This thing shoots great.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint I think my Confederate Colt is prettier but from a functional standpoint the Remington is noticably better.
There doesn't seem to be the problem of the split precussion caps getting between the cylinder and frame and jamming things up like the Colt is known to do.
The forward portion of the cylinder doesn't seem to be as prone to getting powder fouled.
The cutdown rightside recoil shield makes priming the cylinder easier as well as getting the spent primers out.
The gun is a little more nose heavy than the Colt but not excessively so and unlike the Colt the rear sight is in the top of the frame rather than the hammer.
There was a bit of a chill in the air and I really wasn't feeling very well this afternoon so I didn't spend as much time at the range as I would have liked to, but I did fire the gun enough to see how it behaved and I really liked how it worked.

So here it is, this is .451 cal lead balls and 15 grains of Pyrodex, the pistol will handle 30 grains with no problems but 15 is what I use with the Colt and I wanted to get a comparison.
This is one handed, unsupported at 50 feet, the one way off to the left is the first shot and me trying not to flinch, which I did anyway.
That target is also about half life sized.



While I do like the looks of the Colt better, I would recommend the Remington over the Colt as a first cap and ball pistol simply becasue it's easier to work with.
If you were inclined to do the 45 Long Colt cylinder conversion later this one will accept that conversion without the need for modification and you can switch between the two without problems.

WOLF

Looks good.

That's pretty good shootin' for a black powder pistol with fixed sights.

Your first post about your Navy and your enthusiasim has gotten me interested in black powder shooting again. I pretty much quit it when I got married to an over-demanding be-atch back in the mid 1980's.

I now have a Pietta 1860 Army on the way and have spotted an 1858 Remington at a local pawn shop that I think I can
get very cheap. I may swing by there tomorrow and make the guy an offer.

I also went a bit nuts and also bought 5 new rifles in the last few weeks--all period reproductions. One Pennsylvania flintlock, 3 ACW muskets, and one 1860 brass framed Henry repeater. The Henry shoots an unjacketed 44-40 WCF round. which used to be pretty common.

However, I went to four local chain sporting goods stores ,and not a single one of them stocked it. In fact when I asked for it, the clerks looked at me like I was from another planet. I knew better than to ask for some 38-40 WCF, which what my grandpa's old 73 Winchester takes.

Those are common calibers for cowboy action shooting, but I guess nobody around here does that stuff. I finally had to order a couple of boxes on line. I may never shoot it more than a few times anyway.

Cheers

P.S

When I get some time, I'll post some pictures if you are interested and would like to drool over them as I am doing now.

Very nice. I have to say they are fun to shoot.



Bullet

I would love to join this style of shooting, but without person walking me though, I feel it would be too unsafe to try doing so by my self.

By all means FO, I'm always interested in historical guns, they have a certain character missing from some of the modern stuff and as I've come to find out lately, they shoot a lot better than most people think.
That included me too, when I got the Colt it was because of my interest in Civil War weapons and the fact they are cheap to shoot, I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near as accurate as it turned out to be.
The Remington was the same to an extent, once I saw how accurate the Colt was I figured it'd be similar but I wasn't expecting it to be as functional as it turned out to be.
I wanted a pistol from both sides of the conflict and these two fill the bill nicely.
I want an 1861 Springfield rifled musket but there's no way I can afford it.

Sim, the manuals that come with these pistols are very detailed and go into very good detail on the loading proceedures for the guns.
I suspect though that you could get detailed instruction at any reputable gun shop.
The actual firing of them is no different from any other single action revolver, they just require the hammer be pulled back for each shot.

Thers's also about a gazillion Youtube videos that will walk one through the loading procedures and even tell you some of the best ways to clean up afterward. Clean up is a bit more involved and messy than with modern smokeless powder weapons, but it's worth it.

Here's a shot of my new 50 cal Pennsylvania flintlock along with some other junk I've collected over the years. The only thing that isn't a reproduction is the clay pipe head, which belonged to some 19th century pipe smoking ancestor of mine. I got most of the accessories to go with my .54 cal plains style Hawken, but they work just as well with the PA rifle. The tomahawk is also a pipe that I have had since the early 70's. I'll let you guess what I used to smoke in it when I was still wild and young.


Wolfie, I hate to rub it in, but one of the ACW muskets I bought is a brand new 1861 Springfield while one of the others is an 1853 Enfield. I figured I had to cover both the North and the South also. I used money I was saving for a new PC, but that will have to wait now. I'm going to try to take some pics tomorrow of them along with a couple of others.

