1st Model Dragoon Field Companion

[Freedom]

This spring I purchased a 1st model Uberti Dragoon from a very nice gentleman member here. And I thought some of you folks might enjoy some pictures and stories from my time with the big horse pistol.

I have really gotten to know my Dragoon this summer while packing her around the ranch. Shooting regularly at all targets of opportunity has taught me what I can (and can't) accomplish with her.

In May I started practicing daily with the Dragoon at long range on my large steel bucket. The Bucket measures 28"x 22"x 32"

By taking a 6 o'clock hold on the bottom edge of the 32" tall target, I was able to land most balls at the top edge of the target...all the way back at 100 & 150 yards from the target.
My usual load is 40-50 grains of whatever black powder I have in the horn, behind a .457RB with SPG lube smeared over the ball.

This is the steel bucket with 12 shots in a row on it...6 shots from 100 yards, then moving back for 6 at 150 yards. (the big splats are from a buffalo rifle)

The factory sights hit very high and yes, my loading lever often falls down. I got used to the loading lever drop, but I eventually had to open up my rear sight hammer-notch with a Dremel cutting wheel.

This worked splendidly for lowering my point of impact. And the sight modification gave me many fun-filled days in the hayfield shooting ground squirrels! Good for practice, good for the field, very bad for the rodent!

When Montana big-game season arrived this fall, I found that I didn't want to leave my "good friend" at home. So I decided to spend my fall season carrying only the big Horse Pistol...fully prepared to embrace the limitations that she provided.

As the season drew ever closer to its' end,.. I started to reflect on all the memories that I had acquired from spending hours (and hours) hiking and setting with the big Colt.
Memories that would not have been made, had I chosen modern equipment...For surely, I would have harvested that big mess of antlers & meat that lay bedded a mere 400 yards away from me, all day long, on the 3rd day of season.

On an early afternoon, while setting in a small group of 4 trees, in the middle of an open field, my moment arrived. The Dragoon was going to get its' chance. The bout of buck-fever I experienced while holding the smooth grips made me feel like I was 12 years old again!

The buck passed by me at 20 yards... BOOM the smoke cleared as he bolted 30 yards and stopped frozen. I guess to take a last look at his world.

He fell just like a hard-back book cover closes after the last page has been read...

1848 Colt 1st model Dragoon

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Excellent !

 

[Treestalker]

Freedom, that's a great story and hunt! I carried a 3rd model Dragoon in the woods and camping years ago in the swamps of S.E. Texas as a younger man, and I agree, a Dragoon is a comfort to have with you, and capable of much more than people realize. My 3rd had the flip up sights but I never used the extra leaves. Here in the Land of Motherly Love one must have a 9" barrel and a conical bullet (up to .54 cal) to use a pistol for big game. I know. Now days I carry an 1858 Remington steel frame as a 'backup' to whatever long gun I feel like toting. But I have a FEELING that a .454 RB will terminate anything man size or smaller with one shot done correctly. Once back in the dream time I killed 2 mallard ducks with 2 consecutive shots from an 1860 Army Colt to feed the family. Wait, I think I did that; maybe I dreamed it, can't remember the jurisdiction anymore. Texans used to pride themselves on being good if not excellent pistoleros, and I shudder to think of the Immy-Grints pouring in from places like Californica and the Banana Boat Republics who prefer Spray and Pray automatic Gangsta 9mm hosing. I must be behind the times; I still prefer Judge Colt and a jury of Six. Thank you for your post and the resultant good memories, I salute you with a shot of Evan Williams, the oldest Sour Mash bourbon whiskey made in Kentucky.

 

[Notchy Bob]

That's some great shooting, before and during the hunt! The buck is outstanding!

Thank you for posting, and helping us understand what these old Dragoons are capable of in practiced hands. I like that line, "40-50 grains of whatever black powder I have in the horn..." Your revolver is not picky!

I think the old-time service load for these big .44s was 41 grains, which is precisely 1-1/2 drams. You were right in the ballpark with your load.

Notchy Bob

 

[JohnL]

Awesome post! I have a Uberti First Model and love it! I hope to bag a deer with it one day.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Great story and nice buck!

 

[Dude]

I didn't know these pistols could be that accurate!

 

[cowboydave]

Thanks for posting about your Dragoon and your hunt. I really enjoyed it.

 

[Flintlock]

Congrats, they are one beautiful gun.

 

[Freedom]

Thank you folks for the kind words about my story.
Here is the round ball that I recovered under the buck's hide.

It is interesting to see how the slight impression left by the loading rammer actually captured tissue and expanded at the mark...but the nose stayed relatively unchanged.
Uberti rifling really grabs ahold of a ball!

 

[Notchy Bob]

Thank you folks for the kind words about my story.
Here is the round ball that I recovered under the buck's hide. View attachment 70381It is interesting to see how the slight impression left by the loading rammer actually captured tissue and expanded at the mark...but the nose stayed relatively unchanged.
Uberti rifling really grabs ahold of a ball!

This has been a great thread. That photo of the spent ball is significant. @freedom475, I want to ask a favor... If you have an accurate grain scale, I would ask that you weigh that slug, and then weigh a couple of unfired ones from the same batch. I am curious to know how much mass it lost. I know if the ball was tight enough to "shave a ring" in loading, you might lose a little mass that way, but that ball was loaded, fired and shot into a buck, and passed through enough tissue to kill him.

I'm asking because there have been several threads recently about non-lead bullets. These are being mandated in many areas because (supposedly) "lead fragments," and the lead particles are ingested by carrion-eaters, or are leached into the environment. If that slug fired from your Dragoon lost any fragments at all, it doesn't look like it lost much! Not that we are going to change any law-maker's mind, but we can at least collect one meaningful data point.

I do not want to divert the conversation away from your revolver, that fine buck, or your accomplishment, but this does look like an opportunity to learn something, in the interest of scientific inquiry.

Thanks!

Notchy Bob

 

[Freedom]

A while back I purchased a paper cartridge making kit from Guns of the West. I made up some cartridges with Lee conicals intending to use my 1860 Birdshead sheriff. The cartridges wouldn't fit the 1860.. so I tried the little cartridges in the Dragoon and they fit perfectly.
Haven't had my trusty Dragoon out for quite some time, so I took it to do my Ranch chores.
I usually share the land with the ground squirrels as long as they're in the cow pasture and not the hay field. But this morning a big Columbian ground squirrel was standing tall a good distance out in the cow pasture, so I had to try the Dragoon with the new paper cartridge. I took a knee, a good center-hold, and fired. WhoP!! Nailed him!...measured 62 yards!! I sure do enjoy the Dragoon. I think I'll carry her again this fall, guess better start practicing .. Elk (gasp) maybe? We'll see how it goes

 

[Hawken1980]

This spring I purchased a 1st model Uberti Dragoon from a very nice gentleman member here. And I thought some of you folks might enjoy some pictures and stories from my time with the big horse pistol.

I have really gotten to know my Dragoon this summer while packing her around the ranch. Shooting regularly at all targets of opportunity has taught me what I can (and can't) accomplish with her.

In May I started practicing daily with the Dragoon at long range on my large steel bucket. The Bucket measures 28"x 22"x 32"

By taking a 6 o'clock hold on the bottom edge of the 32" tall target, I was able to land most balls at the top edge of the target...all the way back at 100 & 150 yards from the target.
My usual load is 40-50 grains of whatever black powder I have in the horn, behind a .457RB with SPG lube smeared over the ball.

This is the steel bucket with 12 shots in a row on it...6 shots from 100 yards, then moving back for 6 at 150 yards. (the big splats are from a buffalo rifle)

The factory sights hit very high and yes, my loading lever often falls down. I got used to the loading lever drop, but I eventually had to open up my rear sight hammer-notch with a Dremel cutting wheel.

This worked splendidly for lowering my point of impact. And the sight modification gave me many fun-filled days in the hayfield shooting ground squirrels! Good for practice, good for the field, very bad for the rodent!

When Montana big-game season arrived this fall, I found that I didn't want to leave my "good friend" at home. So I decided to spend my fall season carrying only the big Horse Pistol...fully prepared to embrace the limitations that she provided.

As the season drew ever closer to its' end,.. I started to reflect on all the memories that I had acquired from spending hours (and hours) hiking and setting with the big Colt.
Memories that would not have been made, had I chosen modern equipment...For surely, I would have harvested that big mess of antlers & meat that lay bedded a mere 400 yards away from me, all day long, on the 3rd day of season.

On an early afternoon, while setting in a small group of 4 trees, in the middle of an open field, my moment arrived. The Dragoon was going to get its' chance. The bout of buck-fever I experienced while holding the smooth grips made me feel like I was 12 years old again!

The buck passed by me at 20 yards... BOOM the smoke cleared as he bolted 30 yards and stopped frozen. I guess to take a last look at his world.

He fell just like a hard-back book cover closes after the last page has been read...

1848 Colt 1st model Dragoon

Awesome man, embracing the tools of our past is something special.