Pietta 1860 army wedge won't budge

j8064 · Oct 24, 2015

budman93 said:
well I just tried a way similar to that little wedge puller/lever thing, except I used a 15 inch pry par with a notch that fit the wedge. Two people, one holding down the gun and the other levering on the wedge and it still wouldn't move at all. That should have way more force than that little tool but still nothing. Much more than I'm doing is just going to destroy it.

budman93,
I had exactly the same wedge issue with a Pietta 1860 army I ordered from Cabela's. At least Pietta's QC is consistent. :rolleyes:

Ended up at my local smith. It took a couple of solid whacks in the right spot and direction with a steel hammer and steel punch to remove the wedge. I'm having the wedge fitted correctly by my smith.

iH8DemLibz · Oct 24, 2015

Take it back to the store.

Get your money back.

Add some money to that money and buy an 1858 Remington made by Uberti.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
Take it back to the store.

Get your money back.

Add some money to that money and buy an 1858 Remington made by Uberti.

You can't return them.

j8064 · Oct 24, 2015

budman93 said:
You can't return them.

I would have if I could have. Wasn't worth the hassle.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

j8064 said:
I would have if I could have. Wasn't worth the hassle.

Yeah, ideally I would take it back and exchange it for one that I picked out that had a removable wedge. Unfortunately Cabela's will not accept returns or exchanges on any firearms "due to safety considerations." I would have just bought it in the store and checked it first if there was one closer.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

I think at this point I'm probably just going to have to either take it to a gunsmith or have an expensive paperweight. It is in way too tight and I have already hit the wedge hard enough to start marring up the metal even with an all brass punch.

j8064 · Oct 24, 2015

budman93 said:
Yeah, ideally I would take it back and exchange it for one that I picked out that had a removable wedge. Unfortunately Cabela's will not accept returns or exchanges on any firearms "due to safety considerations." I would have just bought it in the store and checked it first if there was one closer.

Exactly. I ordered one online because the closest store is 2 hours away.

Honestly, getting the wedge out with a steel punch isn't hard. Your wedge may be slightly askew like mine was. All my smith did was secure the pistol on wood blocks leaving a space behind the wedge. He lined up the punch next to the tab on the wedge at the angle of travel the wedge needed to move and smacked the punch smartly. The wedge came out on the second whack. That's how I was removing it until I dropped the gun off to have the wedge fitted.

Good luck.

:thumbsup:

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

j8064 said:
Exactly. I ordered one online because the closest store is 2 hours away.

Honestly, getting the wedge out with a steel punch isn't hard. Your wedge may be slightly askew like mine was. All my smith did was secure the pistol on wood blocks leaving a space behind the wedge. He line up the punch next to the tab on the wedge at the angle of travel the wedge needed to move and smacked the punch smartly. The wedge came out on the second whack. That's how I was removing it until I dropped the gun off to have the wedge fitted.

Good luck.

I think mine is a little off too. On the right side one corner of it is sticking out a hair more than the other. I guess I could always use a steel punch and get a new wedge if its marred up too much. My problem is I don't have a vise or any other good way to hold the gun still while using a punch.

Threeband · Oct 24, 2015

Damn phone ate my post.

Big long post full of wonderful suggestions.

Best damn post ever.

Phone ate it.

Damn phone.

iH8DemLibz · Oct 24, 2015

That black powder revolver is not a firearm. It's an item that's not working properly.

There are no records. No serial numbers. No paperwork. No safety issues.

You take it back and you get your money back and they receive credit for it and it's disposed of. Done!

They keep selling these "On Sale Now", low quality, black powder turds to people. Who, in turn, have problems with them.

Sorry for the rant. But these stores need to stop selling junk or give folks their money back after selling them junk.

PS: And Taylor's Firearms Company in Winchester, Virginia sells wedges. Over the phone.

j8064 · Oct 24, 2015

budman93 said:
I think mine is a little off too. On the right side one corner of it is sticking out a hair more than the other. I guess I could always use a steel punch and get a new wedge if its marred up too much. My problem is I don't have a vise or any other good way to hold the gun still while using a punch.

Sounds just like mine was. I tried everything I could think of to get the wedge out - brass, wood, plastic - nothing would budge it but the flat point steel punch. Use one that's the right diameter to fit through the wedge hole.

Neither the smith or I used a vise. Set the pistol on a couple of short pieces of wood to support it level on your bench. You could place some shop towels between the pistol and blocks to protect it - and have someone stabilize it if you want.

I got pretty good at popping out the wedge without help - stabilized the pistol with the heel of the hand holding the punch. Actually the process barely scratched the wedge's finish. A little cold blue easily covered that. Just be careful to smack only the wedge and not the pistol.

platekiller · Oct 24, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
That black powder revolver is not a firearm. It's an item that's not working properly. There are no records. No serial numbers. No paperwork. No safety issues. You take it back and you get your money back and they receive credit for it and it's disposed of. Done! They keep selling these "On Sale Now", low quality, black powder turds to people. Who, in turn, have problems with them. Sorry for the rant. But these stores need to stop selling junk or give folks their money back after selling them junk. PS: And Taylor's Firearms Company in Winchester, Virginia sells wedges. Over the phone.

And I work in Winchester so I may be able help out bud

hairba111 · Oct 24, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
That black powder revolver is not a firearm. It's an item that's not working properly.

There are no records. No serial numbers. No paperwork. No safety issues.

You take it back and you get your money back and they receive credit for it and it's disposed of. Done!

They keep selling these "On Sale Now", low quality, black powder turds to people. Who, in turn, have problems with them.

Sorry for the rant. But these stores need to stop selling junk or give folks their money back after selling them junk.

PS: And Taylor's Firearms Company in Winchester, Virginia sells wedges. Over the phone.

That's odd, the Pietta 1860 Army I bought (on sale), then converted to fire .45 Colt works perfectly. I also have a Pietta 1851 Navy........same story, no problems at all. If you bought a "turd", you should have it replaced or get a refund.

Threeband · Oct 24, 2015

Notice on the end of the wedge there is the tip of a flat spring clip. This clip catches the dummy screw head on the left side of the revolver to prevent the wedge being completely removed and possibly lost. (That dummy screw should never be removed: the wedge does not need to be completely removed either.)

Top and side view of the wedge-and-catch combination. Notice the spring clip is designed to catch on the right side of the barrel, locking the wedge in just like the latch on a door. You can't just push on a door, you have to release the latch at the same time.

This shows the second function of the spring clip: It catches on the dummy screw head when the wedge is loosened, to prevent the wedge from coming out and getting lost. You should never need to remove the dummy screw head, unless to replace an old worn out wedge. Otherwise you should never remove the wedge completely.

Anyway, that spring clip in the top of the wedge may be catching on the barrel, locking the wedge in.

Lay the gun down on a couple of blocks of wood; even a pair of books might work. Place the tip of your punch against the tip of that spring clip, not the wedge itself, and angle your punch slightly so that it will compress the spring as you drive the wedge out. Now give it an authoritative WHACK with a mallet.

Worst case, if you trash the wedge you can easily replace it.

You could even clamp the gun securely, mask the area with thin sheet metal or flashing, and carefully and surgically remove first the clip, second the end of the wedge using a dremel.

But I suspect that spring clip is the ne'er-do-well here, and a properly positioned punch will simultaneously depress it and drive the wedge out.

Frankly, it is not absolutely necessary to remove that wedge, ever. It makes cleaning a lot easier, but you can load, shoot, and clean the gun without ever removing that wedge.

Now what's this about a stuck ramrod?

.

Blacksmith101 · Oct 24, 2015

Kroil, let it soak at least over night, and a little heat to cause the slot to expand.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

Threeband said:
Now what's this about a stuck ramrod?

.

Ah yes, the infamous jammed ramrod...

Well I have this CVA hawken rifle that I bought in a pawn shop for 75 bucks a while back and I used to shoot it quite a bit. I actually shot really well with a patched round ball and 60 grains of powder, beautiful groups if I was doing well. Anyway, it did not have a removable breach plug to make cleaning easier and when cleaning with a rod occasionally if you bottomed it out in the barrel the ramrod would go slightly past the flash hole and, with a wet cleaning patch, make a vacuum, effectively locking it in place. One time that it happened Ben Kelkye and another really big guy over at the Frederick IWLA were able to pull it out, the last time it happened about five years ago we never got it back out.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
That black powder revolver is not a firearm. It's an item that's not working properly.

There are no records. No serial numbers. No paperwork. No safety issues.

You take it back and you get your money back and they receive credit for it and it's disposed of. Done!

They keep selling these "On Sale Now", low quality, black powder turds to people. Who, in turn, have problems with them.

Sorry for the rant. But these stores need to stop selling junk or give folks their money back after selling them junk.

PS: And Taylor's Firearms Company in Winchester, Virginia sells wedges. Over the phone.

Yeah, their return policy specifically states no returns on firearms or black-powder guns so I'm out of luck on a return.

Threeband · Oct 24, 2015

Stuck Ramrod Puller

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=stuck ramrod puller

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partdetail.aspx/835/1/ramrod-pull

http://www.octobercountry.com/msm-ramrod-puller/

Or just chuck the rod in a vise and pull on the rifle. Tie a mule to the rifle, or use a come-along if necessary.

budman93 · Oct 24, 2015

Threeband said:
Stuck Ramrod Puller

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=stuck ramrod puller

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partdetail.aspx/835/1/ramrod-pull

http://www.octobercountry.com/msm-ramrod-puller/

Or just chuck the rod in a vise and pull on the rifle. Tie a mule to the rifle, or use a come-along if necessary.

Interesting. I've never seen a ramrod puller before.

BenL · Oct 30, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
Take it back to the store.

Get your money back.

Add some money to that money and buy an 1858 Remington made by Uberti.

Or buy an 1858. (no wedge) :innocent0

Pietta 1860 army wedge won't budge

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