Brass for 1867 Remington Navy Pistol

[bluelake]

I will be the proud new owner of an 1867 Remington Navy .50 cal. rolling block pistol (centerfire) soon and look forward to shooting it when I visit back to the States this summer.  I already happily shoot my .50-45 RRB carbine when I visit, so I'm also looking forward to this other smoke 'n noise maker.  My question is about brass.  After looking around the web, it seems as though the best brass to use would be .56-50, as the rim diameter and thickness is pretty much the same as the original brass for the 1867.  The .50-70 brass has a larger diameter, so it wouldn't work well in the Navy (although I understand it's fine for the 1871 Army model).  I have an original Navy case (rimfire) that was found at an 1871 battle site here in Korea and my calipers show it to be a nearly identical match for the 56-50 Starline case I have.  I have two questions.  1) Have any of you loaded cartridges for the 1867 RRB pistol and, if so, what brass did you use?  and 2) Would the RRB pistol be able to fire rifle primers or are large pistol primers necessary?  The reason for that question is, I have plenty of rifle primers, but not pistol primers. 
 
Thanks in advance!
 

[bluelake]

Well, I guess I'll just take my chances and give it a try this summer...
 
 
 

[.22-5-40]

Hello, bluelake.  You could try Buffalo Arms Co...they stock a very complete supply of hard to find brass, bullets & loading equipment.  Also, Dixie Gun Works is another sorce.  There is always RCM..Rocky Mountain Cartridge..they turn cases out of solid brass on CNC lathes..can put any primer pocket you would want in there...though they are a bit more pricy of course than drawn brass.   Very interesting on your find in Korea..I have read of U.S. landing party fight there in 1870's..can't recall particulars..interesting stuff!

[bluelake]

Thanks for the reply, .22-5-40.  If possible, I'd like to use commonly available brass, like that from Starline (I generally buy their brass from Track of the Wolf and Graf's).  That's why I wondered if others had experience using .56-50 brass with the 1867 RRB pistol.  Comparing the original brass with a .56-50 I have, they seem to be very close.
Regarding the 1871 action, it's been my major area of research since 1995; you can read more about it on my website: http://www.shinmiyangyo.org 
Again, thanks for the suggestions.  I've done business with DGW, but I'll also check out the others!
 
 
 

[bluelake]

Now I'm pretty much down to deciding which brass would work better.  The original pistol cartridge I have has a base diameter of .568 and rim diameter of .633.  Starline 56-50 brass has a base diameter of .558 and rim diameter of .630.  Starline 500 Linebaugh brass has a base diameter of .553 and a rim diameter of .610.  It seems as though the 56-50 would be closest; however, I have read of others using Linebaugh brass (but not much in the way of 56-50).
 
 
 

[bluelake]

I'm updating this 1867 RRB pistol thread; maybe my experience can help someone else in the future.
I took my RRB pistol to a local gunsmith in my hometown (Sadly, he's the only one left in the area and he will probably retire sooner rather than later).  He was ecstatic to have a chance to work on this pistol, as it was completely new to him, although he knew about them.  I brought to him several types of brass (.50-70, .56-50, .500 Linebaugh), plus molds for RRB and similar arms.
After much experimentation, he found the Linebaugh was the best, but he had to machine the rims down to the following:
Diameter: .600
Thickness: .062
Case length: .865
OAL: 1.20
BP: 23gr
Even with a custom-made mold for a 290gr .512 bullet, it turned out the one that worked the best was a Pietta .50 cal. for a Smith carbine.
I guess while my pistol was in at his shop, he had numerous offers on it.  His reply?  "If it was for sale, you wouldn't be getting it, as it'd be in my collection!"  :-)