1858 is here

[Marshal Deadwood]

Chris,,,when did thee get the urge to do other than flintlocks ?

Good to see ya, pard.

Capt Mike

[Stophel]

I don't know, Mike, it was always there, simmering under the surface.  It bubbles up from time to time!

I got my nipple wrench to take off the nipples to grind them down (they are ROCK hard and I couldn't file them), and I got one nipple off then broke the freakin' wrench.  Them suckers are in there TIGHT.  It wasn't the proper wrench anyway, and I need to get a good one.  Might just order some SS nipples while I'm at it.

Photos in a few moments....






Now, I need a '75 for my other hand....

[Cimarron Lawman]

Nice workmanship. You certainly have a one-of-a-kind gun now!

[Wolfgang]

Nice work, nice grips, . . . 

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Hello Stophel
           Man what a job you did on this gun , ITS BEAUTIFULL, and it looks normal, it looks like it was supposed to be that way, and it looks like it fills your hand nicely...
                                    My Hats Off To Ya Stophel  Thanks for sharing this with us

                                      Ten Wolves Five Shooter 

                                   

[hellgate]

Looks like a "Bisley" Remington. One of a kind.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Great lookin' "bisington"

[Oldelm]

Stophel.......

Good onto ya, mate,...excellent work!

...VERY NICE!

You are a fine craftsman/artist

[Stophel]

Well, I finally have all my paraphernalia together....enough at least to fire the gun.  My nipples are all quite uniform in length, plus, they didn't look like they would have that much room for the cap if I ground them down, so I decided to work on the hammer nose instead.  I stoned it down enough to get all the hard case off of it (which is REALLY thin...I'll probably end up case hardening the hammer over again.  Can't hurt.), and then filed it down until it was just a hair short of hitting the nipples.  Well, can't go back now, and I put caps on all the nipples, hoping it would work.  POP,POP,POP,POP,POP,POP.  Capped it up again, and they all went off again without a hitch.  No cap problems at all.  They stayed on until they fired, then they fell off the gun out the right side and caused no problems (other than they sometimes fell under my hand....they're a little warm!).  Well, now I can actually shoot it.

I had an old cheap flask that I got when I got my first pistol lo, these many years ago.  There's a charge tip on it, but I don't know the grains it throws.  It's either 15 or 20.... no more than that.  Well, I filled up the chambers, put in a felt wad in each, and set in the ball.  Fired it at a 1x6 yellow pine board about 30 feet away.  Fired flawlessly, other than one of the balls didn't even penetrate the board!  Pretty weak load, so I just doubled it and loaded up again.  Now we're talkin!

Still no real recoil to speak of, but you could definitely tell a difference.  At about 30 feet, firing as fast as I could one handed (that is the way you're supposed to shoot, after all!), I could hit an empty 8"x10" Terro ant killer box 4 out of 6 shots, which for me is REAL good.  Sights are actually pretty much OK the way they are, which is also unusual for me.

Fired about 2 dozen times.  Absolutely reliable, sure fire.  I was really surprised.  Pleasantly so.  I now have no desire for a conversion cylinder for this gun (though I still do have a desire for a '75 Remington...).  Cleaned with water, and oiled it up with olive oil.  I'm used to cleaning flintlock guns, so that's no big deal.  I have learned though, that after shooting and cleaning/oiling, that you should go back the next day and check it and clean and oil it again...and again the next day.  Only after that can you go on and not have to worry about rust.

I have a $16 "Hickock" holster from Cabelas.  Though it doesn't say what gun it is for ANYWHERE, I'm sure it was made for a '51 navy (I also want one of those...).  I can cram this gun in well enough, and I can wet it and probably get it fitted down pretty well.

I may even leave it the full length....

[Wolfgang]

Cabelas "Western Holster"  fits the '58s perfectly.  I have several some adapted to be crossdraw and some with the midle leather thingy removed.  See at :    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0006180210179a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&No=100&noImage=0&Ntt=Holsters&Ntk=Products&QueryText=Holsters&Ntx=matchall&N=4887&Nty=1
Good shootin', . . . .  

[will52100]

That's awsome work, and gives me an idea.  I've got an old armi san marcos 58 that I shortened the barrel to 5.5", but the grip bugs me.  I've got big hands also, though aparently not quite as big as yours.  I've also got a Pieta 58 and even with the larger grips I don't care for the feel.  The grip size is about rite, though it could be a bit longer, it's more the shape.  I can't hit the broad side of a barn with eigther, unless I use a rest.  To me there is no natural pointability to them like there are with the colts.  You modifying the grip like that gives me the idea to do the same to the old armisanmarcos and see if I can get the feel a bit better.

