I had a lot of cap jams (2-3 in a cylinder) when I first got mine. I put those SlixShot nipples on it and used CCI #11's and it became as reliable as a cartridge gun. Really incredible how better nipples can change performance so much. I put nearly 50 rounds through mine today and the loading lever retainer came out of its dovetail so it flops around like a Walker now.
decades ago, I built an 1860 revolver from a CVA kit. I loaded all six (I was shooting immediately) and fired at a cardboard silhouette from seven steps away without aiming. the natural balance and ergos allowed me to put all six shots into a paper plate sized center of mass group. then I took it home and put it away. two weeks later I pulled it out and found out that Pyrodex is VERY corrosive. pulled apart, several hot water soaks and a steel wool buffing later it was good as new and looked over a hundred years old. a reenactor borrowed it, and took it to a meet. many people thought it was original (at first glance of course). CapnBall is one of my favorites. I also like Britishmuzzleloaders. he has a lot of fun.
I attempted to get onto cap and ball’s site with no success I do quite of bit of black powder rifle shooting and would like to get into the pistol side of the black powder shooting. I follow you and blackie and cap and ball religiously. I can see that I will need some help getting started. I do most of my shooting from a wheelchair. Got shot down in Vietnam. Keep up the good work and videos
Canadian here. Your closing note really hit home. I have an 1851 and can take it to a range at the moment. But, our Federal Liberal government is coming down hard on legal gun owners. Last year they started with a confiscation order on hunting and sporting equipment. Aka - assault style rifles. Now under proposed C21 - they are coming after handguns - giving municipalities the power to ban handguns, in a way that will only impact people with licenses and registered firearms. My pietta is registered. In theory my municipality could ban handguns, and I would be guilty of a federal crime, with the threat of prison time if I did not comply with the whims of the county council. One of our Conservative politicians summed up this bill as follows: "One would read C21 and conclude the sole purpose is to be a nuisance to legal gun owners" Good luck where you are and I hope you get to keep the freedom others of us are losing.
Thank you, Mike for another great video. I thank God that I live in a free state (fly over country), I live on a farm and I can step out my back door and shoot anytime I want.
While you're loading 5 anyway (and nothing wrong with that, load 3 as far as I'm concerned) Blackie Thomas, a lesser known outdoors woodscraft channel (but has great BP C&B revolver content none the less), recommends Punching paper, and for each shot, mark which chamber fired it. Do it several times. The least consistently accurate chamber out of all 6 regardless of loads, or the one that consistently hits the furthest out of all 6 chambers (Even if it hits dead-on) = Get's to be the empty chamber, permamently! That might help with overall consistent hits on those fiendish clay birds! At any rate, another great video as has come to be expected of your channel, and that 1860 sure operates smooth after you cycled it through your workshop! :)
This works very well, I have used this method for 50 years now, sometimes using just the one chamber for best results, recoil is consistent due to same weight, I know it is slower, but over 10 shots works out a similar time scale.
blackie thomas is actually my personal #1 favorite C&B youtuber. he's way ahead of the curve on stuff. like when people were filling in their hammers to fix capsucking he'd been filing the hammer down. people on youtube only seemed to catch on to that later.
In Denmark, you may only shoot with a pistol in a shooting club, and not all clubs in Denmark are allowed to shoot with blackpowder weapons. but I've found a club close to where I live and I'm signed up. So now I am going to shoot with some really really cool blackpowder gun's ... And you are to blame ;-))))) many many thanks for showing and please keep up the good work
Love your videos Mike, I just bought one of these little sweethearts. am just waiting for the end of deer season to do the smithing on it, may not even bother, the action on it is as smooth as glass, as all of my Piettas have been. I've been very lucky. I now have 5 of them, and not a single issue with them.
Great video. I started out with a 1851 and love it. I've been on the fence about buying a 1860 but I think you've convinced me. Thanks for all you do for the black powder community. Highly educational and entertaining.
I purchased one of those former kits for the 44 from cap and ball great results.nice group with the conicals on steel Steve. I live in the uk I belong to 2 clubs which incidentally is a requirement to shoot my black powder revolvers, I’ve just purchased a pietta colt navy sheriff in 36. But yet to shoot it.
I have learned so much from you and your videos. I have fired many and I own lots of fire arms over the years. Because of to you is the reason I am into BP guns. Thank you. I appreciate your videos
Load five for matches and six for can rolling and have 1/6th more fun. Thanks Mike the 1860 is fs joy to shoot and is a slick looking revolver. The full flute with a shoulder stock has a very large WOW factor..
Thank you Mike for all the wonderful videos. Because of you and other tubers like Cap and Ball, my love of black powder has not waned. Keep up the good work!
I love my 1851 and think it is probably the nicest looking pistol ever made, but I handled an 1860 the other day and it was awesome. This video only reinforces that impression. I think I'm gonna need another holster...
The brass frame Pietta 1858 .44 revolver turned out to be so good, I think I’ll skip the 1851 and get the 1860 Colt design Pietta. I just like the smooth lines, & that’s really the revolver that you see in most western movies. At least it’s the revolver I recall seeing the most. It’s as good of a reason as any.
Thanks for all the tips. I finally got my 1860 Army .44 Repro out today. I bought a finished brass frame and a kit steel frame. Cut one barrel down for a snub nose, measuring .293". I took your advise and cut the flare down on the rear of the grip/frame. Sanded, stripped, and clear polyurethane finished the grips.I put the brass trigger guard and grip frame on the steel reciever. It sure looks pretty. I took out both barrels and 2 loaded cylinders. Surprisingly, the snub nose shot more accurately at 15 yds, making a solid 6" spread at 15 and 30 yds. However, I over cut the notch for the front sight and ended up soldering it on, it is tilted a little left and ended up being about 8" to the right at 30 yds. I was loading .457 balls with lubed wads, that I made from your tips. I have a few beehives and used my harvested beeswax, a little coconut oil, and a little olive oil. Also using my homemade blackpowder. The gun cleaned up pretty easy for me afterwards. My next project will be heating the snub barrel up and try to reorient the front sight and maybe fill welding the loading lever hole up to make it look more authentic. I just swap to the long barrel with the loading lever on to reload for now but plan on making a loading press up. I even ran 6 balls that I cast out of remelted round balls, after I saw your video about grease wads, I unloaded a cylinder and used my new .457 round ball mould. I look forward to seeing more of your action. Thanks again.
Mike, your channel is costing me money. Watching you shoot these revolvers got me to wanting to replace the old black powder revolvers I shot many years ago (and sold many years ago). I ended up getting a stainless steel Uberti 1858 Remington and had to get fffg powder, different caps, different round balls, new nipple wrench, etc. I have not had my black powder rifles to the range in a couple weeks now, spending all my range time shooting that 1858. I should be angry with you for costing me all this money, but I am having too much fun shooting to be angry. Since I am retired I can spend a lot of time at the range, and since I work there I don't have to pay for range time.
Wife bought me the same gun years ago , love it and love your videos . So much information and knowledge passed along not to mention seeing all the different guns being shown how to safely loaded and shot !!
Great demo Mike. Watching your videos steered me to purchasing the 1860. Presently completing a home on rural property. Looking forward to shooting out my back door. Btw thanks for covering the tuning up of the 1860 in your other videos. As always great information and thoughtful guidance.
I just bought one . and didn't even get it yet. the first one I had was a traditions 1860 in A kit , shot many squirrels and wood chucks with it . just love shooting black powder. thanks for all the videos Mike. great vids. .
I just got one of these Pietta 1860 reproductions myself. No opportunity to shoot it yet, as it's my first black powder firearm, and I'm still getting all the various accoutrements for black powder shooting together. You can be certain I'll be going back through all of your shop videos to see the modifications you made to your own revolver here though, as it seems to shoot quite well with whatever you deign to feed it.
