So I recently came into a Pieta Remington 1858 revolver which has an issue. The cylinder pin did not properly fit the cylinder frame hole, almost as if it were from another gun. The seller told me it had been sitting over a fireplace for years and the amount of patina and rust bore that out. The cylinder, cylinder pin and loading lever did not match the finish on the frame. The cylinder was also a mess with crud and rust. It looked like it spent a couple of decades above a fireplace in display. Finally, it didn't have any nipples! As I only paid $200 for it though and had an extra set of nipples in my spares box I figured I'd take a shot at bringing it to shooting shape. . Here's what it looked like when it arrived;

I spent some time filing and modifying the cylinder pin and finally got it working. I removed the ugly varnish from the grips, stained and TruOil-ed them. I worked on matching the cylinder and loading lever finish to match the rest of gun. Finally I tuned the action ( as best as my amateur skills would allow) and the gun now cycles correctly. I also lightened the main spring a little bit. Next off to the range!
To note, the Italian barrel markings on either side are intact, they're just very faint. There don't appear to be any date codes. Top barrel address, NAVY ARMS Co RIDGEFIELD NJ. There are no frame markings visible anywhere. Under the grips and on the frame is what I presume is the serial number, which matches the cylinder serial number. Which by the way I've never seen on an Italian reproduction Rem 1858. I don't know how old this gun is but it looks to me like an early example.

I do not pretend to know a lot about the early copies of the so-called 1858 Remington .44. I do know that many of them produced showed very few barrel threads which are sometimes confused with a Remington Beals revolver. Mine is DGW Armi San Paolo AH/1981 (marked DGG/GDG) on the underside of the barrel. The number you refer to may be an assembly number, and may be found also on the frame under the wood, as you have stated. My serial number does not match the assembly numbers, but that may be because of different manufacturers..

I believe your load lever assembly is a replacement for the original.

Hope this helps some.

Regards,

Jim

 

[jonathan butcher]

I'm interested in more details on these following three steps you performed:

...matching the cylinder and loading lever finish to match the rest of gun...take a look here;

...tuned the action (as best as my amateur skills would allow) and the gun now cycles correctly... take a look here;

...lightened the mainspring... remove said mainspring from under grips, gradually polish, very carefully remving material. Lots of Youtube vids on this

 

[Desperate Lee]

I have 2 ASP '58 Remingtons. One i bought at a gun show, the other i bought from a member on the 58 Forum. The first is factory finished, the second a kit gun. The factory gun is a '77 model and the kit gun is a '80 model. Looks just like yours. Enjoy them. They are damn fun.
DL

 

[Kansas Jake]

As Desperate Lee mentioned about a kit gun, I too have a kit gun from the late 70s sold by Navy Arms. It is a Pietta. It too had the factory blued loading lever and I finished the rest. I don't believe the cylinder was factory blued on mine.

 

[Desperate Lee]

I bought my kit gun from a '58 Forum member in south Texas. He had already finished it and i have only shot it along with my factory finished gun. I have shot conicals out of both and beat my knuckles to pieces. These small grips are not good for that. Both guns have .449 to .450 bores. Now it is 23 grns of Swiss 3F and .452 or .454 rd balls. They are a pleasure now. Bottom photo is my latest Pietta. I love SS.
DL