Pocket Remington Q -- chamber vs bore

[Mad_Dog]

I've been drooling on Pietta's .31 Remington Pocket Pistol lately, and lurking around the forum here.  I've got a question though -- I've read in several places that this little pocket pistol tends to have an undersized bore relative to it's barrel (a common failing of the italian guns, perhaps?).  I've read of similar tendancies in the larger guns, with the solution being to ream out the chambers to slightly larger than the bore.  I haven't read of anyone doing that to the pocket pistol though.

So my question -- would it be reasonable to ream the cylinders of a Pietta Remington Pocket Pistol, with the objective being to increase accuracy?  Is there enough meat on the cylinder to support this?  Do standard balls come large enough to fit a reamed cylinder?  Will the increased powder load cause Bad Things(tm) to happen to a brass framed pietta?  And on a separate note -- is the brass frame on this cute pistol historically accurate at all?

guess that was more than one question, but I'm sure you guys can sort it out!

-Mad Dog (armchair cowboy, darksider wannabe)

[Pettifogger]

You are engaging in pure speculation.  Without having a particular gun in hand, it's kind of hard to tell if something is under or over sized.  Also, "accuracy" and "Remington Pocket pistol" don't really go together in the same sentence.  The guns are basically novelties and for shooting across a card table they are fine.  They hold so little powder it doesn't make much difference if the frame is brass or steel and nothing "bad" is going to happen shooting it with as much powder as will fit in those little .31 holes.  Every one of these little buggers is different.  Half of the ones I have handled didn't even work out of the box.  They are fun little guns if you are willing to put a little time into them.  They are not made for firing thousands or even hundreds of rounds.  They were made to load and carry and to be shot very little.

[Mako]

Mad Dog,
Listen to Pettifogger, he's correct.

~Mako

[StrawHat]

I have worked on four of them.  All had the rammer broken where the screw holds it to the frame.  Load off the frame if you get one.