I am thinking about purchasing one of these 18" barreled carbines. I already know that one shouldn't grip the gun anywhere beyond the cylinder when shooting. My main concern is this: I'm guessing that since this revolver has a stock, it causes your face to be closer to the cylinder. Wouldn't there be a much greater chance of burning powder or cap parts hitting you in the face? I have an 1851 pietta navy and know these revolvers can send lots of sparks and other debris. Thanks for your info and experience!

Yup, that can happen. Good shooting glasses are mandatory.

. . . I already know that one shouldn't grip the gun anywhere beyond the cylinder when shooting. . .
You're right. It's what helped cause the demise of the Colt revolving rifles. Getting a cylinder-full of balls in the front hand due to chain fire was an unpleasant surprise.

I just got a book on civil war guns and there was quite a bit on the 1855 colt revolving rifle. It said some sharps shooters used them before they could get their hands on a sharps rifle. It didn't tell much about them chain firing, but I did read somewhere that one soldier is known to have lost 2 fingers because his did. I know that chain fires can happen. As I wrote in another black powder thread, My first shot ever fired with a black power revolver was from a remington and it chain fired. The two chambers left of the only one supposed to go off, also fired. Had I been placing my hand out under the barrel as if it was a rifle, I would have been bleeding that day. If I get a carbine I plan to shoot it from a rest or one of those folding poles or just keep that left hand back by the right one. I also recently noticed Cabela's raised the price from $429 to $479 this January. Back in 04' they were $379. Midway's went up also. Price of steel?

. . . I also recently noticed Cabela's raised the price from $429 to $479 this January. Back in 04' they were $379. Midway's went up also. Price of steel?
More likely the devaluation of the dollar in Italy where most of these guns come from. Did your book on Civil War guns mention the Remington carbine or was this something dreamed up for the CAS market? I know the revolver is authentic (lots of photos and references) but have never heard of the carbine.

Only got to shoot one of the 1858 carbines one afternoon. Impression was that (1) that shot was loud (probably becasue your face is closer to the cylinder gap than normal) (2) grease over the ball was probably not a good choice as it tends to splatter (3) blown percussion caps really can sting your face (4) you can easily hit what you aim at.

(Omited the obvious...keeping your hand behind the cylinder...that's a mistake you'll only make once and is self correcting.)

For many years used a 1860 Colt with a detachable shoulder stock...didn't have the barrel length of the 1858 carbine, but shared the same problems. Cure for #2 above was to use wads under the bullet and a very LIGHT coat of grease on top. Cure for #3 required a change to small vent nipplesw and some load experimentation. #1 was more noticable with the short barrel...not real objectionable once you get use to it.

. . . For many years used a 1860 Colt with a detachable shoulder stock...didn't have the barrel length of the 1858 carbine, but shared the same problems. . .
Is this an ORIGINAL 1860 Colt rig? Just had to ask. Things like this bring out the "collector" curiosity in me. On the other hand, I have the Cabela's replica by Pietta. Italian cased 1860 clone w/detachable shoulder stock and accessorys in a fitted case. Have not fired this rig although the Lyman 1860 clone gets a trip to the range every now and then.

Marshal:
that was A Reproduction...did own one original 1860 (post war) and fired it a bit. Was a tine when those revolvers weren't so expensive...but as time went by and the value kept going up, sold that orignal. Just felt a lot better about shooting the reproductions, when they get a scratch or a ding, it doesn't upeset me greatly.

Marshal:
that was A Reproduction...
Know just how you feel about dinging an original. Those old C&B Colts have almost all disappeared into collections and the ones still available are pulling down big bucks. Have some beautiful pictures of cased sets in my copy of "Colt, an American Legend" by R.L. Wilson. To think of all that work lavished on guns meant to be sold over the counter.

Until 7-10 years ago, commercial Starrs were not uncommon down here...why the New Orelans area, I'm not real sure. Know that a local merchant got a large shipment in just before the outbreak of the "War of Northern Aggression", so supect an above normal number got sold. Some years before that, the 1849's got hard to find and valuable...am guessing that a lot of the folks moving west in the 1850-1860s never got much farther than the Mississippi and their valuables kind of traveled down stream (along with everything else).

Local fact:

Got a lot of odd woods in old New Orleans homes. Until the 1880's, was pretty common for people up north to build a barge/raft and flat their goods down the Mississippi...as they coudn't float back, would sell the wood from the raft/barge as lumber. Suspect a lot of old handguns met the same fate...flush with $, would trade off their old gun for the new cartridge type once they were paid for their load.

Good, plausible theory there Ribbonstone. Makes a lot of sense when you throw in the many varieties of wood species not normally found that far south going into building of the local homes.

Remington did make a revolving rifle using the 1858 type action. It had a 24in barrel and apparently wasnt popular.

Thanks ironhead, that would explain why not much is known about this variation of the 1858. Thought this was just something dreamed up to sell to the CAS crowd.

The Colt's revolving rifles issued during the early part of the Civil War were prone to chain firing the whole cylinder. Consider that the soldiers of the era were issued paper cartridges to load the rifle, and didn't have available the grease we'd put over the front of the load in the cylinder. They wouldn't have had time, anyway.
The field expedient the soldiers were instructed to follow was to swing the reloading rod down and use it as a handgrip, to keep their hand out of the line of chainfire. ( I have no idea how well that would work)
Among the units issued the Colts' revolving rifle was Berdan's Sharpshooters, at the beginning of their time of service. The Colts had a high rate of fire, but not the range to be a sniping rifle, so the Sharpshooters switched to Sharps rifles as quickly as possible. The Colts was more suited to cavalry use, and was mostly used by cavalry until the better Spencer and Sharps carbines could replace the Colts.

The only time i remember seeing a revolving carbine (looked to be a Colt) in a Western was in El Dorado (John Wayne 1967).

Not one to let a good plot go to waste just becasue a movie had already been made, the 1967 El Dorado was a remake of the 1959 Rio Lobo. Changed things a bit, adding new cast and some differnces in plot, but it's basically the same movie. IN El Dorado, they substituted Arthur Hunnicut ("Bull") for Rio Lobo's Walther Brennab ("Stumpy")...Bull carried and shot the Colt revolving rifle.


If anyone has another movie with a Revolving Colt or Remington, remide me which one it was.

The Good, The bad, and The Ugly has a remington in it. It was the part where Clint and the ugly guy get together in that town that's being shelled. One of "the bad's" men takes a shot at them and misses. If you google "Remington Revolving Rifle", a hit should appear on a remington collectors club page that is dedicated to this gun. I Think they are called Remington Society of America.

I purchased a Remington Carbine for Taylor & Co. The gun shoots great. It's shooting quarter sized groups at 25 yards off hand. As for the cap parts and powder hitting me in face, it's not that bad. It hurts about as much as a knat hitting you while on a motorcycle. I'm using 24 grains of FFFg goex real stuff with the hornady .454 round balls. I dab some yellow bore butter over the balls. I really like this little gun. Some of the internal parts could get a good polishing though. We also caught some coyotes on our game camera in the woods out back.....hmmmmmmmmmm :rolleyes: