Ramblin Gambler Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 I have a pair of pietta '58 remmy clones that I just recently put howell type conversions on. Today was my first chance to give them a workout and I have a question about loading them. I had to take the guns to a gunsmith to get the cylinders fitted, and while there he pointed out that both of my hands were damaged. He suggested drawing the hammer back just a little instead of putting it in half cock, because at half cock the hand was extended, but if I just pulled the hammer back a little both the bolt and hand would retract. So I played around with that, and it is easier to install the cylinder with the hand retracted, but I'm not sure if it's safe. So if you have one of these, how do you do it? If you put it at half cock what do you do to keep the hand from getting buggered up. Mine is a 5 shot if that makes a difference. BTW, I got the guns used, so I probably didn't bugger up the hands. But when I got them they only had cap n ball cylinders. While we're talking about '58s I might as well ask this next question instead of starting a new topic. I want a lighter hammer pull. Where can i get some good replacement hammer springs, what weight should I get to be sure they will still ignite caps when I go back to cap n ball, and how hard are they to install? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick Bruce Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 http://1858remington.com/discuss/index.php/topic,5248.0.html What's the date codes on those Remmys? If you bought the cylinders from Taylor's, you can send everything to them and Tom will fit them to your guns for FREE! I shoot a pair of stainless uberti 5.5's with Kirst gated konversions as match guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 One was made in 1994, the other in 2000. I didn't buy them from taylors. Taylors only has the 6 shot version and I consider those to be inferior*. I said they had already been fitted, so are you suggesting they need to be fitted again? I talked to howell's and they charge $50 each to fit cylinders. I decided to try out a local gunsmith to save the time and aggravation of shipping. Reading through that discussion you linked, it appears that spring is for lightening the trigger pull. I don't want the trigger any lighter, I want the hammer to be easier to cock. Does one spring do both? If so why don't they mention that in the product description? *to be clear, the 6 shot is 'inferior' because I wanted a 5 shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick Bruce Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Ramblin Gambler said: Reading through that discussion you linked, it appears that spring is for lightening the trigger pull. I don't want the trigger any lighter, I want the hammer to be easier to cock. Does one spring do both? If so why don't they mention that in the product description? its a hammer spring, less tension on the hammer=less pressure on the sear. less pressure on the sear = less trigger pull. the spring is designed for a colt SAA, us '58 shooters use them in the 58's. I have them in all 12 of my 58's.... eventually in this thread, someone is going to chime in and tell you to back the hammer spring screw out to lessen the hammer spring pressure, don't. the screw will eventually back all the way out and the spring will jump off the back of the hammer and bind up the gun. don't ask how I know this...lol... the howells and taylors cylinders are made by Kenny howell... all taylors does is sell them and fit them... I prefer the 6 shot because the Remington as designed as a 6 shot but... my kirsts are 5... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 I liked the thicker walls on the 5 shot, plus it makes me feel better to be able to fully load the gun. It appeals to my particular mild form of OCD. I figured someone would tell me to bend the spring or cut relief notches (which is kinda what it looks like wolf did). I wasn't going to do those things either. So no one has advice on the best practices for re-installing the loaded cylinder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick Bruce Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 The best way I found was to leave the hammer down, start installing the cylinder from the right side while slightly turning the cylinder and pulling back on the hammer at the same time, once the cylinder is in the frame, continue to turn it and slide the cylinder pin back. The hammer should be at half cock once you have the cylinder in the frame. At this point I would rotate the cylinder so the empty chamber is going to line up with the hammer so I can go full cock and lower the hammer onto the empty chamber. With the 5 shot you'll have to CAREFULLY lower the hammer onto a live round, then pull the hammer back enough to unlock the cylinder, then let the hammer back down between chambers so the bolt drops into the "safety" notch. Letting the hammer down on a live round is why I don't like the 5 shot Howells, it's too easy to put a hole in something you don't want a hole in, again, don't ask me how I know this. The Kirst has a dummy chamber for the hammer to rest on so it's just like loading a Colt SAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick Bruce Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Oh and the Wolff spring is more than just a slot cut into the spring. It's thinner, skinnier and a better type of spring steel. Well worth the money. I've been shooting, building, modifying and customizing 58's for nearly 20 years. I've made some nice guns and I've screwed up some nice guns too. So from experience I know what to do and what not to do when it comes to the 58... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Boomstick Bruce said: With the 5 shot you'll have to CAREFULLY lower the hammer onto a live round, You don't have to do this. You can go straight from half cock to decocked. Your method sounds a lot like what the gunsmith suggested. The main difference is I never put it all the way to half cock. I was lay the cylinder against the frame with the hammer fully down. The bolt and hammer keep it from dropping in. Then I drew back the hammer a little so the bolt and hand both retract. Then I line up the safety notch with the bolt and firing pins with the frame (should be able to see one firing pin on each side of the frame when it's aligned right). Then lower the hammer to lock the cylinder in and sliding the base pin in. If I lined it up right the base pin will go right in. Most of the time I had to wiggle the cylinder which sometimes required pulling the hammer back again and sometimes didn't. The safety notches are a different shape from the regular notches, so it's easy to tell which one you're lining up with the bolt hole. As opposed to what I do with my colt clones. Which is put it at half cock, open loading gate, rotate the cylinder in until the base pin will slide in, then close the loading gate, go full cock, and decock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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