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Black Powder Pistols => 1858 Remington "New Model Army" Revolvers => Topic started by: Clydesdale4x4 on October 15, 2022, 12:35:25 PM
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Buddy of mine gave me an 8" '58 yresterday, my first brasser. Doesn't look to have ever been fired, but it's weird. I'll try to host pics, this forum and pic hosting aren't things I can seem to manage (I'll turn RAW/HEIC off on my iPhone,and try linking jPeg's).
Brass has an antiqued finish almost,(like this: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/antique-crackle-finish) and ALL of the metal, and the grips, have brush marks under the bluing, EXCEPT for the cylinder.
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Annnnd it eliminated my pics and reply. I'll come back with a google photos link here shortly.
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Only markings are as pictured.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8MSkffVt7WXtcAJd8
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Its a kit gun. That's the way kits came in the 70's. Rough as cast brass that has to be polished out and really oversize rough cut grips. The way it looks around the recoil shield is the way the whole frame looked as it came.
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Can we assume the crackle on the brass is just something the former owner did? maybe a spray clear coat of some sort?
Why are the grips undersized so horribly, witht he weird abrasions? Just chlak it up to someone bubba-ing an antiquing job?
(edited for clarity)
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Can we assume the crackle on the brass is just something the former owner did? maybe a spray clear coat of some sort?
Why are the grips undersized so horribly, witht he weird abrasions? Just chlak it up to someone bubba-ing an antiquing job?
(edited for clarity)
No the crackle look is rough brass the way it came out of the mold. That's the way kits came in the 70's. The grips were rough cut and vastly oversize. Putting kits together back then was no picanic.
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Wild.
How do i find proof marks etc. Saw none in the usual spots. Curious to know what the "171" means (assuming production number) but what house made it, when? etc.
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It may be marked under the grips. My guess would be ASM. Some didn't mark their kits. That is probably a later made kit, maybe in the 80's. The older ones had tool marks in the steel and weren't blued. That looks like factory blue and the markings are still crisp and clear.
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Hawg nailed it. It's an assembled kit and somebody rough ground the grips down to fit...a bit too much. It shouldn't be hard to disassemble and do it up right. You might need a new set of grip blanks tho...
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awesome. Every time I take one of these apart, I find myself wanting to ship them off to Retreever to have them redone, as they never fire again. :smiley-angry037:
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How much of the brass can I remove in the name of "smooth finish" before I start to hurt it?
As I remove the layers of crazing (?), I find divits.
Did dremel out the cylinder pin resting hole, so now it no longer needs tapped out,a nd it's polished to 1500 grit, do i need to go smoother?
Loading ram still binds, it's also been sanded smooth with 600#, and then polished with 1500#.
Gently removing and polishing the brass walls it slides through. Should be as fluid as my stainless gun, is my thought.
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Phone pics were too large, so link it is. On the loading ram, I had polished with 1500, then rotated in it's "cavity" to show the marks where the brass was rubbing on it still.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9bSt8TUd3pTf9GGh6
As you look at the top strap, you can see one side quasi-smoothed, and the other side barely touched, I would like the divits out, goal is a high polish smooth shine, but I fear removing the amount of meat to get there, not just from that area, but the whole of the gun, if the divits under the crinkle finish are that deep every where.
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I'm not seeing any divots. You just haven't gotten below the crackling yet. There is a nasty gouge where a screwdriver slipped. Keep going until all the crackling is gone.
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I'm not seeing any divots. You just haven't gotten below the crackling yet. There is a nasty gouge where a screwdriver slipped. Keep going until all the crackling is gone.
I assumed these were divots. Will keep sanding.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5sfRytBvo7kuKRo17
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I'm not seeing any divots. You just haven't gotten below the crackling yet. There is a nasty gouge where a screwdriver slipped. Keep going until all the crackling is gone.
I assumed these were divots. Will keep sanding.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5sfRytBvo7kuKRo17
Keep sanding. They're just part of the crackling from the mold.
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Cast brass with unusually big grains (or chrystals). The zinc contents of the alloy seems to have been corroded out from the grain boundaries. The white stuff is zinc oxide. Ammonia has that effect. Someone left it in the cow shed or the stables.
It's severely weakened. I wouldn't shoot it.
Just my humble thoughts.
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No Len, that's the way brass kits used to come.
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No Len, that's the way brass kits used to come.
+1
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That brass looks brittle. It might make a good hand grenade. I doubt I’d ever learn to trust that frame for actual shooting.
I have never seen a kit gun that rough and corroded, ever.
Keep sanding, 4x4. Will be interesting to see what happens.
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I have never seen a kit gun that rough and corroded, ever.
Then you've never seen a kit from the 60's and 70's.
