Colt 1860 Army (1861)

[Stantheman86]

That's neat, I love it.

I occasionally see broken and nonfunctional old Colt percussions for sale at gun shows , I had thought about picking one up as a display gun.

 

[Stantheman86]

ROA’s take a .457 ball. The .457 lee bullet is designed for use in the Olde army... it really depends on the revolver in question. If yo don’t know what the chambers measure it’s a safe practice to use the larger .454 ball. Also, the older ones chambers may be a bit rough, pitted, in which case it’s prudent to use a larger ball for a better seal. Hrt4me had the revolver checked by a very well respected and knowledgeable blackpowder gunsmith and I’m sure Gary addressed these issues...

Some of the YouTube guys use .457 balls in Uberti Walkers and Dragoons apparently, but I've never had a problem with .454's

 

[Bad Karma]

Some of the YouTube guys use .457 balls in Uberti Walkers and Dragoons apparently, but I've never had a problem with .454's

I’ve heard that too. Only owned one of each many years ago so I don’t recall what I was loading into them.

 

[toot]

I use felt wads between the black powder charge and the lead round ball, which I do not find difficult to ram into the chambers...

I only brought out a third of the black powder revolver collection this weekend for the first day of Summer today! Besides, I have no progeny, so these are my 'kids' ! Happy Father's Day to me, haView attachment 81966
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I have too many modern polymer unmentionables to count, but there is just something cool (which cannot be eloquently put into words) about wood and steel!

so it's all about you? I certainly like that logic!! and by the way you have a beautiful assortment of BP, guns!!

 

[hrt4me]

That's neat, I love it.

I occasionally see broken and nonfunctional old Colt percussions for sale at gun shows , I had thought about picking one up as a display gun.

if you pick up a few of those, then you may well end up with enough mix-and-match parts for one complete gun!

 

[hatman]

close-up of Colt 1860 Army revolver this hot afternoon (same mild loads described above)

Very cool that you've been able to get it working again after all these years.
I was wondering if you were able to get the nipples out or if they were "rust-stuck".
Also, do you find cleaning the barrel and chambers more difficult than a modern barrel/chamber shooting BP? That's kind of been my experience.

 

[FishDFly]

The tread on defarbing made me think what would the value be of this fine old Colt be if someone had decided to defarb it?

Would have been a great shame to do so.

 

[Pete G]

A fine old Colt is not farby to begin with, hence it cannot b de-farbed.

 

[FishDFly]

Sure looks like writing on it.

 

[YJake]

If I wanted to try firing conical bullets in my original Colt 1860 Army cap-and-ball percussion revolver (rather than only soft lead .454 round balls), then what would you guys recommend? What did contemporary shooters use back then for this 160-year-old vintage classic pistol?

A Johnston and Dow conical bullet attached to a paper cartridge would be period correct for this firearm. Eras Gone sells custom moulds to make your own and I believe Jefferson Arsenal was selling them in small batches as well.


https://www.thejeffersonarsenal.com/product-page/44-johnston-dow-pistol-conicals-60rds
-Jake

 

[Bad Karma]

The tread on defarbing made me think what would the value be of this fine old Colt be if someone had decided to defarb it?

Would have been a great shame to do so.

Well yeah, it’s happened before. Some knucklehead with a buffing wheel decides to get all that nasty stuff off great grandpa’s Colt pistol and voila! Defarbed!

But on the other hand, back in the day there’s no incentive to obliterate the markings on an actual Colt revolver if you’re so fortunate as to own one.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Sure looks like writing on it.

Yeah, but the writing on @hrt4me's Colt doesn't say, "Black Powder Only" or "made in Italy".

 

[Pete G]

Sure looks like writing on it.

De-farbing is not about just removing lettering.