Have fun with the 1858. I have shot them as designed, I have a couple of old army’s (plus some colt reproductions) that are similar, and I have a Uberti 1875 Outlaw, a reproduction of the Remington cartridge revolver.
I know the conversations show up from time to time, but one thingI have heard, which may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer is that the twist rate is different for the non-cartridge revolvers compared to the cartridge revolvers. The non-cartridge revolvers have a projectile much lighter and are either a round ball or very close to a round ball. After all, a .44 round ball is around half as heavy as a standard 250 grain .45 Colt bullet.

 

Lifemember, I have a similar 1858 Rem and I used to have a conversion cylinder. I sold the conversion cylinder for a couple reasons .... accuracy sucked, probably because of the twist rate that brnwlms mentioned. Further, it takes about the same amount of time to load and unload as the cap and ball cylinder. You have to remove the cylinder from the gun, unscrew the end plate from the cylinder, knock out the spent cases, insert fresh cartridges, screw the end plate back on and finally replace the cylinder into the frame.

Here's my 1858 Rem ASM:

 

Yep. Have one. No to conversion cylinder. I shot mine a lot back when, but then my ROAs took over for most of my BP revolver shooting. I always wondered why you'd want a conversion cylinder in a percussion revolver. I bought all of mine because I want to enjoy the experience of loading and firing a period firearm as it was those many years ago. Personally, I have cartridge revolvers for using cartridges .

 

I have a Uberti Remington 1858, and I'll concur with the others who've recommended using as it arrives. Those ~141gr lead balls leave the barrel at a good 1000+ FPS with the right loads, and they are very accurate. If you really want some additional reloading speed, just get a couple of extra cylinders to go with it.

When I bought my 1858, I ordered two additional cylinders and just load those the night before the range if I want some extra shots during a session.

Seriously, when you start using it in ots traditional form, you'll be plenty happy with ot as it is. Enjoy your new revolver!

 

My 1858, a stainless Pietta, no conversion

Another BP revolver, a 1851 Colt replica by Uberti, no conversion

Finally, 1861 Navy, WITH a conversion cylinder (.38 Special)

 

Ok. Thanks for the responses.

What will I need (What is the best powder, balls, etc).

I am thinking of getting a conversion - as from what I read Remington was the 1st to offer such a device and paying S&W the royalty.

Thanks all!

 

What will I need (What is the best powder, balls, etc).

0.454" round balls work best in my Pietta. 0.451 will work in a pinch, but the 0.454 shaves off a more substantial ring of lead when loading, for a better seal.

Most folks use FFFg black powder, or Pyrodex P (Pistol) . . . however I have used Pyrodex RS (Rifle/Shotgun) with no ill effects.

Conversions are great if you don't want to clean your revolver after every outing.

 

The best powder is fffg true black powder but it has become almost impossible to find. 777 or Pyrodex is a decent substitute and works much the same as true black powder.

"Calibers" were measured different back in the day ..... it was based on the largest diameter rod that would fit in a bore. Today we tend to go with what's called "true bore", which is the bore diameter without rifling. For example, the old way of measuring bore diameter for a 357 Mag is .345", about .009" smaller than true bore diameter of .357". This difference is because of the thickness of the rifling that extends from the true bore.

When the Old Army first came out, it was listed as a 44 cal revolver but later in the game, Ruger called it a 45 cal because the true bore diameter (.45") is the same as a 45 Colt . To add to the confusion, pure lead balls need to be slightly oversized so when they are seated in the cylinder with the ram, it should cut off a little lead ring. This insures the bullet is seated tight in each chamber to prevent flash over The 1858 Remington was intended for .457" round ball bullets. After being "trimmed" during seating, they somewhat resemble a football and are very stable in flight. You can also use .452" "mini balls", which are round nose bullets with a hollow base, These bullets are notably heavier than round ball .... usually 250gr for 45 cal.

 

I've always used .454 ball with my Remington. the .457 ball I used with the ROAs.

On the conversion front. The 'conversion cylinder isn't the same as offered by Remington back in the day. There were modifications to the revolver to make that happen. See here Taylor Remington Conversion replica . That is if you feel you need to be period correct. Just saying .

 

I've always used .454 ball with my Remington. the .457 ball I used with the ROAs.

On the conversion front. The 'conversion cylinder isn't the same as offered by Remington back in the day. There were modifications to the revolver to make that happen. See here Taylor Remington Conversion replica . That is if you feel you need to be period correct. Just saying .

That 8" .44-40 is probably the most accurate (historically) of the lot, and it's in stock, too.

 

I found this while doing research - thought it might be of interest.

survivalistboards.com/threads/1858-remington.212993/

Introduction:

The 1858 Remington black powder revolver, it is a fine pistol, a capable handgun.
The frame is beefier than other black powder revolvers. This pistol also has the useful advantage, of being able to swap out the cylinders quickly, making it faster to reload, it was a favorite among union troops in the civil war used to great effect. Firing a .45 caliber lead round ball weighing approx 140 grains at up to and over 1000 fps, this revolver is still a viable weapon. In reality, it is a useful handgun, a good side arm for hunting, and a good weapon for self defense if need be. The truth is that a soft lead ball does tremendous damage to a living target, having a tendency to crush and flatten. Another advantage of the 1858 Remington are the safety notches between each nipple, allowing you to have the hammer in a safe position and have all 6 chambers loaded, instead of just 5 with the colt. I bought this revolver from Cabela’s and I have been well satisfied with it, for around 200 $ It was money well spent.
Here I will include some information, about safety, and some techniques I have found to be useful.


1858 Remington pistol modifications and techniques:

First I will summarize three problems:

1) cross-firing and chain firing
2) jamming of the cylinder pin
3) roughness of internal parts

Here are the solutions:

1) Proper fitting caps are an absolute must, loose or overly tight caps are nothing but trouble.
Most of the time, chainfires and cross firing are caused by loose fitting caps that back off of the nipple, exposing it to the flame of the adjacent cylinder. Replace with Tresso nipples, use only proper fitting caps, the “pinch” technique is NOT safe. To put this simply if you are having to pinch the caps in order for them to stay on the nipple you are using the WRONG caps! Lube over the ball helps somewhat with fouling, but is not a cure for chain fire as you may have heard elsewhere.

2) The jamming of the cylinder pin is a common failing with the 1858 Remington, the solution is 3 fold. first you polish the cylinder pin, and the cylinder hole it slides in (do not remove metal just polish), use lube "pills" between the wad and ball. (recipe below)

3) Roughness of internal parts is very easily improved by gently stoning the sear surfaces.

Another problem that causes more fouling is over packing the powder, load 40 grains of black powder or triple 7, add the wad and pill and lightly pack it, do not cram it down tight. Powder needs to be slightly loose in order to burn more efficiently.

Lube pills:

Melt 1/3 bore butter, 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 paraffin wax.
In a pan you don’t plan on using for food, heat the mixture till it is fairly hot, but not anywhere near boiling,
pour your melted lube into a shallow pan, old plate or something similar, and cool, cast it to be 1/8" – 3/16” deep.
Place in the fridge to cool faster if you like. Use a .45 long colt case or a .45 acp case that you’ve sharpened the inside of.
Alternately, you can simply melt the lube and soak your wads in it, this works just as well.
With blackpowder revolvers, lube is a good thing, use lots of it. Never use petroleum products, they will create a gummy mess that is very difficult to clean.

Make use a loading stand, it loads better than your revolver and you can control the depth much better.
It is very necessary to use wads, not using them fouls the revolver even worse.
Goex pinnacle's fouling is looser and easier to clean than triple 7, but triple 7 produces more velocity.

NEVER use smokeless powder your revolver will become a grenade, always lube it down good with some bore butter or traditions lubed patches.

Screws:

Apply gorilla grease on the nipples in your pistol, it’s a miracle worker, anyone who has had a stuck nipple or breach screw understands this.
Gorilla grease was originally intended for breech plugs but works great on nipples, after hundreds of rounds fired, I was able to remove the nipples easily.
For the screws, be sure to use anti seize on them and use proper fitting screwdrivers.
I learned this fact the hard way with my first black powder pistol, this is the one time you can use a petroleum product, spark plug anti seize works great and it’s a buck for a small packet you can get at an auto parts store. Never over-tighten them, they will cold weld and be very hard to get out. Run them down and give them a good half turn.

Round balls:

Use only pure lead, it is very difficult to seat hard lead balls, and it is also less accurate.
Your particular pistol may prefer .451, .454, or .457 try them to find out which one seats best.
I prefer to use a slightly over sized ball, When seating the ball, it will shave off a sliver of lead.
I get a much better seal, and there is more bearing surface to engage the rifling.
As a matter of preference I prefer Speer or Hornady swaged balls. You can use cast balls if you prefer, however it is critical to to make sure the sprue faces up and is centered.

Powders:

Triple 7 is hands down my personal favorite, Pyrodex did not give me good results for a couple of reasons, it caused heavy fouling, and was much more difficult to clean. Pyrodex is also more corrosive so be warned clean your guns after shooting right away. Triple 7 also seemed to give the best accuracy, and was more energetic than pyrodex. I also shot the new pyrodex pistol pellets, they were a waste of money, half of them were broken! This is all a matter of personal choice, if you like pyrodex and it works well for you, use it.

Loads:
(These are Remington 1858 STEEL frame loads only!)
These are volume loads not weight loads.
Never go by weight when using black powder.

.454 lead round ball
40 grains triple 7
Lubed wad
(shot fantastic! Great accuracy)
<1” groups at 10 yards

.457 round ball
45 grains triple 7
Lubed wad
(real powerhouse, however less accurate I shot 2” groups at 10 yards)

.454 round ball
30 grains triple 7 or pyrodex
Lubed wad
(light recoil, decent accuracy 2-4” groups at 25 yards)

Birdshot load
Half teaspoon of #12 or #8 birdshot
20 grains of triple 7
Lubed wad underneath the shot
Dry wad on top of the shot
Lightly pack powder and wad first, add shot, wad gently press to beneath the chamber mouth.
(this is an interesting load, at less than 15 feet it made one hole with a few smaller ones around it, farther back it opened up quite well) I think this load would work well for pest control, or perhaps some small game if you’re close enough.

Storage:

Yes you can store this revolver loaded, If it is kept in a dry place with well fitting caps it can fire months after being loaded. Once I left it loaded for 6 months and every shot in all the cylinders fired.

 

That's a nice post. I found an interesting article about chain fires when I was researching black powder before I got my own Uberti 1858 New Army. The writer of the article experimented to try and cause a chain fire by repeatedly loading every chamber but only capping every other one. He did this with both an ASM, Pieta and a Uberti 1858 New Army, as well as a Colt Baby Dragoon. Not once did he get a chain fire.

Through his experimentation, he determined that chain fires come from sloppy powder loading, particularly when greasy residue is left all over the exterior and interior chamber mouths, where powder accumulates and gets "entrained" between the ball and chamber wall, so that the powder can ignite, sending flame past the ball in the next chamber and back to its primary charge.

The article is a good read and can be found here.

Preventing chain firing

Modifications and techniques to prevent multiple discharges (chain firing) of the black powder revolver

geojohn.org

 

It was recommended that I get the AMPCO Nipples to replace the stock Nipples , which will use the # 11 cap for better ignition.

 

Great thread. my buddy and I have gotten into BP revolvers. I have a 1847 pocket 31... an 1851 navy 36 and a 1860 army 44 he has the Remington.. I got to say.. he shoots great groups at 20 yards with the remmy. I shoot a ton of smokeless guns but..the BP ones are special. what a relaxing day. You can spend almost as much on the BP loads as smokeless Mag loads! I dont I cast my own balls. I use 1/8" felt with tallow and beeswax soaked in cut with cheap punches. at this point my rounds cost about a quarter of if you buy the components?

To be fair about this tho.. there are negatives. you don't just buy the gun and some balls and some patches and caps. there are other things you need to buy. a powder measure... a capper? A nipple wrench? screwdrivers? Black powder or Pyrodex... you are now $100 or so more than the $350 gun.

Good/bad news is? it takes a while to load a BP revolver so you might only shoot 36 or so rounds that day? Relaxing and fun? you bet your butt. Historical? of course.

Cleaning.. it is a bi##.. no way around it.. and no putting it off. got to do it that day or next. Another expense? buy extra cylinders.. we bring three for each gun.. that means... You can shoot 18 rounds without reloading. It also means you have three cylinders to clean when you get home. I am single so the kitchen sink is mine. You may have to do this in the garage or outside.

 

You are correct.. all BP revolvers I have seen allow you to drop the hammer between cylinders. some have pins to drop the hammer on. this is by far the safest but? even without the pins? nothing bad is gonna happen if you just drop the hammer between cylinders. not gonna go off sideways. Some do have pins between every cylinder.. some only have one pin you have to use.. some have no pins.. but unlike later SAA guns you can pull back the hammer slightly and rotate the cyl and drop it between loaded cylinders. Safe as a house... change my mind.

 

I have a Remington 1858 New Model Army and a Colt 1860 Army. The Remington uses the notches between the chambers, while the Colt uses the pins. Either setup is pretty secure, although I do prefer Remington's system because it doesn't require the hammer face to be notched.