Colt 1851 Navy—120 yards?

[45D]

Well I disagree but whats new between us about that !

Of course you do, even with pics of both revolvers!!

Mike

 

[M. De Land]

Ah, got it. Thanks again

Getting back to the original thread , I think you will greatly appreciate the potential accuracy that can be had from a 51 at the yardages your novel will cover from this very well done video.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

COULD it be done sure. But practically speaking your going to be dropping like a rock and that little .36 ball only has as much energy as a .380 at the muzzle. At 120 it wouldn't be hitting hard at all. Lethal sure but not hard.

 

[Dude]

Anyone want to line up some water bottles at 100 yards and see how many leak?

 

[Dude]

Here's the capandball youtube M De Land was talking about. And yes, he's tapping the wedge with his flask.

 

[45D]

Here's the capandball youtube M De Land was talking about. And yes, he's tapping the wedge with his flask.

Yes, we talked extensively about it several months back. He DOESN'T tap the wedge when shooting the longer ranges. There's no break from shot to shot so no editing.
You guess the wedge swelled up and got tighter?
It's just like my friend's Navy in the pic I posted.

Mike

 

[wiscoaster]

I checked him out and that's not the Hungarian guy but is still very good as he recreates the Hickock Tutt shoot out at 75 yards that should be good for your novel information.

Here's the "Hungarian Guy" https://www.youtube.com/@capandball

 

[StoryWriter85]

COULD it be done sure. But practically speaking you’re going to be dropping like a rock and that little .36 ball only has as much energy as a .380 at the muzzle. At 120 it wouldn't be hitting hard at all. Lethal sure but not hard.

If it’s lethal at 120, doesn’t that mean it hits pretty hard?

 

[springfield art]

I’m writing a frontier novel set in 1870. One of my characters is an exceptionally gifted marksman, and has a Colt 1851 Navy revolver. In one scene, he is in a gunfight with an opponent at 100-120 yards.

I read that this gun’s effective firing range is about 75 yards. In a work of fiction, is it *plausible* to hit an 8-inch target (a person’s face) at 100-120 yards with the Colt Navy? Or is that completely absurd?

I may shorten the distance to 90 yards. But I’m wondering how much distance I can get away with before it becomes silly.

Remember that kid's toy, the Elastic Man, or Rubber Guy? You could stretch him, from a comic book tale? That distance meets that criteria! Just being friendly-joking, but knowledgeable readers will be questioning the author! Good luck with the book, truly. I've often questioned the actual modern distance the Rev War writers-participants left us concerning the distances shot by the Riflemen; 400 yards, 300 yards, etc. Not sayin' it couldn't happen, but.....

 

[StoryWriter85]

Remember that kid's toy, the Elastic Man, or Rubber Guy? You could stretch him, from a comic book tale? That distance meets that criteria! Just being friendly-joking, but knowledgeable readers will be questioning the author! Good luck with the book, truly. I've often questioned the actual modern distance the Rev War writers-participants left us concerning the distances shot by the Riflemen; 400 yards, 300 yards, etc. Not sayin' it couldn't happen, but.....

Hey, appreciate that! As a writer my attitude is, it doesn’t have to be 100% realistic, but it should at least be plausible.

 

[springfield art]

Here's the "Hungarian Guy" https://www.youtube.com/@capandball

I also think Wild Bill hit the guy in the heart; probably went into soft areas right into the heart. Maybe right under the breastbone. ?

 

[45D]

Maybe we'll get lucky and someone somewhere will post a link for the Hungarian "cap and ball" guy where he shoots the early (around 1963) Uberti Navy revolver 100 meters to show how accurate it is with its fast twist rifling-

and it's early engraving-

just like my friend's early Uberti
revolver (1960) shown here next to the revolver the Hungarian guy uses in the video-

so we might be able to determine if the arbor is of correct length like my friend's revolver (of the same era) which would lead one to reasonably conclude that the wedge is too worn to remain tight and subsequently (apparently) replaced since he doesn't continue tapping the wedge in after every shot with his flask like we discussed months ago . . .
Maybe that would be a good thing.

It may also show the op that 100 yard shots are definitely doable!!

Hope springs eternal !

Mike

 

[StoryWriter85]

Here's the capandball youtube M De Land was talking about. And yes, he's tapping the wedge with his flask.

This is great, thanks! What does that mean, tapping the wedge with his flask? I'm a newbie to all this.

 

[Whitworth]

It

I also think Wild Bill hit the guy in the heart; probably went into soft areas right into the heart. Maybe right under the breastbone. ?

It went between his 5th and 6th ribs if memory serves me correctly. YMMV

 

[CyrusP]

This is great, thanks! What does that mean, tapping the wedge with his flask? I'm a newbie to all this.

You can see in the beginning of the video where he’s shooting at 25 meters he’s using his copper powder flask to tap on the side of the gun. The wedge is there.

 

[cebusey]

You could hit it but at that range given the 51’s powder capacity that lil .36 might just bounce off a thick coat

I agree - I have shot a 38 s&w (not 38 special) and hit steel turkeys at 100 yds but the round did not have enough power to knock them over - turned them to the side - where as 45 LC would slam them down.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Shooting from 120 yards with a .36 Navy, the ball will hit with the approximate force of a thrown pebble of the same size, on a high trajectory. Hopalong Cassidy used to regularly shoot the gun out of a bad guy's hand, shooting from the hip from the back of a running horse too, but only in the movies. So did Tom Mix, and I didn't believe that either. Sure -- it could happen, once maybe -- but if it did, in real life somebody would fetch a rifle and blow the shooter out of his boots. By the way, I've seen the ground in Deadwood where Hickock shot Tutt and while I didn't measure it, I'm guessing the range was closer to 75 feet than 75 yards in that muddy street. Shooting with a handgun at a head-size target at long range would stretch the skills of a Bill Jordan, especially with the target shooting back. Being shot at tends to discombobulate your concentration and kick your adrenaline levels into overload.

 

[StoryWriter85]

You can see in the beginning of the video where he’s shooting at 25 meters he’s using his copper powder flask to tap on the side of the gun. The wedge is there.

Why does he tap it with his powder flask?

 

[CyrusP]

It’s supposedly to tighten the loose wedge (a contentious subject here) The way he taps so consistently to me makes me think he might be doing it to simply ensure consistency from shot to shot. Why only at 20 meters and bench rested? Why not at 50-100 meters offhand? We don’t know.
PS I wonder if it’s because he’s shooting a group at 20 meters vs hitting a gong at further distances. I’m just speculating.

 

[Juice Jaws]

I’m writing a frontier novel set in 1870. One of my characters is an exceptionally gifted marksman, and has a Colt 1851 Navy revolver. In one scene, he is in a gunfight with an opponent at 100-120 yards.

I read that this gun’s effective firing range is about 75 yards. In a work of fiction, is it *plausible* to hit an 8-inch target (a person’s face) at 100-120 yards with the Colt Navy? Or is that completely absurd?

I may shorten the distance to 90 yards. But I’m wondering how much distance I can get away with before it becomes silly.

If movies can have a gunfighter shoot 8,9, 10 times or more with a six gun without reloading I am sure your gunfighter can hit a man at 120 yards and drop him dead.