1863 Remington Pocket Revolver?

[patocazador]

I don't know why but I keep looking at and wanting a replica '63 Remington pocket revolver. It's dinky with no trigger guard and only shoots a .312 round ball. A conversion cylinder is available for it in .32 S&W.

Do any of you guys have first-hand experience with this mini-revolver so that you can give me the pros and cons?

 

[mark1945]

I have one great little revolver smooth action. I have to feed mine .310 round balls almost impossible to get 312s in without deforming them and shaving lots of lead. Sights leave a lot to be desired but that's normal.

 

[patocazador]

Thanks for the heads up. Is yours a Pietta?

 

[mark1945]

Yes its a Pietta.Brass frame.

 

[Randy Johnson]

I have been kinda wanting one of those myself.
I have owned two Colt replica .31 revolvers (one stolen, one sold) and they were both a ton of fun to shoot. I figure the Remington would be pretty much the same but easier to maintain.
I will never forget the day that I was out in the woods plinking and a groundhog suddenly stood up on his hind legs about five feet away. At that range, even a lousy pistol shot like me can't miss. The groundhog rolled around on the ground for a few seconds, quit, and then (I swear this is true) GROWLED at me. It was, no doubt, groundhog speak for "You dirty &$#%*!@#." He then took off for wherever his hole was. I have often wondered if the bullet even broke the skin. There was no indication of blood anywhere.
Anyway, for really cheap shooting fun, it's hard to beat a .31 revolver.

 

[patocazador]

I went ahead and ordered one from Dixie Gun Works. Everywhere else wanted over $300 but they had it for $275. It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I already have a bunch of .312 balls cast from pure lead.

I decided to get a conversion cylinder for it too from Midway and it's due on Friday. I loaded up fifty .32 S&W cartridges yesterday to shoot out of it.

I watched about a dozen videos about it and there were numerous misfires ... all went off on the 2nd strike of the hammer. One idiot with a cigarillo hanging out of his mouth was cussing "this F-ing POS" because he was too stupid to seat the caps all the way.

 

[lighthorseman]

........and revolver lube over the balls....makes a bit mess but also keeps from multi-fires.

 

[Randy Johnson]

I went ahead and ordered one from Dixie Gun Works. Everywhere else wanted over $300 but they had it for $275. It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I already have a bunch of .312 balls cast from pure lead.

I decided to get a conversion cylinder for it too from Midway and it's due on Friday. I loaded up fifty .32 S&W cartridges yesterday to shoot out of it.

I watched about a dozen videos about it and there were numerous misfires ... all went off on the 2nd strike of the hammer. One idiot with a cigarillo hanging out of his mouth was cussing "this F-ing POS" because he was too stupid to seat the caps all the way.

I just went the other way.
Instead of a five shot .31 caliber percussion pistol, I ordered a one shot .77 caliber long gun. And a smooth bore at that. It's only money right?

 

[lighthorseman]

"I ordered a one shot .77 caliber long gun. And a smooth bore at that. It's only money right?"

Randy......show us some photos of your smoothie when you can.

 

[patocazador]

I just went the other way.
Instead of a five shot .31 caliber percussion pistol, I ordered a one shot .77 caliber long gun. And a smooth bore at that. It's only money right?

Yup! You got that right. Congrats on the smoothbore.

Is it a Bess?

 

[Randy Johnson]

I just went the other way.
Instead of a five shot .31 caliber percussion pistol, I ordered a one shot .77 caliber long gun. And a smooth bore at that. It's only money right?

Yup! You got that right. Congrats on the smoothbore.

Is it a Bess?

Yep, a hand built one that is one of the very early models.
I have wanted a Bess for about as long as I have been shooting flintlocks (my involvement with muzzleloaders goes back to June 1968, but I didn't get into the flint game until April of 1974) but they always fell into the "I want something else more" category. When I was flint musket shopping a couple years ago I ended up getting a North Star West Officer's fusil just to get away from all the crap stamped on the barrels of mass-produced muskets made in Italy. The NSW west gun is great and will probably be shot a lot more than the Bess ever will, but......
Just the other day I was looking at two different websites that offered an early Bess in kit form (obviously the same kit at both places) and wondering how much it would cost to have one built. Then this one showed up. It has been an expensive couple of weeks. Did I mention the extra nice flint pistol I got just yesterday?
As soon as I figure out posting pictures I will stick a few on here.

 

[lighthorseman]

Oh Cool!.....A Long Land Pattern "King's Musket".......Tower Version or Dublin? Wood rammer or steel?

 

[Randy Johnson]

Oh Cool!.....A Long Land Pattern "King's Musket".......Tower Version or Dublin? Wood rammer or steel?

I haven't done enough Bess research to answer the first question. The answer to the second is wood.
I shoot primitive matches but I don't do reenactments. As long as whatever I'm shooting is not later than the period I'm dressed for, I'm covered.
Although my NSW musket qualifies, I bought this with one specific private match in mind. It is possible I might replace the wood rod for steel when I shoot competition and keep the wood one for show. I won't know for sure until I have had the chance to play with it for a while.
The NSW musket has acquired the patina commonly known as "Friendship Brown". It is fine because it takes the shine off for hunting and I don't feel bad about any scratches or things like that it might pick up in the woods.
I'm going to try hard to keep the original bright finish bright on the Bess. It should be a challenge.

 

[lighthorseman]

Randy

I have a friend who hunted with his Bess for years...only recently acquiring a New England Fowler. He took a fine black bear with it.........nice to throw a ball that size down range........not many critters get up and walk away!

Congrats!

Doug

 

[patocazador]

I got the Pietta 1863 3 days ago. I inserted the conversion cylinder and shot 8 times with the .32 S&W shells. It shot real nice but quite high. I can't tell how the front blade sight is attached .. maybe soldered in?Anyway, I will probably replace it with a taller one.

While wiping it down I noticed some casting flaws in the top strap. One looks pretty deep so I decided to return it to exchange it for one that's not flawed.

I called Dixie Gun Works and asked what I needed to do to return it for an exchange. The (very nice) lady said to just write why I was returning it and state whether I wanted a refund or an exchange. Enclose it with the gun and send it back and they would do whatever I wanted. Their invoice says that they pay return postage also.

As the lady said in a great Tennessee accent, "Just use common sense and let us know what you want."

Common sense seems to be a lost commodity any more. It was refreshing to talk with her.

 

[patocazador]

I have to give props to Dixie Gun Works. I sent the revolver with the defects back to them one week ago on July 5th. This morning (July 12) UPS dropped off a replacement with zero defects. No questions asked, no forms to fill out, nada. Plus they gave me a store credit for the return shipping I paid.

I checked it all over, loaded the cylinder and sent 10 shots downrange with 9 gr. of 3F Graf black powder. It hits to point of aim as far as windage is concerned but is still very high at 10 yards.

I then inserted the conversion cylinder with .32 S&W shells and shot 8 of them. I loaded them with a 78 gr. ACME lead bullet and a scoop of Trail Boss. It shot to the same place as the .312" balls.

I am very happy with the new toy, lotsa fun.

The .32 S&W cartridge looks like a fat .22 short, it's not much bigger.

 

[patocazador]

Just to show how small the 1863 really is, here's a photo of it under a Ruger Old Army. However, it fits my hand much better than I expected and shoots close to POA.

 

[exMember]

wow that was a pretty nasty flaw! I am glad to hear they replaced it no problem! Looks like a cool little conversion. It will be interesting to see how it groups.

 

[patocazador]

FUN, FUN, FUN!

Today's shooting reminded me of the old Beach Boys' song without the T-Bird. Fun, Fun, Fun!  :twisted:

I spent about 3 hours this afternoon playing with 2 revolvers. I shot 2 cylinders of the .31 with 9 gr.of 3F and .312 balls. It was like shooting a pop-gun. What a trip!
Then I went to the blued Ruger Old Army with 33 gr. of 3F and .457 balls .. BIG difference .. still fun but not as much.

I went back to the .31 and played with it for 2 more hours. I had to stop because I ran out of cast balls. I'll have to cast about 150 or so this weekend.
I was surprised how far the little .312 balls penetrated. I was using a dead oak tree for a backstop with a 1" thick board as a target holder. Those little balls all penetrated the board and some buried ~ 1/2" deep in the tree. Surprising.
I think I'll increase the amount of powder next time to 11 or 12 gr. of 3F to see if it feels more like a real gun when it fires. BTW, I had no issues with anything. All shots fired on the first hammer drop but I had one cap get wedged between the frame and cylinder. It cleared out real easy.

 

[Randy Johnson]

Are you shooting .310s? Dixie always has a few of the pistols at Friendship and I might break down and get one.