moose30273
36 Cal.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2008
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 2
Why is everyone (it seems) making a 1851 Colt replica in .44 cal? Just a wondering.
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
1851 in .44??
- Thread starter moose30273
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
It was dreamed up by the Italians.
It sells guns too.
A lot of folks don't know that the original 1851 was a .36 caliber gun and a lot of them don't care.
A .44 does give a bigger boom than a .36 and to those who don't know or don't care about history they are happier with the large bored pistol.
I owned one once, in fact, it was the first C&B gun I bought.
It was great fun shooting it with its big BOOM every time it was fired.
Later on, I got a "Period Correct" flash and decided that because the gun never existed I didn't want it.
With this in mind I sold it and bought a reproduction of a 1851 in the correct caliber.
I also got a Colt 1860 Army reproduction to satisfy my big boom desires.
That's when I found that I really like the 1851 Colt grips and balance better than I do the 1860.
Oh well, with over 16 cap and ball pistols I guess I don't miss the psudo Colt too much. :rotf:
It sells guns too.
A lot of folks don't know that the original 1851 was a .36 caliber gun and a lot of them don't care.
A .44 does give a bigger boom than a .36 and to those who don't know or don't care about history they are happier with the large bored pistol.
I owned one once, in fact, it was the first C&B gun I bought.
It was great fun shooting it with its big BOOM every time it was fired.
Later on, I got a "Period Correct" flash and decided that because the gun never existed I didn't want it.
With this in mind I sold it and bought a reproduction of a 1851 in the correct caliber.
I also got a Colt 1860 Army reproduction to satisfy my big boom desires.
That's when I found that I really like the 1851 Colt grips and balance better than I do the 1860.
Oh well, with over 16 cap and ball pistols I guess I don't miss the psudo Colt too much. :rotf:
Poor Private
58 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2007
- Messages
- 2,073
- Reaction score
- 20
I own one myself, with a short barrel in brass. It has been marketed/suggested/represented as a 1851 Cofederate sherriffs model in brass. I use it out on the range once in a while. The last time it was out my wife fired it for the first time. 20 grains and a nice .454 roundball at 25' at offhand she placed it in the black. I took it from her placed it in the range box. When we got back to the house I cleaned and put it away. It hasn't been fired since- she embarrased me by her firing. :rotf:
I must admit I am one of those people who bought and liked the 1851 in .44. It has the pleasing lines of the original with the satisfying boom of the .44. I think I'll keep mine. I also have the period correct 51 as well as the 1860 and the the 58 Remington. Love them all and want more. The only One I'd trade away would be the 1848 pocket Colt pain to feed and keep caps from jammin it up. Anyone want to trade?
Don
Don
Pretty sure Pietta is the only one building them, there's just a lot of companies marketing the different versions.
Not sure what motivated them to come up with the idea. Some CAS shooters like 'em as the .44 is a little better on the (very) occassional knockdown targets while keeping the '51 grip and general profile.
Not sure what motivated them to come up with the idea. Some CAS shooters like 'em as the .44 is a little better on the (very) occassional knockdown targets while keeping the '51 grip and general profile.
Stophel
75 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2005
- Messages
- 5,963
- Reaction score
- 869
Probably the cap jamming is a nipple problem. The universal solution normally recommended is to get Treso nipples, and Remington #10 caps.
I just ordered some Treso nipples for my Uberti Dragoon. The stock nipples on that are awful. TINY. Caps simply won't stay on, so I haven't been able to shoot it yet.
The consensus on the CAS board seems to be that Pietta nipples are usually OK (not great, but OK. Mine seem to be fine), but Uberti nipples are awful.
:wink:
I just ordered some Treso nipples for my Uberti Dragoon. The stock nipples on that are awful. TINY. Caps simply won't stay on, so I haven't been able to shoot it yet.
The consensus on the CAS board seems to be that Pietta nipples are usually OK (not great, but OK. Mine seem to be fine), but Uberti nipples are awful.
:wink:
Va.Manuf.06
58 Cal.
Zonie said:
Well, sort of. The .44 caliber M1851 was put into production in Italy by Navy Arms but it was dreamed up by Val Forgett and, as Zonie says, it does sell.
