58 Remington Bulldog conversion

[SCATTERSHOT]

I was looking through a magazine at the grocery store the other day ( Guns of the Old West) and found an article on converting a 58 Remington to a .45 Colt caliber Bulldog style revolver. Kind of a neat gun, but there was no mention of how the cylinder pin was retained after the barrel was shortened to 3" and the loading lever removed. Anyone know?

 

[pondoro]

Now I have to buy the mag. I have wanted a bulldog style revolver since I read Sherlock Holmes and Watson carried one.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Pretty interesting conversion, but it's very labor - intensive. I have looked at the pix again, and can't see how he retains the cylinder pin. Unless I missed it, it wasn't explained in the text.

Probably,
"Elementary, my dear Watson!"

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I should think the Remington frame would be enormous for a bulldog. The British Bull Dog revolvers were smaller than most modern .38 snubbies and their cartridges rather anemic, not at all in the class of a .45 Colt.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

it is, CJ. Looks like a huge gun to me, too, but it was a kinda cool looking piece. The Bulldogs were pocket guns of the Victorian era, and I think this cut down Remington would take a mighty big pocket!

 

[Zonie]

Looking at my .44 Remington the only "easy" answer for the barrel pin question that I see is to machine a new screw hole thru the web of the gun.
This hole would be located so the screw would intersect the cylinder pin a little above or below it's center.
This would be similar to the method used on the Whitney, Spiller & Burr and Rogers & Spencer to retain their cylinder pin.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

When you buy the converter, you can buy a spring-loaded speed latch that allows you to swap cylinders quickly or use the revolver without the rammer. It is simple and ingenious. They install using the rammer's retaining screw.
River Junction Trade Company sells them and you can view one on their web-site. I believe the url is: [url] www.riverjunction.com[/url].

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Russ, You're right, that's a pretty ingenious clip for the Remington. I'm not sure if that's the one used in the Bulldog conversion, but it's sure a slick way to go.

Thanks for the info, Russ and Zonie.

 

[pondoro]

I looked at the magazine article. The author has duplicated the function of the Webley Bulldog, though in a larger package. But I do not like the looks of it. So I will wait and hope for a Bulldog replica, I love the looks of the bulldog.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Could you tell how he secured the cylinder pin? I didn't notice the latch mentioned above.
Thanks

 

[pondoro]

I didn't read the article through, just glanced at the pictures and skimmed it. I was looking for a Bulldog lookalike and when I saw that it did not look like the Bulldog I lost interest.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I just re-read the article and I'm still not sure what is used to retain the cylinder arbor. The little latch that Walt sells has always worked for me.
One thing--if you are reshaping the butt on a Uberti, there is a lot less metal than on a Pietta. I once had a Uberti frame fail in this area from the pressure of the mainspring. I had definitely removed too much metal from that one!

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

I don't think I would do the Bulldog conversion myself, but a 4" Remington has its appeal.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

You can buy a 5.5" version from Uberti. It does seem to balance a bit better than the longer barrel.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Saw one of those the other day. Nice gun!