ihave had one for over 12 years now, I keep the loads moderate and no signs of frame stretch, The only thing I had to do was replace the hand about 3 years ago. Accuracy out of that 12 inch barrel is phenomenal! Off hand is really a joy to shoot as that heavy barrel stops the shakes. For serous target work I sit on my backside and rest the barrel on my knee! At 50 yards I can hold my own against most modern pistols!
How do brass frame 1858's hold up?
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How do brass frame 1858's hold up?
Not very well.
It's been covered in a lot of posts with some conflicting opinions. Most people agree these are only good for very light loads or very little use possibly both.
Brass frames were not liked in the old days either. Even the tiny brass framed low power pocket Remington (.31 cal) was a bust. They stopped making them soon after and sold many more of the steel version. I can say for good reason and will leave it at that.
Why is my print in bold black ?
Not very well.
It's been covered in a lot of posts with some conflicting opinions. Most people agree these are only good for very light loads or very little use possibly both.
Brass frames were not liked in the old days either. Even the tiny brass framed low power pocket Remington (.31 cal) was a bust. They stopped making them soon after and sold many more of the steel version. I can say for good reason and will leave it at that.
Why is my print in bold black ?
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J-Bar
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TTv2
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Speaking of the .31 pocket Remington, how to the Pietta ones with brass frame hold up? I've been off/on with those over the years and eventually decided that I'd rather not get the steel frame because then I'd be tempted to get the .32 S&W conversion cylinder for no reason.
In a brass remmi you wont EVER have to worry about frame stretching with heavy loads. Nope. Wont happen!
Cos.. Like any OTHER brass frame you STILL have the recoil shield to worry about... And LIKE any other brass frame, youre gonna hammer that thing into oblivion. Frames stronger... All that means is your gun will be scrap metal BEFORE the frame stretches!
Dont do it man. Brass is brass and steels steel... Confuse the two in ANY gun and you get to start a nice collection of spare parts...
Cos.. Like any OTHER brass frame you STILL have the recoil shield to worry about... And LIKE any other brass frame, youre gonna hammer that thing into oblivion. Frames stronger... All that means is your gun will be scrap metal BEFORE the frame stretches!
Dont do it man. Brass is brass and steels steel... Confuse the two in ANY gun and you get to start a nice collection of spare parts...
44caliberkid
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A guy brought that exact pistol to a cap n ball cowboy shoot. Brand new. By the end of the match the frame had twisted. Very bizarre, as though you removed the cylinder, put the frame in a vise, put a hammer handle through the cylinder window and started twisting on the frame. Maybe the bullet hitting the rifling was imparting torque to the frame? It was just weird, no one could figure it out, but it told us nobody wanted a brass frame '58.
test drive
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I know I’m late to the game but it comes down to this if you plane on heavy compition or heavy use get a steel frame if it’s something like plinking around with the guys or light use go brass. I had a 58 brass years ago and I shot the hottest loads I could come with and I had no problems
As I noted in an earlier post, I have Pietta Brass framed Remington 44s, The 12 inch Buffalo gun is still doing just fine and I dont shoot wimpy loads but keep them reasonable.Ditto for the 9 inch. I dont know how heavy a load others are shooting to stretch the frames but no stretch on mine. Calipers show everything is still tight and where it should be. My normal load is 24.5 to 25G of 3F depending on weather and humidity! So what are loads are people using that have stretched frames? Thanks
arcticap
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25 grains seems to be a fairly reasonable to maximum load of 3F for a brass frame Remington and shouldn't cause any problems for a very long time if at all.
Some folks have shot 30 grain loads but perhaps not for enough shots to cause any noticeable damage.
It's not really known how much powder can be loaded and for how many shots before any damage can occur.
With the Remingtons I've heard that the cylinder pin hole in the recoil shield can become oval over time which can affect the alignment of the cylinder.
But I've never heard anyone actually quote any statistics about how many shots were loaded or with what specific powder charge before they noticed any harmful damage.
Someone would probably need to keep track of all of the shots that they took over the lifetime of the gun up until they noticed any damage to help determine the trouble free lifespan of a gun.
But then each gun and circumstances may be different based on the individual gun, the actual type of powder & ball size used and the loading method.
One would think that the larger the powder charges, the more risk to the frame, and loading the cylinder off the frame would also reduce some of the stress on the cylinder pin and some of the risk.
Sorry that I can't be more help answering your question with any certainty or hard data.
But I did want to mention what I believe to be some of the variables involved.
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