Identifying this revolver.

oldrodder

oldrodder

CGN Regular
Rating - 99.6%
244   1   0
Location
Sudbury, ON
I recently bought two replica Remington 1858's cal .44 One is a CVA and the other is a R.A.G. I'm familiar with the CVA but I've not heard of a RAG.
I can't post a pic as I've not taken possession yet, waiting the the ATT. Any one here ever hear of this maker? The gun is made in Italy, no surprise here!
Thanks,
Mike
 
There was an Italian maker that used those initials called Rigarmi,they went out of business in the early 1970's,be sure to post some pictures when it shows up.
 
Well, I finally got these two revolvers home, after a three week wait for a ATT! While I was waiting, I did a little research and determined that the ball size I needed was .451" so, I bought a mould and proceeded to cast about 2000 balls!
The box that the CVA came in states a .454" ball. A new mould is ordered. My question is this: Does anyone know the ball diameter for the RAG (Rigarmi) revolver? Would measuring the cylinder chambers + .001"-002" give me a ball size? This is my first venture with percussion revolvers.
PhotoBucket is mad at me these days but I will try posting pics later, when I figure out the "New" way to post.
Thanks for any & all advice,

Mike
 
The .454 ball will more than likely fit your RAG if it is a .44 cal. the only .44 cal revolver that needs a bigger ball that I know of is the Ruger Old Army.
You can compare the fit of the ball in the CVA to the RAG by eye-balling it, they should both rest on top of the chamber and sit about the same. I hope you cast with soft (pure) lead as hard balls will be difficult to ram into the chambers.
 
Thanks for the advice, Skinny. I cast all my BP projectiles with pure lead. Many years ago, I fell into a few thousand pounds of pure lead. Prior to this venture, I've had a 30+ year relationship with my .54 cal Hawken rifle and last year, acquired a .50 cal Lyman Plains Rifle.

Mike
 
Here are pics of my latest acquisitions. The RAG appears to be unfired! Apparently, both these revolvers were owned by a movie production company and only used as props. They were given to a friend, by this movie production company, as payment for borrowing some of his collection of "jail" memorabilia to use as props, while filming here in Sudbury. He then sold them to me.

First, the CVA, replica Remington 1858, cal. 44

Saddlebagsrevolvers003.jpg


and the RAG, replica Remington 1858, Cal .44

Saddlebagsrevolvers004.jpg
 
Skinny 1950 said:
The .454 ball will more than likely fit your RAG if it is a .44 cal. the only .44 cal revolver that needs a bigger ball that I know of is the Ruger Old Army.
You can compare the fit of the ball in the CVA to the RAG by eye-balling it, they should both rest on top of the chamber and sit about the same. I hope you cast with soft (pure) lead as hard balls will be difficult to ram into the chambers.
Click to expand...

Last night, just for s**ts & giggles, I put a .451" ball over a chamber of both guns and they were not even close to falling in! I know that the loading process shaves a little bit of lead when ramming the ball home. It looks to me like this would happen with the .451" ball. I wonder how hard it will be to seat the .454" balls?
Your thoughts, please?

Mike
 
Last edited:
I had some Hornady .451 balls that came with a .44 cal Remington Revolving Rifle and they worked fine, the .454 are a bit tighter but still easy to load. The bigger ball will engage the rifling better and may be more accurate, keep an eye on the .451 balls if you use them they may creep forward under recoil.
 
Here's some free advice: Try to find out & document what production company & what movies those guns where in. They may not be civil war pieces, but there still maybe some value in them as movie props.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom