Remington vs Colt revolvers firing Johntson & Dow bullets

[@duelist1954]

Great video. Cap and Ball is a meticulous experimentantal historian. I love his work

[@GunFunZS]

This video made me think of your excellent guides on how to solve the cap sucking issues.

[@RedwolfTalk]

duelist1954 I wonder if he would come to PA to join in on our late season?

[@juantego7614]

I'd like to thank you for recommending cap and ball his information is great, but it was your videos that inspired me to try percussion revolvers. I am hooked. Learning the history also is fascinating.

[@britishmuzzleloaders]

How is it that you take a subject that typically I am not that interested in, and make it exceptionally watchable?

[@cobannie]

I will admit - your channel does the same for me... On a side note - I also adore the Remington New Model Army 44!

[@matthewspeller]

I had you in mind while watching the construction of the combustible paper cartridges.

[@lazaglider]

If anyone should know...

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

I think it's the immence amount of justifiable salt he can bring to the video when "it's a Colt". :)

[@freedomfirst5420]

Agreed!

[@archangele1]

Agree 100% on the Remington thing. I much prefer my Remington revolvers over the Colt. Just like I prefer my Henry over the Spencer. But, everyone has their preference. Capandball, you have an amazing collection of firearms. Even here in the USA, these guns are rare to find in such good condition and when found are very expensive. Part of my family has lived in the Gettysburg area and I was exposed to Civil War firearms as a young kid. It is good to see your videos and to see originals still in shooting condition.

[@MrPolecat]

Man, I love the look of the open-top Colts, but there's no denying that the Remington is the better-designed gun. I guess the solution is.... To have BOTH! :D

[@deandeann1541]

I've got both. If I was a Civil War soldier, I would rather have the Colt. Several of them. The Colt is a better pointer, and will shoot longer before binding up (the cylinder arbor is larger and holds more grease).

[@KR-hg8be]

@@deandeann1541 though in my experience is the Remington doesnt start binding up until I had 48 shots in without cleaning. I'm not sure a average civil war soldier would have had the time to load and fire that many and not had a minute to scrape the fouling off at some point.

[@deandeann1541]

@@KR-hg8be Interesting. I get maybe 18 shots with the Reminton before the binding gets to be a problem. With the Colt I haven't shot it enough in one sitting to find it's limit, I'd guess maybe 5 cylinders at most before I have to turn the cylinder by hand. I use Traditions wonder lube or the cva equivalent (I like the Wonderlube better between the two). When cleaning I wipe the arbor down then use as much lube as the arbor will hold during reassembly. I figure the more lube the better, to keep fouling out. Maybe, though, I should try it with almost no lube, or maybe a powder lube like moly or graphite. Ideas? What lube do you have luck with for your arbors?

[@richsenecal]

I own several Colt replicas and a couple Remington replicas. I consider the Remington design to be superior to the Colt, but when I am headed to the range I am much more likely to grab one or more of the Colts to come with me. They are just more fun to shoot and since I shoot for fun, the choice is simple.

[@Lee_Adamson_OCF]

@6 6 Por que no los dos? :3 ..... And a Le Mat, too!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

+capandball → At 14:05 in the video: *"Because it's a Colt. Again."* LOL....

[@kylethedalek]

Colt were better in quality. Better materials, Q.C. And warranty. The open top frame and the larger with grease grooves cylinder pin also made it much more reliable. The original Remingtons needed alot of work to get them going. They also got caked in residue fast and stopped functioning. We need a better test with ones in bad condition, ok and top. Also caps were different back then.

[@Michael-q2w4d]

I really appreciate your vast knowledge of these old revolvers. Thanks for another great video. I enjoy the hobby as well. 👍

[@davefellhoelter1343]

My Johnston and Dow 44's just showed up! Now I get to work up a cartridge. Thanks for ALL your Info! I too have the smell in my nose! Everyone makes a big deal about the Strength of the 1858 frame, yes it IS stronger. BUT "I Think" the Big Deal of the day was Just how Fast a mounted soldier could add a Fresh Loaded Cylinder! Just picture a bunch of mounted Troppers blazing past foot soldiers lines, both shooting at each other. The mounted ride out 100 yrds hold up and slap in a fresh cylinder and use a capper in about the same time as the foot soldiers are loaded with 1/6 the fire power?

[@Stigstigster]

That misfire showed you have great trigger control and no flinch at all. Very good technique.

[@roadpanzir]

Good to see you back! I had the same percussian cap problems with my Ruger old army replica, and it was brand new. Bravo on the video!

[@mikeryan9479]

Great to have you back !👍🏻

[@uff64]

2 wonderful old guns.... in the right hands of the right owner ! Great sounds....

[@ccthepope]

I just got my .36 cartridge boxes from capandball and I love them!

[@larrysherwood9]

I love the Remington revolver myself. Ive had a Lyman .44 Remington reproduction since I was a young teenager. Cast my own round balls.

[@gabenplznerf1093]

Is the audio messed up for anyone else? Anyway welcome back!

[@Boomeus]

Yep

[@MedievalMan]

I thought I was the only one! I became worried for my Ipad for a moment there.

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

Yep. Pretty sure it's because "it's a Colt".

[@Max-yv3ok]

Legend is back

[@alexunfiltered5756]

The Cap and Ball hero is here !

[@maxvauderk816]

I am going to order the cartridge former and boxes from you. Thanks for the information and entertainment!

[@zdenekporsch2319]

Rogers & Spencer is another great revolver from that era, also no misfires contrary to the Colt(s). Only a small number of that revolvers made it to the troops just at the end of the war, all the rest landed in depository and was later sold at the civilian market. In my opinion Colt 1860 is the most beautiful of the percussion revolvers, but Rogers & Spencer the best one for shooting.

[@plooker39]

For faster reloading with the 36 Navy, I take an empty 38 special case, fill with ffg, and push the .375 ball onto it with firm thumb pressure.

[@bosstube9046]

Great to have you back long live the 58

[@jsalaska2854]

Long Live the 58 Remington

[@robertsroberts1688]

JS Alaska Remington fanboy alert

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

It's actually an 1863 new model.

[@lanep4322]

Great comparison. Thank you for showing us these historical pieces.

[@laverncarroll]

I like watching your demonstrations a lot, thank you

[@TellermineII]

The lower 8th ring hit is the double one. Nice vid!

[@IAssassinII]

There is no double, there's a sixth shot on the far right of the 1st ring on the sheet behind. At least I think he hit that with the Army, could have been from the Remington.

[@versal339]

Great job as always. Let's keep supporting this channel.

[@kevin_6217]

What beautiful bullets, so smooth and shiny!

[@OneEyePI]

Great to have you back

[@flyingninja1234]

Interesting presentation. I always thought soldiers used loose black powder & Lead bullets. I didn't know they were issued premade paper cartridges.

[@charlescomly1]

Good video, great to see you back again, I look forward to seeing your next video on the 36 caliber tests. I would like to see if you have the same cap sacking problem on that Colt as you had with your 44.

[@user-ff8vv9ui2z]

Dude, I love your videos, there the reason I'm obsessed with old timey guns.

[@SlickSixguns]

It still amazes me how you are able to get such fine originals

[@henryofskalitz2228]

The luck of the draw my friend

[@old_guard2431]

One excellent feature of the original cap-and-ball Remingtons that was carried over to the reproductions: The notches between the cylinders. These allow you to load all six chambers and carry the pistol safely with the hammer resting on one of the notches rather than a live percussion cap. Sadly, the .38 special conversion cylinder I recently received for my Uberti New Navy does not carry this feature over. So I can safely load six in the original cylinder but only five in the conversion cylinder. I believe some designs partially overcame this safety flaw with rebounding hammers, but it was only really solved with the transfer bar design introduced by Ruger. (I think - there may have been others earlier.)

[@christiansanchez1486]

My dude where are your subscribers serious man your channel is pure gold

[@killerpeaches7]

He's back! GOOD!

[@toddy2519]

As always, interesting, informative and just plain fun to watch!

[@Aetherling]

Excellent. I am currently experimenting with paper cartridges and the J&D mould from Mark Hobbs in my Ruger Old Army. Early days but the accuracy is good.

[@MrHrKaidoOjamaaVKJV]

Aetherling I have a whole series of speciality bullets im 44/45 as well as 36 caliber The 44/45 ones I specifically made to work in the Ruger Old Army in 255, 240 and 220 grains they have been tested by two unknown gun writers with test videos here on You Tube by many hunters and shooters around the world as well. They are real performs espically for hunting purposes.

[@poodlemeister22314]

I'd go with the colt. I'm a sucker for aesthetics and there is something so pleasing to the eye and elegant about the colt's design, even when the loading lever has the hideous hinge versus the tapered hinge shown here. That and like someone else said, the "pointability" is much better and is better for what it is...a point blank reaction pistol. And when you run out, you've got a club that'll beat someone half to hell just by looking at it

[@johnndavis7647]

The Colt was the most popular revolver in the cap and ball era. It was a fire at the Colt factory that caused Colt to not be able to fulfill their government contracts not an issue of quality control. So after the fire at Colt , government buyers turned to Remington to fill the gap. Remington were a more advanced design but the Colt outsold Remintons four to one.

[@rwm4738]

Exactly, also the caps you are using are too big, cap jams not have been much of a problem in the 19th century. It's why people put SlixShots nipples on repos today.

[@michaellankford8358]

Historically Colt lost the government contract for their 44 cal. revolver to remington because the price of the remington was about 25% less than the colt and colt would not reduce the price of their 1860 army....the fire at colt factory didn't occur until a month or so after they had filled their last government order for the 1860. By the time they got their 1860 manufacturing line back up and running they were not able to regain the contract for sole manufacturing rights for all US government revolvers

[@453421abcdefg12345]

I cannot believe you had 2 hang ups in one cylinder full ! I have been shooting my Colts for over 40 years and have only 4 or 5 such hang ups, it must be down to having the wrong cap/nipple fit, and by crushing the caps on the Remington you are leaving yourself open to chainfire, although you did not seem to have the normal awful capping problems with the fiddly cap ports on your Remington, there is a new design of capper made for the Remington, although of course that would not be appropriate here on this test. Many thanks for posting this.

[@vannjunkin8041]

I'm sure the modern repros would shoot better Colt-wise.. thats probably the reasons colt lost the contract he was talking of

[@jsullivan9238]

Köszönjük a csodálatos videót. I am an owner of an original 1858 Remington as well as many reproductions and I enjoyed your testing.

[@mikellwehrer]

Welcome back! We missed your excellent content!

[@ronaldayres546]

Just a little heads-up when cocking your revolver tilt back with muzzle pointing up ,cap will fall free less likely to jam the actions Interesting video.

[@fabrb26]

Imagine how much soldier die because of their Colt jam in the action ...

[@BogeyTheBear]

Imagine how many soldiers actually used a 'cavalry flick' to prevent those jams in the first place...

[@StrengthAndConditioning61]

They would fire the gun then as they were cocking it for another shot they held the barrel up so if a spent cap fell off the nipple it would fall to the ground instead of into the action

[@markveenstra9378]

I bought a Rem new army 3 weeks ago and another one yesterday. Way better than the 1860 I got rid of because I couldn't hit anything .

[@85waspnest]

Another great video. I've ordered a .36 Johnson & Dow mould from Eras Gone and I'm looking forward to your next video testing .36 conical bullets.

[@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400]

Thanks Balazs! A excellent video, as always.

[@capandball]

Thanks for the molds Mark! Good project indeed. The next will be the 1861 original Navy with the 36 cal bullets.

[@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400]

Was that debris from a cartridge coming out during firing during your opening shot? I had cartridge paper being expelled through the cylinder gap when shooting paper cartridges. I could only see it after I did slow-motion vids of firing. It did not seem to affect shooting at all.

[@pmjn0943]

yet another very interesting video Thank'you. I have a Ruger Old Army takes a .457 round ball with 30 gns Swiss F2, lots of fun.

[@washietatonka]

I love Remington's too. I have a 44 and 36 Repops. I would love to have originals. I don't think it likes the powder you are using. Glad I found you.

[@mcdowelltw]

Love your videos, always from a scientific perspective. Remington's design was clearly better, given that Colt contracts stopped in 1863. The Colt is about 161 years old. It appears to have loosened up. Suggest you try a newly built high quality replica Colt 1860 to see if it suffers from jamming by cap debris and other issues.

[@anthonypiranio7409]

The answer is yes those replicas cap jam alot unless by high quality you mean not uberti and pietta.

[@mcdowelltw]

@@anthonypiranio7409 Thanks for letting me know.

[@cyrilbergeon9906]

Just put the barrel up when re-arming the colt to avoid cap jamming...

[@khaccanhle1930]

You, just convinced me to get a Remington. Even in that time, Colt made you pay for the name.

[@drmaudio]

Excellent video. I am going to have to get some of those molds and start making cartridges. What a cool way to enjoy your range time.

[@kenibnanak5554]

Good video. Also the very first video I have seen even mentioning how the early Colts sometimes had primers drop into the mechanism and cause misfires. In combat that was bad news. It is worth noting though that the Colt 1860s remained in service right up to 1873 when Colt's SAA entered the arena.

[@markjordan348]

Blackie Thomas has a video on a modification to eliminate or greatly reduce cap jams on the Colt.

[@therealhawkeyeii7888]

My understanding is that Colt was supplying the 1860 Army revolver to the US Army till a fire in the factory stopped production in 1864. It was at that time that the Army filled the shortfall by purchasing many Remington New Model Army Revolvers.

[@JReed305]

Glad to see you back!

[@wendellward3709]

An interesting idea for a T shirt......"Because it's a Colt." Keep up the great videos and little journeys back into yesteryear. Thanks!

[@fredbasset1711]

Great video! Good to have you back. +1 on Remington over Colt. Is there a story about the gold razor blade necklace? I notice it has been with you on videos for a long time.

[@bryceshupe1121]

I shoot a fair amount of blackpowder. With the cap and ball I noticed a common issue in your video. Most of the time the caps blow out without issues but they can often hang. No more or less common between any original or copies of that era regardless of caliber or model. What many did and still do who shoot these on a regular basis is what some refer to as the cavalry cock. Before pulling the hammer point the barrel skyward. This facilitates the cap falling free of the cylinder as it rotates.

[@coreyweintraub5959]

pretty much the exact results I have gotten, I concur that the Remington is superior in reliability. It is also significantly better in disassembly!

[@silvermineleather]

Excellent Video again, thanks. Let us Czech it :-) Greetings from The Czech republic.

[@bobspatafore3056]

glad to see you back!

[@dalemaloney255]

i have a remington model 36 cal. ball gun. didnt think it would SHOOT that far! must be 40-50 yrs old. bought it new lyman brand. have to dig it out.

[@ferrosalvioni7209]

Hi Professor, happy for your return on one of my favorite channels. I guess his collection of authentic percussion revolvers is all respect. Reminded of his wonderful Remington, I was wondering if an original weapon in the United States could easily be found, and if there are still new weapons produced and packaged by the Factory. Thank you for your response. Thank you very much, Ferro.

[@lonsmith4772]

Y

[@johnboy454]

Another quality video, if only the Remington had been made with a Colt Army grip!!

[@pommel47]

If my old ears heard correctly, thanks for shooting @25 & @50 meters to get a true test for accuracy.

[@somecoder3054]

Fascinating subject and absolutely gorgeous guns.

[@kathryntruscott6351]

I love Remingtons too! Mine are not originals though... but still wonderful. I also have the revolving carbine...:-)

[@ludo9234]

Very interesting I like the way you explain things plus the history side .Thank you .

[@mallanac]

Where can you look up manufacturing date based on the serial number for a Remington New Model Army?

[@OrChopClip]

The Daniel Jackson of the gun world ;) Great video!

[@coltonregal1797]

Hey I got that reference!

[@zbychuppl]

Hi, great guns and video. I have Remington 1858 NMA replica manufactured by Uberti and I love to shoot it every Sunday. If I can sugest something, please by and wear some better eyes prorection glasses especially when you play with such a old toys. Regards :)

[@nickf9392]

I have seen so many people say the Remington is a better designed gun, due to it's top strap style frame. I have shot1860 colts and 1858 Remington's for many years and my experience is the Colt is the better gun. It has a much larger cylinder pin and rotates much more freely, especially with build up, than the much smaller weaker Remington cylinder pin. Love them both, but my money is on the Colt for being a better functioning design.

[@Sedan57Chevy]

You missed my birthday by two days but I'm still considering this a birthday present :) Glad to see you upload!

[@spike141962]

I love to shoot my worn torn Remington's. When my friends come over I show them my pretty clean Colts in the Box LOL

[@marciomessiasfernandes1799]

Excellent show.

[@skepticalbadger]

The jams are interesting. Any chance the modern caps (poor fit, thinner copper?) are to blame?

[@capandball]

Yes, they are different from the original, but cap sucking was an issue in the old days as well.

[@skepticalbadger]

Do you have any period references for that? I'm very interested in historical reliability of black powder repeaters.

[@wadekirby8575]

I've read somewhere that it was common practice to point the muzzle up when cocking revolvers so the shards of the last cap would fall out of the action.

[@skepticalbadger]

It would have been, certainly; apart from anything else you can't cock many of the bigger models without pointing the muzzle skywards (unless you use your support hand).

[@Jesses001]

I have also heard one account of jolting the revolver in a downward fashion when cocking. Might had just been a quark of that particular desperado though. I doubt it was common practice.

[@plooker39]

All Piettas use #11 caps without pinching.

[@jsullivan9238]

Question: You said you were using Swiss powder. Have you done any longevity testing of your loaded cartridges in the wooden boxes? I ask because I prefer to keep my 1858 Remington cylinders loaded but so far Triple 7 and American Pioneer/Shockley's Gold have proven unreliable in humid environments.

[@loquat4440]

Relative to the fired caps jamming the colt. The colt IIRC should pointed up when cocking so the cap does not fall into the action. ""Supposedly cavalry officers would fire their gun and then bend their elbow and point the gun straight up in the air as they cocked the hammer for the next shot. At the same time they would flick their wrists to throw the spent cap off the nipple and away from the gun preventing the cap from falling into and jamming the action.""

[@TheBaron481]

Love your work. Greetings from Scotland

[@woodspecialist83]

How did they compute velocity in the 1850's?

[@independentthinker8930]

Love your video's! Excellent history to complete the life of these firearms. Job well done!

[@paulmarkwell4663]

The black powder guru Excellent video

[@DeadBaron]

Have to wonder how much more comparable the Colt could be if it was in better condition. While the bore may only be a little worn down, that makes a *lot* of difference. The barrels are also rifled, correct? How worn down is the rifling compared to the Remington?

[@charlescomly1]

Dead Baron I had been having the same thought, I think it would have been a better comparison if both guns were in equal condition, namely the condition of the rifling. I think his Colt is a good gun considering, but his Remington is in obvious better Condition than his Colt. I would like to see this test ran again with original guns in equal condition, or by repros in equal condition.

[@KathrynLiz1]

I punch out little circles for the bottoms and put them on the body while still on the mandrel. I use packing tissue which I have nitrated with KNO3 and cut to exact size. My lube is much the same as yours. With reproduction revolvers of this type the usual problem with them is that the chamber mouths don't match the bore size well. They always seems to be a bit undersized. I always ream them out to be .001" over groove diameter, which gives best accuracy if your bullets are .451-.454". I run my Remingtons "full throttle" with 30gr of 3F and find they are very consistent.... y groups are about the same size as yours....around 3" at 25 yards, more than good enough......"minute if bad guy" for sure....My lube is sufficient to hold the bullets in the cartridge and I run the bullets through a Lyman lube-sizer to fill the grooves... seems to work well.

[@steelgila]

It's amazing that the Colt revolver was the more popular design given the miss fire issues resulting from 'cap-sucking'. Faster/better handling response(so reported) must have been an out weighing factor. And then the shell-bangers came along and changed everything!

[@JS-ob4oh]

They were more popular because they came on the market first before Remington. Getting to market first is still a significant advantage even in today's business climate. The simple fact is everyone remembers who was first, but rarely who was second. For example, everyone remembers Toyota came out with the first hybrid engine car - the Prius, but I bet no one remembers that Audi was second.

[@lloydbulman5517]

Very educational! Thanks for sharing. I'm with you Remington is a better gun.

[@HomeGunMaker]

These guns are so beautiful!

[@robbenmitchell7949]

I'll take the remington any day

[@Lord-Snowflake]

What's your target distance? Great groups out of the old timers.

[@mylesjordan9970]

The sight picture on the (Uberti) Remington is also vastly superior to those of reproduction Colts. With the hammer notch substantially enlarged, the Colt is much more nearly matched to the Remington-but, together with the stronger top-strap frame design, plus the greater reliability of the action against cap-jams and the superior sight picture, Beals’ design must have been the incomparably superior tool for the man in the field. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a beautiful collection of Colts and, to my knowledge, no Remingtons. The Remington may have had greater utility, but the Colt had style! Honda Civic vs Stutz Bearcat; the Colt seemingly remained more popular.

[@cowboywoodard2569]

Looks, don't get the job done,,When you life depends on it .Even today colts quality is very poor.

[@ianleverington4676]

Got both, the Remington is best. Rather gamble my life on the Remington

[@cropman123]

Both Colt and Remington had US contracts for the entire Civil War and for years afterward for their cap and ball revolvers; neither lost their contract. Also both were used after the war in cap and ball and conversion form till around 1873 when both(S&W also) came out with cartridge revolvers and Colt got the main contract with Remington and Smith and Wesson filling smaller contracts. The year names and old/new model names were just that names, not a sign of a lost contract. BTW tighten your rest it is moving all over the place and both models will "cap suck" don't just blame Colts. I will say that you are definitively a Remington "fan boy" Ha, HA!

[@coltonregal1797]

Don't know about the "fanboy. Ha-ha!" Part but he certainly doesn't like Colts.

[@TBullCajunbreadmaker]

Now you can get yourself some conversion cylinders and shoot regular brass cased bullets with modern center fire primers. They are solid historically accurate pieces that were actually manufactured for these original firearms. I too am a Remington man and a Smith & Wesson guy. I like Colts but I find them highly overrated when put up against the Remingtons and S&W handguns in almost every era. The Colt 45 is my favorite handgun that was ever manufactured by Colt but I would still carry a S&W rather than the old Colt 45 of the same era. S&W revolvers were way ahead of their time as far as I am concerned. I have quite a few old 1860 to 1940s original handguns and I only have them if they are top quality and fully functional. I like your channel even though you are foreign to me, the love of firearms is worldwide and you literally show that here.

[@woodsmanforlife1677]

Excellent!

[@JWKirK-fr5cn]

I would always prefer the Remington....until 1873 maybe ;)

[@brucesharpe1079]

Very nice civil war guns would love to collect them good presentation {thanks}

[@TheStonehammerFiles]

I had my remington jam once due to a spent cap but the caps were really loose though.

[@cowboywoodard2569]

I will buy a Remington clone vs Colt. Even today Colt is over Priced and their Quality is poor.i stick with Smit and Wesson..love my Smiths

[@jason60chev]

Have you measured the Cylinder chamber diameters vs the barrel Bore/groove diameters of your original revolvers? Most modern repro have under sized cylinder chambers. Would be interesting to know. Thanks.