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My powder measure is 44 grains (yeah Johnny Roper is my spirit animal), I filled that just over half full (it tapers) and let it go off 12 times over Christmas. Capping was painful, got 12 reduced charges out of this, and 12 full 44 grain charges out of the stainless. And my fingers hurt. There’s no way I was over a “mouse fart” load, probably about 20-25 grains. Locked up tight, feels good. Sadly? It feels better then the Stainless does as far as action smoothness and crispness goes.
Will find a different measure and keep this in the 28-32 range. Which seems to be where people shoot the brasses. If that’s high? Lemme know. Also heading down the Dick Dastardly snake wagon or snake charmer or grease wagon whatever his truncated 170 grain conical is.
Thinking this may be the accuracy plinker. And a great kids gun for range day.
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20 grains is about as high as you want to go with brass.
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Turns out the measure is 40. The “half mark” (measured it a year ago) is like 16, and I was throwing just over half. So we were right about there.
I’ll find a 20 grain measure for it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oMKDaJSuY7saVpDP6
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nothing to do with mine.
But brain dead surfing on the internet lead me to Reeder's Custom Guns...
Boy he has some purty ones.
I thought this was an odd choice to make a bespoke classic
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock.html
(the last one)
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock/instock13.html
Purdy, but, it's brass... the question "why, though?" comes to mind.
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Some sucker will buy it.
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Reeder knows revolvers and he used to offer a .50 Ruger conversion like Clements so it’s kind of surprising he wasted his time with this.
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where I'm at.
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It's getting there.
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Closer
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wish there wasa way to season the barrel, so I could leave it in the white.
Entire frame and barrel assembly is now dry 220/440 sanded, and then wet sanded 1000/1500/2000, and then hand polished with Zephyr Pro40.
I thought I was happy with my Taylor and Company Stainless Sheriff's '58... Nah... It pails in comparo to this kit gun, and will be next.
Smokey's Lyman, has Patina'd to almost an original production hue, that';; be left alone, but this brasser and that Sheriff... They gonna gleam, lol.
We can still see some machining/lack of sanding marks in the brass. I'll decide how bad they bother me (they exist in my $550 Sheriff's as well) and then eliminate them or leave them. Gut says eliminate...
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nothing to do with mine.
But brain dead surfing on the internet lead me to Reeder's Custom Guns...
Boy he has some purty ones.
I thought this was an odd choice to make a bespoke classic
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock.html
(the last one)
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock/instock13.html
Purdy, but, it's brass... the question "why, though?" comes to mind.
I'm sorry but I don't see a brass revolver anywhere.
Mike
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WHEN I posted the link, there was plain as day. IIRC, like $800 is what it was listed for, and it's gone now. Durned Purdy, for sure.
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Mounted the grips I WAS gonna replace.. turns out, with judicious sanding (fitting them to the gun, and removing machining marks) they're right purdy. Guess they stay. Need to take off the right side one, and do some finite sanding to fit it to the frame better, then "I'll send 'er" and tailor them to the butt.
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nothing to do with mine.
But brain dead surfing on the internet lead me to Reeder's Custom Guns...
Boy he has some purty ones.
I thought this was an odd choice to make a bespoke classic
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock.html
(the last one)
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock/instock13.html
Purdy, but, it's brass... the question "why, though?" comes to mind.
I'm sorry but I don't see a brass revolver anywhere.
Mike
emailed Gary, and asked for archived pics, if I get them, I'll host them. For both clarity, and inspiration.
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That kit gun is really shaping up, Clyde. Oughta be able to shave with it soon!
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Thanks, Cap'n. I have become obsessed, it's taking a back burner for a minute, have other things scrambling for my attention.
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nothing to do with mine.
But brain dead surfing on the internet lead me to Reeder's Custom Guns...
Boy he has some purty ones.
I thought this was an odd choice to make a bespoke classic
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock.html
(the last one)
https://reedercustomguns.com/instock/instock13.html
Purdy, but, it's brass... the question "why, though?" comes to mind.
I'm sorry but I don't see a brass revolver anywhere.
Mike
[/quote
Apparently he's done two of them. One of the hand ful of clicks he's sent me.
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wish there wasa way to season the barrel, so I could leave it in the white.
Entire frame and barrel assembly is now dry 220/440 sanded, and then wet sanded 1000/1500/2000, and then hand polished with Zephyr Pro40.
I thought I was happy with my Taylor and Company Stainless Sheriff's '58... Nah... It pails in comparo to this kit gun, and will be next.
Smokey's Lyman, has Patina'd to almost an original production hue, that';; be left alone, but this brasser and that Sheriff... They gonna gleam, lol.
We can still see some machining/lack of sanding marks in the brass. I'll decide how bad they bother me (they exist in my $550 Sheriff's as well) and then eliminate them or leave them. Gut says eliminate...
Oh, man, that's turning out purty. You have more patience than me.
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Mighty fine there Clydesdale.
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I don't think that's the one he's working on.
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I don't think that's the one he's working on.
Oh, okay Hawg, thanks. I got the Monday morning slows.