Pietta 1858 New Army Parts Dilemma - Black Powder Muzzle Loaders - 1850-1880 Firearms - ParallaxBill's Curio & Relic and Military Surplus Firearms Forums - Message Board Yuku

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Pietta 1858 New Army Parts Dilemma

Author	Comment
Bear43	Pietta 1858 New Army Parts Dilemma	Lead	[-]
Posts: 603 (11/10/09 10:41 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None A couple years ago I bought a very well worn Pietta-made Remington 1858 New Army .44. The whole reason I bought it was because it was cheap and it had potential as a good winter project.... or so I thought. Well, this week I started digging into the rebuilding of this revolver and much to my surprise many of the replacement parts don't fit. I don't mean they are off a little bit, I mean some parts would take massive machining to make them work. That got me scratching my head and doing research... and I found out something new... The revolver I have is Pietta's "Shooter's Special". I never heard of it before and it's been hard finding info on it. What I know is that parts are different. The "Shooter's Special" had different barrels with a different style front sight and the hammer, hand, and cylinder stop are different. What made the identity of mine difficult to ascertain is the fact that the barrel has been replaced, so it was not obvious that it was something different than the normal 1858 Remington reproductions. It's been interesting finding the right parts, too. So far the only place that I have found that offers the parts I need is Marstar up in Canada. So, if anyone might now of any place else that has parts, by all means let me know. Mainly I wanted to post this up so that people are aware that there are some variations that can exist to bite you in the butt
Aubullet		#1	[-]
Posts: 1401 (11/10/09 11:40 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I can only think of the usual suspects: Dixie Gun Works, Navy Arms, Cabela's, Taylor's, EMF, and maybe Traditions. Perhaps some of the Civil War Sutlers may have the needed parts, or perhaps you could try S&S Firearms. I know Pietta isn't very approachable directly as I've been trying to get a replacement stock bolt for a C&B pistol stock for a long time, and have yet to find a source to be able to get it for me! Good Luck!
Bear43		#2	[-]
Posts: 604 (11/10/09 11:52 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yeah, Pietta isn't the friendliest place to be asking about parts. Odd considering I'm trying to fix one of their creations... Oh well, lots of other places are more than happy to help me spend my money. I did try Dixie and Cabela's, they have the parts kits but not the one I need for my "Shooter's Special". I will try some of the other's and see what I can come up with. In the meantime I am taking the parts I have and trying to fit them just to see if it can be done at all. If nothing else I already know at least one frame modification that will allow the easier to find cylinder stop to work. It's a bigger project than I originally planned.
Bear43		#3	[-]
Posts: 605 (11/10/09 02:59 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Okay, here's one I am really gonna catch flak over...... I just found something out this afternoon.... and it explains fully why parts are not fitting...... this revolver is more of a Frankenstien than I realized. I got to looking at the frame really close just a little bit ago. Turns out.... the frame is not a Pietta. It has a Pietta barrel on it, so I figured Pietta. Nope, the frame is Armi-Sport. I found the AC proof mark on the frame. So...... I don't have a "Shooter's Special".... I have a pile of garbage I'm still going to try and get it in firing shape, and hopefully I can. The parts are close enough that I am sure I can do enough frame/part mods to get the Pietta parts to work. I just feel really stupid right now
KingBee		#4	[-]
Posts: 382 (11/12/09 01:08 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	VTI Replica Gun Parts might have what you need.
Bear43		#5	[-]
Posts: 608 (11/13/09 09:17 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No one has exactly what I need, since parts for an Armi-Sport revolver are impossible to get. However, all the major places have what will work.... Confused yet? I had the typical Pietta parts for their 1858 Remington clones, and after spending a lot of time in the evenings this past week working on getting these parts whittled down..... I am now ready to test fire this revolver! It took a lot of Dremeling, filing, sanding, and polishing but I have Pietta parts in my Armi-Sport frame and it functions flawlessly, locks up good and has no issues with timing. I am still going to have to do a final polish and blue the parts, but I am going to do that after the test firing in case any adjustments do need to be made. I'm happy once more
Aubullet		#6	[-]
Posts: 1415 (11/13/09 02:17 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Congrats! Sounds like you have done some nice work there, hope it all works well for you. Let us know how she shoots!
Stephen		#7	[-]
Posts: 527 (11/24/09 09:37 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I own a stainless Pietta Remington clone. Compared to some other Colt clone cap and ball revolvers I have and do own, the Pietta Remington is quite well made. The internal parts look nicely made and fitted, not like roughly cast junk most cb revolvers use. I looked at a used Remington clone of Italian make, but no manufacturer or importer name, and it was not any better than the Italian Colts. I also own a Pietta Colt Navy clone purchased a few years befor the Pietta Remington. The Navy revolver was just as crappy made as anybody elses clone revolver, and needed work right out of the box to get it servicable(should have sent it back). I've been tinkering on cap and ball revolvers for years, and most are decent looking guns externaly, but cursed with crap for internal parts! Not much interchangability of internal parts, even on clones of the same make. I keep hearing the Uberti's are the best made replica's, but aside from owning a couple SSA cartridge Colt clones, can't say I've owned a percussian revolver made by Uberti.
Aubullet		#8	[-]
Posts: 1455 (11/26/09 03:38 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Uberti's typically have a bit nicer fit and finish than do Pietta's, but both of them often need a little fine tuning to be a good shootable revolver in my opinion. Not too many years ago Uberti was far and away better than Pietta, or so it seemed to me. But for several years now, the functional difference has been much less obvious and I now own several Pietta's that I'm quite happy with. The one exception is a recent acquisition of the Pietta 1861 Navy. It obviously has a modified 1860 Army barrel which is a bit too long, and seems too heavy in profile as well, so the gun just doesn't feel right at all. My Uberti 1861 seems much more correct in this regard, but they both required a bit of smoothing up to shoot the way I want them. A good shooting C&B revolver, right out of the box, is a pretty uncommon bird in my experience, but they are so easy to work on that it has never deterred me from getting what I wanted!

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