1858 New Model Army Cap and Ball

[Dead Eye Dave]

Hello All,

I love the 1858 Remington mentioned above.  If you have a cap and ball .44 cal is it possible to simply drop a .45 Kirst conversion cylinder in or do you need to do some other things to the pistol?  Sorry if this seems dumb but I have only gotten into firing older guns like this and I see adds and such for a .45 Kirst cylinder for the .44 mentioned above.  Also what ammo and load would you use for this?

Thanks in advance

DB

[Jubel]

Dead Eye

The reason behind the Kirst 45 caliber dropin cylinder is the 1858 NMA 44 has a .451 bore, which is the same as the modern 45. Kirst sells two different chamberings 45 ACP and 45 Long Colt for the 1858. I purchased the 45 Long Colt cylinder and I shoot 45 Schofield cartridges in it. There are numerous dealers on line who have ammo for cowboy action in 45 Long Colt or 45 S&W Schofield. Personally I prefer the Schofield because I hand load and shoot Schofields in a revolver chambered to 45 Colt this is much like shooting a 38 in a 357, minimual recoil! R&D gunshop also has the drop in cylinders to convert the 1858 to 45 as well. I have 5 conversions and have 2 R&D's and 3 Kirst converters all work exceptionally well. My 1860 44 army, 1849 pocket pistol and 1851 Confederate navy had to be retimed for their drop in cylinders. My 1858's the cylinders just dropped in no timing problems at all. Please note: your milage may vary. I hope this helps. You might try http://www.curtrich.com/captbaylorsrangercamp.html
Loads of good information here.