Howdy Y'all!

[Cookie]

New forum member here and I just wanted to say howdy.

I've been a Remington fan for years (was a history buff before I became a certified gun-nut), and I finally got me a pair of Pietta New Model Army's. I bought 1 used off a local want ads, and the other is new from Cabelas. (I'm lucky enough to have a store about 15 miles away.)

I love these things!  I've been to the range about 6 times with them trying different loads, working on my technique, etc, and I got me a few questions.

1. Had me a bit of a scare last go-around. Per a suggestion here, I was trying out cornmeal as a filler and I was trying to pack the cylinders so the ball was as close to the top as possible (for accuracy). Well I loaded up 24 gr. GOEX, and filled the rest with cornmeal, and got the ball far enough in to just clear the top of the cylinder. Well, went to shoot and BOOM. I thought the gun blew up!

There was a tremendous flash (even felt the heat a bit) and the entire gun was covered in soot. Took me a second to recover my wits.

No, it wasn't a chain fire. since there was only 1 cylinder loaded. And I checked the gun and everything look fine (except for being covered in soot), and the barrel and cylinder were clear and had no obvious deformations.

So what happened? Any ideas? I haven't shot it since, and I'm wondering if I need to take it to a gunsmith to see if I did any (non-obvious) damage. I'm thinking that since I had about equal amounts of cornmeal and blackpowder, and I had to give the loading arm an extra firm push to get the ball into the cylinder, the load was over-compressed and that was the cause of my near-catastrophe...

Any help diagnosing this problem would be appreciated...

2. Of my 2 guns, I'm having trouble with the new one from Cabela's. Every so often it will lock up in half-cock. Usually this will happen when I'm de--cocking the gun. It will just lock up, and the only way to unjam it, is to remove the cylinder, and then it's fine. It enough of a problem to be a real pain. Is this common? Any way for a non-gunsmith (me) to fix it, or does it need some professional TLC?

3. Finally I know everyone's got their magic solution to the lubes, wads, etc. I'm using a combination of crisco and wax. I tried using straight Crisco at first but it was too soft to be practical. This new stuff can be cut using a hollow .45 casing, and then stored as individual wads. My question is - I've read conflicting reports on where to put your lube/wads, either behind the ball or over it. What do you guys suggest?

Well that's about it. Hope you have time to help out a greenhorn, and thanks ahead of time.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Although I am not a black powder enthusiast, did you consider that corn meal has a very low flash-point?  Yep, it does. Using it as a filler, you would probably have had burnt corn meal all over everything.  Try instant grits the next time -- much higher flash-point.

Regards,

-- Daniel (whut knows a lot about corn) Nighteyes

[Forty Rod]

Howdy, Cookie. 

Hie yourself over to the Brimstone Pistoleros website and see all they have on your muzzle stuffers.  Lots of great info there, based on years of shooting these things and some great research.

[Cookie]

@Daniel - I've used corn meal for several cylinder's worth of shots since I saw it suggested a few times on the SCORRS site as a good filler. Up to this point it worked fine.

I recently purchased a new, larger flask spout but it's a little too big. So, I'm assuming my accident was because I over-packed the cylinder. I'm assuming that since it was the first shot with this new load that went ker-blooey in my face. 

I'm just hoping I didn't damage the gun...

@Forty Rod - Thanks! I found the site, and I'll have a look see.

Anyone else have a suggestion on how to fix my gun that jams? Its getting to be a real pain, especially since I plan on starting SASS this summer.

[Wolfgang]

I tried corn meal filler with light loads at first ( ie. 15 gr. of 2f plus corn meal ) and didn't like light loads so never used the corn meal again.  Guns will shoot just great with the 24 gr. load and no filler.  Not sure about yur lock up problem.  Someone knowledgable would need to handle the gun to really find out what is wrong.  Anyone available to you that is experienced with Remingtons that can examine it ?  

Good shootin', . . .  

Be careful with them Remingtons.   If left alone they will multiply . . . http://www.drburkholter.com/cf6.html  

[Raven]

there are a couple of things you can try with your lockup problem.

1. does it lock up if you pull it to full cock before letting the hammer down?
         Many single action gunsmiths would suggest that you should never let the hammer down from half cock. This is especialy     important in conversions as there is very little ratchet for the pawl to act apon and the pawl can jam against the ratchet also the bolt leg may not reset on the cam.
         In a percussion revolver the bolt leg may not reset on the hammer cam. I know many people want to load all six chambers and leave the hammer down in the hammer notch (after all the factory designed it that way) but if you are going to shoot SASS I believe the rules require loading five with the hammer down on the empty chamber. If you follow loading protocol of load one skip one and then load the rest you should not need to let the hammer down from half cock. And the bonus is that other than a short scratch just before the locking notch you will avoid that dreaded ring around the cylinder.

2. If you must let the hammer down from half cock when it jams pull the hammer back as far as it will go and let it snap back, if this un jams the revolver the bolt leg is not resetting on the hammer cam.
         You will need to relive the back of the bolt leg so that it can reset.

The bolt leg resetting on the hammer cam is the most likely cause of your problem but it could be several other things as well. if this is a percussion revolver check for caps in the action. If you wish to do your own gunsmithing I would highly recommend that you purchace a copy of Jerry Kuhnhausens's book on the single action Colt (It applies equaly to the Remmington) another good book is Chicoine's Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West but it does not replace Kuhnhausen's book they compliment each other.

Good luck
Raven

[Forty Rod]

Awright, I can't stand it any longer: "Cooky?  Cookie! Lend me your comb."

Oh lord, I'm gettin' old.  Won't do it again.  Make corny Cookie jokes, that is.  I'll still get older.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Awright, I can't stand it any longer: "Cooky?  Cookie! Lend me your comb."

Oh lord, I'm gettin' old.  Won't do it again.  Make corny Cookie jokes, that is.  I'll still get older.

That was "Kookie" from the TV series 77 Sunset Strip back in the late 50's/early 60's.  He was the young parking valet, and had considerable charm.The girls all fell for him, and someone recorded the song to which you referred because he always seemed to be combing his hair.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3361904640/nm0126318

[Rebel Dave]

You guys are allways giving my age away. Just lend me your comb. Oh ,,, I only need a half of a comb now.

Rebel Dave

[Cookie]

@Wolfgang - Thanks for the feedback. I saw an improvement in accuracy once I started using a filler, but it might have just been that I was finally getting the hang of using these things.

I love tinkering, so I'll experiment with no fillers, and see how my accuracy changes.

@Raven - Wow. I have virtually no idea what any of that means! These revolvers are literally the first guns I've ever owned, so I really don't know much about them other than what I've read online.

But, you obviously know what you're talking about. (Which is why I'm here!) So, to answer your questions - 1) I can't ever get it to lock up on purpose, but it does seem to happen when I'm letting it down from half-cock. And it always jams in the half-cocked position. 2) Once it locks up, it completely locks up. I can't let the hammer down, or pull it to full cock. The only way to unlock it is to remove the cylinder, and then it de-cocks itself. Also, I've never noticed any caps in the action, but its possible.

Thanks for the info. Luckily, I do have 3 different SASS clubs in my immediate area, so I figure I should be able to find someone to get some hands on help.

@Others - Nope, not that old. Although I am quite gray, much to my father's bemusement.