.31 caliber remington pocket pistol

[greenwood county cowboy]

i was lookin at gun web sites like i usually do when i get home from school when i came across a pietta nickel plated remington pocket pistol i fell in love with gun...but befor i buy that critter i had some questions....it was a brass framed gun and everyone says not to get them cause they stretch or something like that but some told me you just have to put the right amount of powder and it wont stretch the brass??if i use the right amount of powder will this gun last a long time?in that case how much grains of powder should go into that pocket pistol??is it accurate??is it very small and not easy to hold??.......if any one has one id like to see pics..

much obliged

gw cnty cowboy

[Dick Dastardly]

I have a lil Remington spur trigger pocket pistol.  Walt Kirst made up and fitted a Kirst Konverter cylinder for it.  Walt wouldn't work with a brass frame .31 so mine is an all steel issue.  It shoots 32 S&W ammo.  I've found that that case is so small that I can't get enough black powder under the bullet to worry about.  If fact I've taken to using FFFFg black powder under my little Big Lube™ 80 grain .314 bullet.

The gun is passably accurate for side matches and it gets lots of style points.  The gun rides in a small holster in the middle of my back.  Since Dick Dastardly is a low down riverboat gambler, he needs a hideout gun.  The lil Remington really fills the bill.

Shooting this little gun with black powder shouldn't cause a problem with stretching the frame.  The gun should come with a factory recommended load.  I'd stick with that load.

Good luck, enjoy the smoke.

DD-DLoS

[knucklehead]

If memory serves me right, 5 grains by volumn of 3f is the loading i used for my little pocket pistol 31.
I use .319 round ball with crisco over the balls.

I have the brass frame model. the brass frame model just looked better to me than the all steel gun.
I haven't shot it much so i can not tell you how accurate it is.
I wouldn't use it for a main match handgun.

its great for the side matches.

[Montana Slim]

I put a taller front sight on mine & now it shoots dandy...can even aim/hit with it 

You'll find you need a fairly full chamber of powder for the ball to seat properly. let that be your guide.

Have a "ball",

Slim

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Greenwood Co. Cowboy, Howdy!

Yes, the plated version is plated over brass (really bronze) as you mention.  Unless you lost yer marbles and put smokeyless powder or perhaps firecracker powder in it rather than 4f, 3f, or 2f black powder, you'll never stretch the frame.  You simply can't fit enough BP in it to hurt the gun.  Furthermore, most of the stretching that has happened has been primarily with the brass-framed guns that fire 44 cal.  A steady diet of 36 cal. loads that are maximum powder loads could  also do some stretching, but some guns would handle it for a while.  The old guns WERE made of brass, but the newer QUALITY guns, like Uberti and Pietta, use "artillery" or "ordnance" bronze, which is harder than plain brass, so the repros are generally tougher than the originals.  Even the steel components are a better grade than the originals used.  Some of the originals used iron (not steel) for some parts.  The old Walkers had some made with iron cylinders - and gained a reputation for bursting.  (Having said that, a surviving Walker is worth BIG buck$ !!!)

So, if ya want one - get one!  And shoot it to yer wallet's contentment.    Then, buy a bigger gun and you'll have even MORE fun!  (I'd recommend an 1860 Colt repro, but the 1858 Remingtons and the 1851 Colts are great fun, too.  As are the Spiller & Burrs, and the Griswold & Gunnisons, and the 36 cal. Reb 1851s, and ... well, you know what I mean!)

[Paladin UK]

Heres my little .31.........

She used ta shoot way off to the left but I made me a post sight (Same as on the `58) and now she shoots point of aim



She sits jest nice in the shoulder holster I made from odds n sods!!

Paladin (What lurvs the Holy Black ) UK

[Tionesta Toby]

I have a lil Remington spur trigger pocket pistol.  Walt Kirst made up and fitted a Kirst Konverter cylinder for it.  Walt wouldn't work with a brass frame .31 so mine is an all steel issue.  It shoots 32 S&W ammo.

Good luck, enjoy the smoke.

DD-DLoS

Boy, would I like a conversion unit for my '63 - but I don't see either Kirst or R&D cylinders available anywhere.  Is your Kirst Konverter a custom job?

[Hell-Er High Water]

I checked with Walt Kirst recently about the conversion cylinders for these guns and he said that there was so much variation in dimensions from gun to gun that they couldn't make a cylinder with standard dimensions that would fit them.  For this reason they are not making them for the Pietta Remingtons.  Aparently a few were made and fitted to individual guns.  DD was one of the lucky ones.

They do however make the conversion cylinders for the Uberti 1849 Colt pocket pistol.

HHW

[Tionesta Toby]

For this reason they are not making them for the Pietta Remingtons.  Aparently a few were made and fitted to individual guns.  DD was one of the lucky ones.

Thanks for the info.  I suspected that was the answer.  At least they make the Konverters for the 58 Pietta.  I've got one of them already, and may get another since I have 2 Pietta 58s.

Taylors has an R&D cylinder listed in their catalog for the 63 .31 Pocket Remngton. They told me they added it because Kenny Howell plans to do one.  However, it isn't available yet.

[greenwood county cowboy]

if i was in the right spot at the right time and hit the right place would the .31 caliber gun kill a deer.........just wonderin...this gun will probably be my snake gun this summer

[Texas John Critter]

if i was in the right spot at the right time and hit the right place would the .31 caliber gun kill a deer.........just wonderin...this gun will probably be my snake gun this summer

A .22 will kill a deer if put in the right place, but I wouldn't reccomend it.  Same goes for this .31.  Much better choices out there for you for deer.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Double T,

The Kirst Konverter for my lil spur trigger Rem repro wasn't supposed to be a custom job, it just worked out that way.  The Italians make the guns so sloppy that a standard drop in cylinder won't work.  It has to be custom fitted.  Thus, this one didn't make it to market and I have one of the very few in existence.  Cool gun once it got reworked.

DD-DLoS

[TomBullweed]

The .31 C&B will kill a deer.  You can shoot it one week and it will die a few weeks later of infection turned to gangreen.

The .31 is an across-the-table or '3-shots in 3-seconds at 3-feet' defnesive weapn that was very popularly carried by people of the mid-1800's who wanted less than a belt gun.  There are very, very few holsters left from the old days for these small hideaways. 

With that said, they are fun to plink with and are very histrotically accurate pocket pistols.  I enjoy an older 1849 copy with a 6-1/2" barrel that will roll over soda cans at 15 yards all day long. 

[Drayton Calhoun]

I bought one back in '85 as a CVA kit. I was surprised at it's accuracy, but woefully wimpy. One interesting note though, it was the first time I ever heard the classic whine of a riccochet in the Mojave.

[Montana Slim]

Its not the caliber of the pustol ans much as how it is made.
Comparing to my Pietta NM pocket (.31 cal), my Uberti Colt 1849 (.31 cal) is a whopping power-house.

The difference is in the chamber diameter in relation to the bore of each revolver. The Pietta NM seem to have an oversize bore.Note the thin wall on the barrel....I think Pietta was hedging thier bet on the possibility of a tight-fit in the barrel.

Regards,
Slim

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

I thought I might add my little pistol in as a curiosity.

It started its life as a BP .31, spur triggered pocket pistol.

Sometime in its life, the original owner took the spur trigger off and used its dimensions as a mating template for a standard trigger housing ....

Then the pistol went to Millington and is now a .32 S&W short cartridge revolver ....

[Drayton Calhoun]

Hi,

I thought I might add my little pistol in as a curiosity.

It started its life as a BP .31, spur triggered pocket pistol.

Sometime in its life, the original owner took the spur trigger off and used its dimensions as a mating template for a standard trigger housing ....

Then the pistol went to Millington and is now a .32 S&W short cartridge revolver ....

That is one slick lil pocket pistol!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Why thank you sir ....

But I have decided to retire this little jewel in favor of a '98 S&W Fourth Model shown here: