Purchasing a Pietta 1858 and thinking about a .45 ACP conversion cylinder....how do they work? Also, would I be better off with a .45 Colt?

the .45 acp was made to get 6 shots in the cylinder. to get 6 .45 colt the chambers have to be angled so the rims miss.

seeing as neither one is recamended to shoot full factory loads. and being a hand loader and i cast my own i would go with the acp. cheaper brass eaiser to get.

I've never heard of a .45acp cylinder for the 58 but if you are converting any BP pistol with a conversion cylinder you will need to use loads within the same pressure range as BP so factory ammo would be out of the question.

I had one...shot it about 15 times and then sold it. Didnt like it. It seemed to fowl up really quick and make the cylinder bind up with BP after a few shots.
I have heard of people using 45 auto rim to mild it down a bit, but never seen it shoot that way.

Looks like I'll go with .45 Colt as Cowboy loads will be easy to find!

I'm a big fan of .45 colt but any factory ammo is going to be pricey.($30-45 per 50rd depending on where you get it and the type of load) Its an easy round to reload and reloading will really cut the costs down.

Reloading is on my list of things to do. I've been storing my brass like I'll get to it, anyway. For how little I get to shoot anymore the prices shouldn't be TOO bad for me anyway.

I'm very excited to get this thing.

I have a Ruger Old Army with the .45 long colt conversion cylinder and it works great. Shoots high with cowboy loads. I have owned two Piettas and with the quality I saw in the ones I had I would not want to shoot smokeless modern powder in them!
The ruger on the other hand is built very solid and I have no such worries about it.

Wouldn't the cylinder take the pressure of the modern cartridge, since it is made for that cartridge? The cylinder center rod should be ok on reasonable loads. The barrel would not care which slug went down it, as long as it is sized rite. I really dont see the problem.

HOSS

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I have fired countless rounds from my Pietta 1858 with R&D .45LC cylinder. Both factory "cowboy" loads and now my reloads. I have never had and problem and it shoots VERY well. I got the pistol from Cabela's in 2004.



TK

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Mine just fowled really quickly. I loaded it with pyrodex and could get it to not bind after 7-8 shots. I think I shot a total of 22, or 23 shots...sold the whole rig.
++1 on the Ruger old army, if you can find one. Thats a nice pistol to be sure!

I think the 45 Colt cylinder is the best way to go even if you reload. I have a 45Colt cylinder for my Walker Colt i shoot handloads with 230gr RN and 205gr FN with Unique and Trail boss powder. Their is no advantage to smaller cases unless you are loading black powder or black powder subs and want light target loads. They make 45acp sized cases in 45 Colt they are called 45 sp cases. http://www.cowboy45special.com/ Black powder loads shoot very clean from conversion cylinders with bullets and lubes designed to work with black powder. Their are cowboy action guys that shoot black powder loads in 1911s very well. My favorite 1911 target load is a cowboy load using Trail boss powder.
51

I have a stainless Pietta and I put a conversion cylinder in it. Shoots my .45 colt reloads all day with no problems. I have used it in SASS cowboy action shoots with no trouble.

how much is cylinder?

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