1858 Remington Buffalo

[Ringel05]

I've had a 1858 Remington 44 cal "buffalo" with a 12 inch barrel reproduction for years. The retainer stud for the loading lever was set too far back and eventually was pushed out and lost. I'd like to replace the barrel but the damn replacements are over $100 and apparently the manufacturer may have used JB Weld when they screwed in the barrel, I hope not.
The cheap way is to back the barrel out one turn and replace the retainer but that will open a slightly wider gap between the cylinder and barrel butt.
Ideas?

 

[rockledr]

Check some of the firearms auction sites. The big ones have a parts section. You should be able to pick up a barrel for a reasonable price. Is the gun a Pietta or Uberti and is it the brass fframe or steel? If the auction sites don't work out let me know and I can point you to a couple of different forums that will be able to come through.

 

[Ringel05]

Check some of the firearms auction sites. The big ones have a parts section. You should be able to pick up a barrel for a reasonable price. Is the gun a Pietta or Uberti and is it the brass fframe or steel? If the auction sites don't work out let me know and I can point you to a couple of different forums that will be able to come through.

It's a Pietta, brass frame.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Dude that gun is freakin awesome. Pay whatever you have to.

 

[rockledr]

Ok I did some more checking. I don't own a Pietta but I do have an Uberti. It seems Pietta changed th threads on their barrels at one time. Do you know the year your gun was manufactured? Not to sound insulting but there is a two letter code stamped on the frame it corresponds to the year of manufacture. You can search Italian date codes for replicas and it should come up with the marking codes. The barrel thread will either be 26 threads per inch or thirty depending on the date of manufacture. You will need the same year model. Search for 1858 forum they should be able to hook you up with a barrel.

 

[MikeK]

Have you tried Numrich Arms?

 

[Ringel05]

Looks like 'AP' (1999). Looked at the forum, if I have time I'll hunt through it but I don't have a few hours to dig around.
I read, (somewhere else) a gunsmith recommended soaking the gun in diesel fuel for a day to loosen it up making it easier to unscrew the barrel. Hell, I'm tempted to cut the barrel down, drill a hole and drop in a brass point front sight after backing the barrel out 1 turn.

 

[Ringel05]

My other option is to keep the current barrel, back it out as needed, purchase and install the removable stock and use it as a carbine.

 

[rockledr]

If you really want to unscrew the barrel soak it in a penetrating oil and let it sit for at least a day. If that doesn't let it move, you can use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the frame and frame only. You only want to heat it up until it is very warm/moderately hot to the touch. That will let the brass expand a little and help to unfreeze the barrel.

Let me look at mine and see if I can come up with an easier solution for you. You really don't want to change the barrel to cylinder gap much, it will hurt accuracy.

If I understand the problem, the part that was dovetailed into the barrel was lost and it was too close to the end of the loading ram?

 

[Ringel05]

If you really want to unscrew the barrel soak it in a penetrating oil and let it sit for at least a day. If that doesn't let it move, you can use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the frame and frame only. You only want to heat it up until it is very warm/moderately hot to the touch. That will let the brass expand a little and help to unfreeze the barrel.

Let me look at mine and see if I can come up with an easier solution for you. You really don't want to change the barrel to cylinder gap much, it will hurt accuracy.

If I understand the problem, the part that was dovetailed into the barrel was lost and it was too close to the end of the loading ram?

Yeah, where the loading lever latched to the retainer stub the lever is about an eighth of the way too far forward. As for losing accuracy, I don't care, I do living history and it's pretty much nothing more than a real prop. 90% of what's been fired out of it is just powder.

 

[rockledr]

Since you do living history you have a couple of options. A poor cowboy back in the day would take a leather thong and wrap it around the lever and barrel until he had the money to go to a gunsmith and get it fixed. This was also a common practice for the Colt's Walker. The other option is to go ahead and back out the barrel. I think using Kroil and letting it sit for a day or three and some slight heat should break the bond on the barrel. I can do some more searching for a barrel for you. I frequent several websites that specialize in blackpowder handguns. I have a few or so and enjoy them very much.

 

[Ringel05]

Since you do living history you have a couple of options. A poor cowboy back in the day would take a leather thong and wrap it around the lever and barrel until he had the money to go to a gunsmith and get it fixed. This was also a common practice for the Colt's Walker. The other option is to go ahead and back out the barrel. I think using Kroil and letting it sit for a day or three and some slight heat should break the bond on the barrel. I can do some more searching for a barrel for you. I frequent several websites that specialize in blackpowder handguns. I have a few or so and enjoy them very much.

Had a bunch of BP firearms, sold all but this one when I stopped doing Civil War. There are some locations here in Colorado that do living interpretation, a couple of them the Remington is appropriate, late 1860s, early 1870s. The rest are pre 1850 so I'll have to look at other firearms for those. I have had a leather strap holding up the lever for years now, just thinking about putting a standard barrel on it but if I go with a shoulder stock then it's a moot point. I'll have to look if any are still available. Thanks.