I went to a gun show recently and it was the first time I ever actually picked up and handled a Walker. It's huge. BTW thanks for the calendars Mike, they'll make excellent gifts this year.
Wonderful lighting and shadows. Firing, the smoke contrasting through the light, with the leaves , . Good job. Fluted, 7 1/2'' barrel with 'Navy' type stock. Colt went to what he called a 'Cavalry' cylinder, longer stock, and 8'' barrel (the military insisted. Btw, he went to the 8'' barrel, however didn t see there to be a need to alter the loading lever. That s why the lever is set back a little),
Wanting to get into blackpowder revolvers and trying to decide between the colt 1860 and the Remington 1858 new model. Unfortunately right now it is impossible to get your hands on either one. With the way things are it's hard getting regular guns and ammo but I didn't expect the black powder market to be hit too
Mike your videos are always of top quality, thanks for another great upload. Its been a few months now since i have had the time to go shooting and boy im getting antsy hahahaha.
I have watched lots of Cap and Ball videos and the guy (wouldn't dare try and pronounce his name) has one of the calmest voices and gives the most matter of fact commentaries on his subject gun. I could listen to him all day. He gets so excited when he gets good accuracy or sometimes just from shooting a vintage firearm. I think he is from Hungary?
Thanks Mike. Those old Colt single actions (I'm lucky to have a Uberti 1861 Navy) are, to me, the most beautiful revolvers ever created. I don't know what it is but the lines and proportions are like some sort of work of art. I have my eye out now for a .44 caliber model.
Great video. Thanks. Your safety measure, loading 5 is hard to argue with. Many do it but, it is hard to square your focus on safety when you are cocking your pistil with your finger still inside the trigger guard...
Great video. Thanks. Only problem is I want an 1860 Army pistol more than ever. Nice shooting! I bought a Uberti 38 Cartridge conversion thinking I would prefer that. But the paper cartridges are very cool. They add to the pistol.
Hi, we love your RU-vid videos over here in England and yes it's great to be able to participate with you in your videos. We do have pietta blank firers over here and reinactment groups so it's not all bad. Keep on slinging lead partner.
I recently traded an Uberti cattleman 45 LC for a Pietta 44 caliber black powder. Mine had a stainless steel cylinder when I traded it, I'm waiting on the extra pieces that come with it.
Thanks for posting. Can't get out to shoot much these days and vids like yours give a lot of vicarious enjoyment to an old geezer! All my b.p. revolvers are Remington copies, simply because they are quicker/easier to reload than the Colts. The heft and feel of the Remmies don't come close to the slick-handling smoothness of the Colts. Can't have it all, I suppose. Thanks again!
Mike, thanks for all that you share with us. Great video my friend. I agree with you about the feller from Hungary, Cap and Ball. His channel is amazing too.
We were given a gift, the greatest gift the world has ever known. A Constitutional Republic! The only one to ever exist, and we will fight to keep it. One hell of a group with the Pietta, got to get mine out
Loved the ending. So patriotic, coming from a war vet. You have sparked my attention in the world of cap and ball but supply seems short. Any suggestions on a favorite well stocked company ?
blackpowder is super fun and cheap to shoot compared to modern guns as well. plus range time lasts longer and shots are more meanigful since it takes longer to load. every shot is a big event and makes it more enjoyable. i have a hawken and the same pietta 1860 in .44 he has in the video. you could pick up both for around 6-700. get some powder caps a ball started and a range rod bc the wooden ones that come with the guns tend to break easy. besides that its all u need besides cleaning brush and patches. can be even cheaoer to shoot if you buy lead and a mold and make ur own bullets
Great video, as usual! I picked up one of these Piettas a while back, and it's a beauty. Some people complain about their quality, but mine came out just fine.
Shooting the black powder is my favorite range time. Forgot that it's already cold all the way up there. You need a fire barrel at the den. On second thought with all that powder sitting out...
Just ran onto you. Interesting about the Remington NMA which I have the 36 cal version with the adjustable rear sight and a very heavy hammer spring. Didn't know carts were used in wheel guns then :-)