Cheers

That ain't rubbing it in, I hope to eventually be able to save the money to buy the Springfield.
That's a nice collection you have there and yeah I can imagine what the pipe was for LOL!
I was talking to a couple of members of a local reenactment group about weapons and whatnot and they envited me to join, I told them I couldn't afford all the equipment.
They told me if I could come up with a uniform that they needed more people on the cannon crew, said all I would need in the way of a weapon was the sidearm I already have.
I'm looking into it, my daughter told me if I could get her a pattern and the material she could make me a uniform, she's an artist with needle and thread.
I think I may be getting a little too deep in the hobby LOL!
Get some pics of your other stuff cause I definately need something to lust after.

WOLF

If you are thinking of getting into re-enacting, check out Ebay. A lot of slightly used equipment and uniforms are on there all the time--sometimes at pretty reasonable prices. A lot of the suttlers who make the various goods sell on there also.

I joined an artillery unit in West Tennessee and did it off and on for short time back in the mid 70's. However, I eventually got away from it for other hobbies--mainly since I was young, I was more interested in drinking and chasing women on the weekends rather than tracing around in a hot woolen uniform on some regional battlefield. Some of the members absolutely lived for it and were a bit over zealous in their quest for authenticity.

All I had at first was my brass framed Navy, an old hat I found at good will, a shirt I had bought at Dixie, some pants and ill fitting shoes that one of the other guys loaned me. We were Southern so we didn't have to look too well dressed.

I eventually upgraded to better as I found it or could effort it. I finally got a used Parker-Hale 2 band Enfield in mint condition for about half of what it cost new because seller was moving to Canada. I think I paid as much to have it professionally defarbed as I did the rifle itself.

Of course new musket prices can run over $1000 now, but there are bargains to still be found. If for example, there is a big re-enactment happening anywhere close to you, they usually have a suttler's village set up where both new and used equipment is up for sale.

People come and go in the hobby for all sorts of reasons, and they usually sell their equipment for pennies on the dollar when they get out.

The Springfield I won at auction on Gunbroker only cost me $605 plus $25 shipping. It had never been fired and still had a paper "made in Italy" tag on it. There's no company maker's name on it, but it as well executed as any I have ever seen when in the hobby. The 1861's were manufactured under contract by several companies, so there are a lot of variations.

For the South you want an Enfield, Lorentz, or one of the Richmond's. I picked up a mint London Armory marked Enfield made by Euroarms for only $505 plus shipping and it also appears to never to have been fired. If one were going to do reenacting with it the gun could stand some defarbing, such as a new lock plate, new lockplate bolt bolsters plus some wood shaved off the wrist behind the breach since it is way too thick. These are common issues with Enfield reproductions.

A lot of people make a whole family thing out of it. The wife dresses up in period outfits as do the kids to act as town folk or simple local observers. If your daughter is good at sewing, then theres a service you might offer during an encampment for trade or discounted goods.

I guess my point is that one can always find ways to get into the hobby without putting one in the poor house.

Cheers

I WANT ONE! Looks like a hoot. OLE school cap and ball stuff would be quite interesting.

On my want list.

My wife, bless her heart, is actually the one that got me back into this.
I was looking at the Colt on the Cabela's site and she remarked about what a good price it was and asked how much it cost to shoot black powder.
I did a little research and was surprised to see how cheap it was, I told her and she told me to get the Colt.
We'd discussed recently why it was I didn't go to the range anymore, mostly due to the cost of ammo, 30-06 ain't cheap and the fact that the range closest to the house is mostly set up for pistols and skeet.
They have a 100 yard zeroing range but it's only got 4 stations and in the interest of everybody getting to use it you generally can't spend a great deal of time on it.

The wife informed me that I needed a hobby that'd get me off my ass, out from in front of the computer and out in the freash air and since I always enjoyed shooting the Colt looked like a win-win.
I already do a bit of woodworking but it doesn't take long before you run out of room in the house for the stuff you're making but other than that I don't have any hobbies anymore, everything I used to enjoy doing is either too expensive or too dangerous or both.
She further told me that she didn't see a problem with me getting into reenacting as long as I didn't plan on mortgaging the house to do it.

I'll definately keep an eye on ebay for the reenacting stuff and thanks for the tips on the other stuff as well.

Wolf,

The only uniform items that one cannot readily make using a pattern and material are some of the riveted leather or metal goods and of course---shoes.

You can get by at the start with some old work boots or wellingtons, but eventually you will want a good set of authentic brogans.