 

[Ringel05]

My dad has a Remington model 1863 percussion rifle, commonly referred to as the Zouave. I just noticed when the hammer is down the trigger "flops" back and forth and when at half cock the hammer is still almost on top of the nipple. It fires at full cock but the trigger still feels a little sloppy. Gonna have to strip it down and take a look.

 

[whitehall]

Brass frame revolvers aren't strong enough to take a lot of shooting. You can't even see it when the warp but it screws up the whole thing. Get a steel revolver. The Remington models with the topstrap are the best. .

 

[Ringel05]

Brass frame revolvers aren't strong enough to take a lot of shooting. You can't even see it when the warp but it screws up the whole thing. Get a steel revolver. The Remington models with the topstrap are the best. .

Partial myth. They have no problem handling standard loads, it's when yahoos start using hot loads on a regular basis that tend to create problems with the frame. I've owned brass and steel framed 1850s/60s reproductions, no problems with either because I learned the firearm's limitations early on.
However, after doing some research, it appears Remington never made that sidearm with a brass frame or a twelve inch barrel.
This sidearm is one of the most accurate pistols I have ever fired.

 

[whitehall]

Brass frame revolvers aren't strong enough to take a lot of shooting. You can't even see it when the warp but it screws up the whole thing. Get a steel revolver. The Remington models with the topstrap are the best. .

Partial myth. They have no problem handling standard loads, it's when yahoos start using hot loads on a regular basis that tend to create problems with the frame. I've owned brass and steel framed 1850s/60s reproductions, no problems with either because I learned the firearm's limitations early on.
However, after doing some research, it appears Remington never made that sidearm with a brass frame or a twelve inch barrel.
This sidearm is one of the most accurate pistols I have ever fired.

Say what? Hot black powder loads?

 

[Ringel05]

Brass frame revolvers aren't strong enough to take a lot of shooting. You can't even see it when the warp but it screws up the whole thing. Get a steel revolver. The Remington models with the topstrap are the best. .

Partial myth. They have no problem handling standard loads, it's when yahoos start using hot loads on a regular basis that tend to create problems with the frame. I've owned brass and steel framed 1850s/60s reproductions, no problems with either because I learned the firearm's limitations early on.
However, after doing some research, it appears Remington never made that sidearm with a brass frame or a twelve inch barrel.
This sidearm is one of the most accurate pistols I have ever fired.

Say what? Hot black powder loads?

The standard load for a PB 44 cal revolver is 25 grains of fffg powder. I've seen people put 35 or more grains in a cylinder. I made sure I was well behind the firing line when they lit it off and in one instance I still had a piece pf ball lead fly past my head when their revolve chamber fired.

 

[whitehall]

You can't generate enough pressure in a black powder .44 cal cylinder to be considered a "hot load" unless you use a very tight ball. The unburned powder flies out the barrel. As a matter of fact it is recommended that the cylinder be filled enough for the ball to be even with the end of the cylinder. Brass frame revolvers will stretch with a lot of firing no matter what load you use.

 

[Ringel05]

You can't generate enough pressure in a black powder .44 cal cylinder to be considered a "hot load" unless you use a very tight ball. The unburned powder flies out the barrel. As a matter of fact it is recommended that the cylinder be filled enough for the ball to be even with the end of the cylinder. Brass frame revolvers will stretch with a lot of firing no matter what load you use.

Tell that to my brass frame, it's doesn't believe you. I'm so glad your formula works well in a controlled laboratory setting. Funny how it doesn't work as well where people are involved.
Look you have your bias, great, don't have a problem with it. I have mine, we disagree. Such is life.

 

[whitehall]

You can't generate enough pressure in a black powder .44 cal cylinder to be considered a "hot load" unless you use a very tight ball. The unburned powder flies out the barrel. As a matter of fact it is recommended that the cylinder be filled enough for the ball to be even with the end of the cylinder. Brass frame revolvers will stretch with a lot of firing no matter what load you use.

Tell that to my brass frame, it's doesn't believe you. I'm so glad your formula works well in a controlled laboratory setting. Funny how it doesn't work as well where people are involved.
Look you have your bias, great, don't have a problem with it. I have mine, we disagree. Such is life.

"People are involved"? I'm not sure you understand the difference between smokeless and black powder. They make .44 cal black powder cylinders so that you can load them to the point that the ball sits even with the top of the cylinder so that there is no space between the cylinder and the barrel. It's almost impossible to generate dangerous pressures in cap and ball black powder cylinders using conventional black powder and pyrodex. Brass frame revolvers eventually stretch because of the difference between the hard steel barrel and the relatively soft brass frame.