As a side note, I love the '51 in .36 cal., why anyone would want a .44 caliber with the smaller grip of the Navy I have never been able to figure out, but they do seem to shoot well.
Stophel
75 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2005
- Messages
- 5,963
- Reaction score
- 869
I like the earlier octagon barrel too, so I think a good fantasy gun would be the .44 "51 navy", but with the 1860 full size grip...or the 1860 Army with the octagon navy style barrel...which is the same thing. :wink:
I always wondered why Colt didn't come up with an intermediate size gun between the 51, and the Walker/Dragoon in .44 with a plain straight cylinder instead of the stepped cylinder... The chamber walls have to be PAPER thin near the rear end. But, apparently, this never caused a problem.
I always wondered why Colt didn't come up with an intermediate size gun between the 51, and the Walker/Dragoon in .44 with a plain straight cylinder instead of the stepped cylinder... The chamber walls have to be PAPER thin near the rear end. But, apparently, this never caused a problem.
I can't seem to find treso nipples that fit the 49 pocket. Caps seem to want to stick to the powder residue in the hammer channel. I've partially corrected the problem by rounding the edge of the recoil shield(per Mec)and switching to 777 which leaves less residue. Cap holders also help but I still get too many jams to consider the gun reliable.
Don
Don
Stophel
75 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2005
- Messages
- 5,963
- Reaction score
- 869
What kind of caps are they?
Tried them all?
Years ago, I had a Remington that the caps almost always busted apart and fell off, gumming up the works with almost every shot. I THINK I was using CCI caps at the time. I swore off percussion pistols after that, but decided to try them again recently. My new Remington has ZERO problems with caps coming off. I have Remington caps now, and everything just seems to jibe pretty well with it.
Tried them all?
Years ago, I had a Remington that the caps almost always busted apart and fell off, gumming up the works with almost every shot. I THINK I was using CCI caps at the time. I swore off percussion pistols after that, but decided to try them again recently. My new Remington has ZERO problems with caps coming off. I have Remington caps now, and everything just seems to jibe pretty well with it.
Blizzard of '93
Cannon
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2006
- Messages
- 7,237
- Reaction score
- 14
my nephew has the Pietta brass-framed '51 .44, he uses light loads in it and balls only. hundreds of loads fired and no discernible wear at all.
Stophel
75 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2005
- Messages
- 5,963
- Reaction score
- 869
I just got the little book "Percussion pistols and Revolvers". In it, the author says that caps getting hung up in these smaller guns is common just simply due to the fact that there ain't much room there. He recommends enlarging/deepening the cap clearance groove in the breechface to the right of the hammer to allow the cap fragments more room to fall clear.
I read on another message board where one guy used JB Weld to fill the notch in the hammer nose to make it flat faced, so that the caps wouldn't tend to stick in the hammer face and get drawn back off the nipples. Of course, you can't use the safety pins anymore.
I read on another message board where one guy used JB Weld to fill the notch in the hammer nose to make it flat faced, so that the caps wouldn't tend to stick in the hammer face and get drawn back off the nipples. Of course, you can't use the safety pins anymore.
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
- Messages
- 13,029
- Reaction score
- 7,290
Too bad they didn't make any to take .395 ball.
Or maybe .535"...now that would sell!
Or maybe .535"...now that would sell!
Filling the notch in the hammer face might be worth a try. Some guys will install a pin at the front of the hammer slot to prevent the caps from entering the hammer slot and sticking. I don't have the skill or tools to do that. It is a cute little gun and is accurate but I still wouldn't mind trading it for a full size revolver or a good single shot pistol.
Don
Don
Several years ago an outfit named Big Iron Barrel Works did such, converting Remington revolvers into .50 cal. Unfortunately, a lot of folks had some bad business dealings with them and they went out of business, so it is believed. They made some great wad cutter type bullets for cap and ball revolvers and I still have a few of the .36's of their manufacture. I had ordered some .44's but they were never able to deliver on them. I did get my money back but a lot of folks got ripped off on expensive conversion projects.
Don
Don
Yeah, that's Hellgate. He's been shooting Frontiersman since he started (badge number is down in the 3000's so he's been doing it awhile). He's really happy with the way his Colts have been running since he filled the notch to the point he thinks he has finally found "the answer" for the Colts without going to the Manhattan conversion.
