Question about loading lever on 1858 Remington

[Maillemaker]

OK, I got a Pietta 1858 Remington for Christmas.

At half cock, I can, of course freely spin the cylinder. However, when it clicks into a detent, the loading lever does not align with the cylinder bore, and instead crashes with the face of the cylinder. The loading ram is very close in diameter to the bore diameter, so alignment is evidently critical.

If I don't allow the cylinder to drop into the detent, of course, it works fine. Problem is when pressing in a ball you won't know you are lined up properly until the ram hits the cylinder and you are trying furioiusly to ram the bullet deeper.

I think I should return it? Shouldn't the loading lever/ram engage the 6 o'clock cylinder bore when the cylinder is clicked into its detent?

Yes, I realize most people load these things by removing the cylinder, but I want the entire gun to function properly.

Steve

[Mike McDaniel]

I'd return it. The loading lever should be aligned with the chamber with the cylinder locked. Originals do - and so do the high-end repros.

[Maillemaker]

OK, I think I need to re-ask this question differently.

I am not talking about when the cylinder is locked, I am talking about when it is free to rotate at half-cock.

When it is free to rotate (in one direction only) at half-cock, it trips over the detent and you can hear the distinctive "click" as it does this. You can't "back up" the cylinder once it has gone over the detent.

When I back up the cylinder until it is at the hard stop, the loading ram is just barely out of alignment with the bore, such that the ram hits the face of the cylinder. The ram is very closely matched to the cylinder bore diameter so there is little tolerance for misalignment. I figured the detent was the hard stop to insure alignment if you back-rotate the cylinder until it is up against the stop.

However, when I look at my junker 1851 "Navy" Pietta in .44 cal, when you are at half-cock and you rotate the cylinder until it clicks the loading ram hits the cylinder squarely between two cylinders! So clearly on the "Navy" model the detent is not a locator for loading.

However, on the "Navy" the loading ram is much smaller in diameter than the bore (probably as it is sized for .36 cal, I bet!) and so indexing of the cylinder is not critical during loading.

Maybe the ball will help self-center the loading ram as you drive it home, provided you have not gone over the detent?

Steve

[Mike McDaniel]

Cock the gun fully. The cylinder should be in a position for the loading lever to ram the bullet home properly. If not, the cylinder has been manufactured improperly.

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

Although you can do it. I don't recommend loading the revolver with the cylinder in the gun, although some choose to do so. Pick up a cylinder loading stand and load the cylinder using it. Its much easier. Many choose to do this in competition. I use a loading stand to hold the revolver after I have removed the cylinder. Then I use the cylinder stand to load the chambers. I have a ram on the cylinder loading stand that loads the ball in each chamber to a preset constant depth. I used to load using the loading lever on the revolver and found it easier to make small mistakes in the loading process. An unobstructed view of the cylinder is an adavantage to me.

[Maillemaker]

Cock the gun fully. The cylinder should be in a position for the loading lever to ram the bullet home properly. If not, the cylinder has been manufactured improperly.

Ooooh! Now I feel stupid. OK, to bring the loading cylinder under the ram, you should FULLY COCK it! Yes, when I fully cock it, the ram is perfectly aligned. I thought you did all the loading at half cock.

Although you can do it. I don't recommend loading the revolver with the cylinder in the gun. Pick up a loading stand and load the cylinder in the loading stand. Its much easier. Everyone does this in competition.

Yes, I agree, that is what I will do for competition.

Steve

[John Holland]

Steve -

On half-cock, the "click" you are hearing isn't the cylinder lock bolt, but the feed pawl, aka the hand, clicking into the feed detent at the back of the cylinder. Once the feed pawl has "clicked" into position the cylinder can't be reversed. Your revolver is functioning the way it was designed to operate.

JDH

[Don Dixon]

No, everyone does not remove the cylinder to reload. In the international competitons sponsored the the Muzzle Loaders Associations International Committee (MLAIC), we are forbidden to remove the cylinders to reload. Based upon that experience, I don't and Mike McDaniel doesn't either.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

[Maillemaker]

On half-cock, the "click" you are hearing isn't the cylinder lock bolt, but the feed pawl, aka the hand, clicking into the feed detent at the back of the cylinder. Once the feed pawl has "clicked" into position the cylinder can't be reversed. Your revolver is functioning the way it was designed to operate.

Yup, I noticed this upon further inspection.

What I thought, however, is that regardless of what was clicking and locking, was that the entire loadin process happens at half-cock. The instructions say to load at half cock.

But at half cock it is very difficult to get the cylinder into position for the ram to drive home true, because just a fraction of an inch more and the hand will click over and hold you out of alignment.

Steve

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Although you can do it. I don't recommend loading the revolver with the cylinder in the gun. Pick up a loading stand and load the cylinder in the loading stand. Its much easier. Everyone does this in competition.

Not everyone. There are some that use loading 'stands' for their revolvers that basically transform the entire gun into its own loading stand, cylinder stays in the revolver.