If you are lucky enough to have an even sized normal width foot, you can find ready made brogans on EBay in the $60 to $70 range. If you are like me and wear a half size and have either a wide or narrow foot then you have to go semi-custom. Then you are looking at maybe just over $100 for a good pair of shoes. You simply don't want to skimp on ill fitting shoes. Your feet will thank you in the end.

Here's one of the better on-line suttler sites that has been in the business for over 30 years. They are not exactly cheap, but then their goods are generally of the best quality and authenticity. They also run sales and send out flyer's if you get on their mailing list. They sell a printed catalog, but then I think most of their items are included in their on-line store.

http://www.fcsutler.com/

Scroll down the page to find pages of pictures and prices of their various items. You can get an idea of all the stuff that is available. They also sell repro firearms and sometimes at better prices than Cabelas, but then as I mentioned before, buying "used but not abused" is the preferred way to go.

Cheers

Thanks for the link FO, I was showing my daughter the CS uniform and she told me that the shell coats were cut exactly like the high school marching band uniforms they had when she was in school.

Like you, she said I'd have to buy the correct hat, boots, belt ect. but the pants and coat looked doable without too much trouble since the correct fabric can be bought at the website.

Here's the pictures as I promised of the ACW muskets and rifle that caused me to delay purchase of my new PC until spring.

The three muskets are new as is the Henry at the bottom. All the other is stuff I kept when I got out of reenacting along with some other found items here and there that I could resist. The gray kepi is from my old arty unit and the blue is actually an "Indian wars" style but I thought both sides should be recognized.

1. M1853 Enfield Repro .577 cal along with sling, bayonet, scabbard, and my old cartridge pouch

2. M1861 Springfield .58 cal--pretty much the standard long arm for the Union and carried by a lot of Confederates who were able to liberate one from a dead Yank.

3. Remington 1863 Harpers Ferry musket (referred to as the "Zouave") although it's not accurate for re-enacting since none were ever issued. However, I had the bayonet and the gun was cheap.

4A--M1855 US horse pistol (Dragoon) with detachable shoulder stock. The cavalry carried these until they were issued some acceptable carbines and revolvers.
4B--Colts 3rd model Dragoon in .44 cal. These Colts were the 3rd improvement to the Walker design, but at 4 lb. 4 oz they were pretty much relegated to horse pommel holster pistols.


5. M1860 Henry repeater. This repro shoots a 44-40 WCF although the originals shot a 44 rim fire and could get 14 rounds in the magazine. The Union Army never adopted these, but private soldiers of means bought them personally and used them to great effect in more than a few battles. It was the gun that the Confederates called: "That damn Yankee rifle that they would load on Sunday and fire all week"



Pistols next if it gets clear here and warms up enough for me to get out side for better light.

Cheers

Very nice. Where did you get the Springfield from ? I've seen two websites/companies that have them.

You know what,I am really quite envious of you guys over there.
I see all these wonderful guns you own and shoot and I would love to be able to do it again.I have not fired a gun for over 10 years now.
Guns I have used over here have been the 303 Lee-Enfield,Sten,FN FAL,various 9mm pistols and shotguns and my favorite a black powder rifle (the name of which escapes me) but that was fun!

I was brought up with guns so maybe I see things differently from most of my countrymen.

My Dad was president of our local gun club for many years,he was a fine shot,especially with iron sights.
They even had a visit from Charlton 'I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands' Heston.

In fact,where I live now I can hear them shooting on a Sunday.
I have a friend who is a member and he keeps asking me to come over for a session,I really must get around to it sometime.

My father was a great shot, but he was not realy one for the hunt so to speak. When in the RAF at the end of WW2 he was selected to represent the squadron to shoot at Bisley, he told me that most of the "rifle" work he did was to set off un-exploded ordenance from a safe distance. When I joined the Air Training Corps we had a full bore rifle range and .303 Lee Enfields to use on it for a little lad like me the 303 was a hefty bit of work and I could not contain the recoil, 1 shot and the recoil would slide me off the firing point even digging me feet in the recoil would lift me up, I said I was a little lad back then.
Later I joined a rifle club shooting .22LR using either a Webley Mk2 or Mk4 or occasionaly an Angshutz 1413. We had just managed to get our indoor club licenced for .22LR and .38 pistol when the pistol ban came into force in the UK, so never actualy shot any pistol bigger than a single shot .22 target pistol.

Would love to try black powder someday

Beautiful pieces in this thread. Magnificent firearms.