I broke my 1858

[DMShag514]

Purchased a Pietta 1858 NMA, NIB, from an individual. Revolver functioned fine. Disassembled for a thorough cleaning and upon reassembly discovered the cylinder would not turn. Inspection revealed that Hand spring no long contacts Hand Slot in frame. Hand has no spring tension. Below is a picture of the Hand and Hammer sans hand screw in “installed position” but out of the frame. Does anything look askew? Suggestions from the more experienced and wise would be appreciated.

 

[N.Schafer]

The hand spring is bent forward too much. You may be able to bend it back some, but you may have to replace it.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Bend it out but plan on replacing because it will collapse again.

 

[DMShag514]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve got two replacements on order from Taylor’s and I’ve bent this one as much as I feel comfortable doing. It’s functional now, but engagement is poor. It’ll work for this weekends shoot.....maybe.

 

[LaneP]

Once a leaf spring loses its tension, it's toast. Ordering a replacement was the right move.

 

[BBBBill]

The best permanent fix is a coil spring. Some folk call it "Rugerizing" since Ruger uses coil springs for that in their guns. Here's a short article with photos - http://rvbprecision.com/shooting/1860-colt-pietta-hand-fix.html

 

[DMShag514]

Interesting solution. Unfortunately, the tools and expertise required are outside of my wheel house. At $4 a pop, I think I’ll just keep a couple of spares on hand. Or some bobby pins if I’m in a pinch.

 

[Gator Weiss]

I have a Pietta 1858 I purchased in Dallas in 1978. My first hand gun ever. I bought ball and cap and powder and grease and fired the hell out of it for years, using dish water to clean it. I still shoot it. The hand and spring is something that does wear out. You will find tune-ups are necessary on any BP revolver from time to time. They make and sell tune-up parts for the Colts and Remington's (Pietta and Uberti) and it is basically a new set of "parts" for inside your revolver. eBay sometimes will have your parts. Occasionally you might get lucky and drop the parts in and the gun works. Most often you have to fit the parts by polishing them and adjusting them until they work smooth. Don't try to use the Uberti parts in the Pietta and vise-versa. I have seen hand springs made out of bobby-pins that worked well. However, it's better to use Pietta replacement parts. Older Piettas sometimes have slightly different "tolerances" in parts than the Piettas manufactured today. Don't be surprised if you put that new hand-and-spring in and find you need to do some fitting. You can work it into fit yourself or a gunsmith can easily fit your new hand and this would not be expensive as it is common routine task for the Smith.

 

[Gator Weiss]

The one pain in the asx problem I had with my 1858 is the front sight coming off. Mine is stainless, and it doesn't seem to like solder or JB Weld. I love the 1858. I am thinking on re-working the front sight into something a little more robust.

 

[stillquietvoice]

You might want to get a couple cylinder stop/trigger springs too. I had a couple of those break on my pietta 58 rem.

The one pain in the asx problem I had with my 1858 is the front sight coming off. Mine is stainless, and it doesn't seem to like solder or JB Weld. I love the 1858. I am thinking on re-working the front sight into something a little more robust.

Mine has target sight on it had a Smith ramp it. Now it doesn't catch on anything.

 

[stillquietvoice]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve got two replacements on order from Taylor’s and I’ve bent this one as much as I feel comfortable doing. It’s functional now, but engagement is poor. It’ll work for this weekends shoot.....maybe.

Welcome to the forum. Just noticed you join ed yesterday.

 

[evan price]

I just picked up a brass framed 1858 Remington with the same problem.
You can diagnose it by holding the gun muzzle down and trying the action. If it works pointing down its the hand spring usually.
Those leaf springs really kind of suck. However I got the gun cheap because of it so there's that.

 

[DMShag514]

I’ve bent the leaf spring back where it should be applying plenty of tension once installed. However, the tension is still so weak that you can rotate the cylinder counter clockwise with almost no resistance. It will cycle, but if you cock the trigger with the muzzle pointed above 60 degree, there’s a 50/50 chance that the hand will not fully engage. I’ll be glad when the replacements get here. Hopefully, at least one of them will have a good temper and will work properly. I’ll be ordering another pair of them as soon as Taylor’s has more in stock. In the mean time, I’ve found a nice looking 1860 Army by Uberti at a local pawn shop. Guy that sold it to them claims it’s from around 1980. No clue if that’s accurate, but the price is right at around 2 Benjamin’s. Trying to get a spending bill pushed through the budget committee, but this close post Christmas is a bad time to be lobbying for gun funds.

 

[Coyote3855]

Interesting solution. Unfortunately, the tools and expertise required are outside of my wheel house. At $4 a pop, I think I’ll just keep a couple of spares on hand. Or some bobby pins if I’m in a pinch.

I have a bobby pin hand spring in a cheap Cabela's Italian single action that's got maybe a thousand rounds and still working fine.

 

[DMShag514]

I’ve heard of this, but haven’t found instructions, aside from a single sketchy YouTube video. My revolver’s Hand has a good hold on the base of its leaf spring. I’m not sure how I could remove it in order to put in a piece of bobby pin steel. May look into it though, especially if the replacement hand springs are as weak as the original.

 

[whughett]

I’ve bent the leaf spring back where it should be applying plenty of tension once installed. However, the tension is still so weak that you can rotate the cylinder counter clockwise with almost no resistance. It will cycle, but if you cock the trigger with the muzzle pointed above 60 degree, there’s a 50/50 chance that the hand will not fully engage. I’ll be glad when the replacements get here. Hopefully, at least one of them will have a good temper and will work properly. I’ll be ordering another pair of them as soon as Taylor’s has more in stock. In the mean time, I’ve found a nice looking 1860 Army by Uberti at a local pawn shop. Guy that sold it to them claims it’s from around 1980. No clue if that’s accurate, but the price is right at around 2 Benjamin’s. Trying to get a spending bill pushed through the budget committee, but this close post Christmas is a bad time to be lobbying for gun funds.

The year of manufacture is indicated by a boxed set of letters some where on the frame. IE would be 1980

 

[45 Dragoon]

The best permanent fix is a coil spring. Some folk call it "Rugerizing" since Ruger uses coil springs for that in their guns.

Hey!! I like the way you think!!! The problem this time though is we're discussing about a Remington instead of a Colt layout. There's no separate backstrap to keep the handspring in place and under tension. Even using a set screw to hold it in place doesn't give much room for a spring and adequate length plunger. Not to mention, it wouldn't be allowed in CAS if you decided to go there.
A torsion spring will work though and it's a "life of the revolver" fix. That along with torsion bolt and trigger springs make for a "bullet proof" action. Makes the Remington S.A. ('58, '75 & '90) a "lightweight Ruger"!!

Mike

 

[DMShag514]

She’s a dirty girl. 26 shots, no misfires and only one slight cap jam. US Army “L” target at 25 yards with a center hold from a rest and I was hitting 5” low left with a 30 grain load of Goex FFFg behind a Traditions .451 round ball. Gunna need some sight work and probably a little load work to get the accuracy up. Imagine I’ll need to enlist the help of a more experienced black powder shooter for those tasks. Thankfully, SW Miss GUn Club has a few of those old guys hanging around.