I'll bet with the bigger grips that gun would handle full power black powder 45's without a problem.  I don't much care for the 51 navy grips on the peacemaker in 45, but love the colt army grips, they fit my hands a lot better.

You could do a nice slow rust blue, fairly easy to do, just time consuming, and leaves a beutiful finish that is a bit tougher than hot blue and a lot tougher than cold blue.  Do it just like you would brown a barrel, but before carding boil in distilled water for about ten minits then card.  Do that till you get the finish you want.  Turns a beutiful satin black.

[The Avocado Kid]

Wolfgang.....thanks for the link I ordered one of the western holsters from Cabela's....read the reviews and hard to believe at that price but we will see.

[grymster2007]

That's some nice work there, Stophel!

I like how you knew exactly what you wanted and how to get there with professional results. I've never made grips and I'm pretty sure that minus a 3-axis router or milling machine, I could not make any as nice as yours! Do you free-hand band saw and belt sand those? very nice!

Now I'm off to check Wolfgang's holster link.

grym

[Stophel]

Grip panels like this are EASY.  Try doing a pair of wrap around grips for a modern S&W....You have to inlet each panel to three different levels...precisely.  Not the easiest, most pleasant work I've ever done.  For something like this, any old piece of wood that's flat on one side will do.  I used some walnut slats salvaged from a pallet.

[The Avocado Kid]

Myself not being a gunsmith and have only worked with gun kits a few times it was hard for me to see where you were going with this Pietta Remy but Man you really do good work.....congrats she is a beauty!

[Stophel]

I was out shooting it the other day.  Real Goex black powder FFF.  Went through about maybe 8 cylinders full.  About half way through, I quit using those silly little felt wads.  It shot rather better too.  They were going a bit left with the wads, but dead center without. It kept going non stop all the way till the end when finally it started to seize up, and it did so quickly.  I had three shots left and it got tight all of a sudden, and I managed to work out those last three.  Made it quite a ways before fouling up, I think  .  I was not cleaning it during shooting, nor taking out the cylinder or anything, just load, shoot, load, shoot.  Not too shabby.

I think it's gonna do all right.  I still want to get an Uberti with the shorter barrel.

[The Avocado Kid]

Do yourself a favor and get the conversion cylinder in .45 colt....you will really like it....I don't want to harp on this I know other people have probably said this already.....have fun!

[hellgate]

Stophel,
When you figure out about how many shots you will get before it binds up you can simply put one drop of oil (I use Ballistol) on the front of the cylinder right where it rubs on the frame and jiggle/work the cylinder so the oil gets down onto the cylinder pin. That'll free it up for another while. I routinely do the oil drop between stages with my Ubertis and less so with the Euroarms. Even a drop of water would free the cylinder up. By powering through the binding (i.e. forcing it to cock) you'll be putting a lot of wear & tear on the hand and back of the cylinder. Either hand turn the cylinder or free it up with oil or solvent so you don't stress the parts.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

Another trick is to polish the cylinder pin and lube the internals with Olive Oil and or bore butter, you do not want to use ANY petroleum based oils with BP it'll bind and foul really badly. I use Olive oil for the cylinder pin and the internals and i use Bore Butter over the balls to make the fouling really soft. I even lube my 44 Rem/Colt C.F. cartridges with Bore Butter to keep the fouling soft. I can go 5 stages with my Euroarms Remy's and the same with my Original Remy Conversions.

[The Avocado Kid]

Not meaning to hi-jack this thread I would like to add something to Wolfgang's post about the Cabela's western holster....I ordered this holster and it made it here in three days from Cabela's....A+ 1.it looks to be made of some type of harness leather or close to that...very thick leather...I like it....A+ a nice russet brown....A+ now,for the bad....it has brass snaps....F- now,for the good and the bad and the ugly....the brass snap's sort of look like rivets ok,but what I will have to do is this....remove the leather strap that connects the snaps(mid thing) to the back of the holster then,cut off the strip of leather on the back of the holster(back loop that has the two buttons)about 1/2 inch and sew the loop to the inside of the holster. All this is about one hour's work for the holster to be period correct BUT I must say this about this holster....it is one heck of a deal AND worth the one hour's work I will put into it to make it correct. sorry for hi-jacking this for a moment.... people should know about the snaps...if somebody feels I'm incorrect about the snaps please speak up you might save me some work.