Just ordered a 51 Navy. Need info

[jethro224]

I'm pretty well uneducated when it comes to BP revolvers, but I have been lusting after a steel framed .36 51 Navy for several years. Wish I woulda bought one when the bug first bit and the price was lower...
Anyway, I found a good price on them in the Cabela's Bargain Cave the other day and couldn't resist any longer. Today I placed my order. :grin:

The Cabela's site is not real informative, but I read the reviews which are mostly good and believe it is made by Pietta. Is that right?

What size balls am I going to need? .360?

How much powder do these things use? 3F work best?

Will bore butter work to seal the chambers?

What size caps fit?

Will I need wads? Will I want them even if I don't NEED them?

What else do I need to know?

Anybody know where to get a good pattern for a crossdraw slimjim holster to fit?

 

[Zonie]

Use a .375 or .376 diameter ball.

3Fg black powder works best but because the nipple is right up against the powder the synthetics work good too. Again use the finer grain powder if given a choice.

Bore butter will work fine to seal the chamber mouth and more importantly to lube the ball and keep the fouling on the rear of the barrel and the cylinder arbor soft.
Many folks use Crisco vegetable shortening.

The only negative about using either of these is on a hot day they both get a bit runny.

Some folks use a .36 caliber lubricated fiber wad between the ball and the powder to help prevent crossfires. If you choose to use these you don't have to grease the loaded ball at the chambers mouth as the lube in the wad does the same thing as the "over ball" grease would do.

Many of these pistols use a #10 cap but these are sometimes hard to find. The commerical replacement nipples usually use a #11 cap.

Whichever cap you use, it must fit fairly tightly on the nipple. If it is loose you can crimp the cap mouth by squeezing it a bit between your thumb and finger.
The important thing is to have a cap that fits well enough that it doesn't fall off of the nipples.

Although there is no real documented proof, many including myself feel that most of the crossfire or chainfires happen because the flame from the chamber being fired gets into the adjacent chambers thru a missing or poorly fitting cap.

The .36 can be loaded with anywhere from 16-23 grains of powder.
If you load with a powder charge at the low figure many will recommend that you add some corn meal or cream of wheat on top of the powder charge.
Filling the extra space until the filler is about 1/4-5/16 below the face of the cylinder will assure that the powder is compressed when the ball is rammed just below the face of the cylinder.

Have fun. :grin:

 

[CaptainKirk]

Well, Zonie said it all....
All I can tell you different is what I use in mine (EXCAM).....
20-25 grains Pyrodex "P", either .375 RB or (sometimes) Taurus belted bullets, RWS (Dynamit Nobel) 10.75 caps, I prefer Crisco as lube except on hot days, when it makes a hell of a mess.
Have not tried Wonder Wads on this pistol as of yet.

 

[nkbj]

Yeehah! Getting dinner with a .36 Colt is serious fun.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

for the warm days toilet bowl ring wax - which is actually a compound of synthetic wax and other materials - makes a great over-ball lube that won't get 'runny' due to the temp. does well as a pin lube too. I have used water pump grease but switched when I discovered the ring.

 

[Poor Private]

I will tell you one of my secrets regarding finding quick info on a BP pistol or rifle. I keep some Dixie Gun Works catalogs around. I look the gun up in there. It gives the basic info=cap size, powder load, twist rate. This is what I use for a starting place. :wink: .
I find that after thumbing through it a few hundred times that the pages stick together from the drool, when I find one I want to put on my wish list :rotf: .

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Congrats on the new wheelgun! #10's should do the trick. Most likely a Pietta cause most of Cabela's stock is Pietta. I'd stick with the wads--less mess!

Zonie pretty much covered your other questions--quite nicely I may add!

The point of aim on that revolver should be 6"-12" UNDER what you want to hit.

If you don't have one yet, and you get serious with BP Pistols, you may want to consider the purchase of a loading stand. Shoot me an email and I'll send photos, as I've done for Forum members in the past. A friend of mine makes them and they're fairly inexpensive, and built to last!

As far as a holster, taking a strong-side holster and merely moving it to the other side gives you a "cross-draw". But do you want a tilt to the gun butt, or some other sort of custom rig like a chest mount (used for hunting) instead of wearing it on your belt??

Let me know!

Dave

 

[jethro224]

Thanks to all for the tips. :hatsoff:

I believe I will have some fun with this revolver. :grin: Can't wait to try it out. Gotta get down to the gunstore tomorrow and see if they have any of the right size ball.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Email with photos sent to you!

Let me know if I can be of any more help!

Dave

 

[ebiggs1]

Is not the '51 Colt the best feeling hand gun ever made? I just love them.

 

[tg]

I used a .375 in mine, a have a Lyman mold in the classifieds that I used to use.

 

[Chilidog]

Congrats on your order, you're in for a lot of fun. I use 375's in mine on top of 20 grains of 3f and a prelubed felt pad and number 10 caps. The 36's are a lot of fun to shoot and fairly inexpensive to boot. Looking forward to pics and a report of your first outing.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Could not agree more! :bow:
My '51 Navy points like your finger; light, flickable, dead-nuts aim. Look at something, close your eyes, then raise, cock and open your eyes...sights dead-on! (Ooops..there I go playing guns again!) :redface: At first glance, it looks rough-hewn compared to my 1860 Army and '58 Remmy, but for comfort and "natural feel", you can't beat it! :wink:

 

[David Teague]

Sure ya can, by getting the 61Navy...

All the "pointability" of the 1851 and the sexy look of the 1860 all in one drop dead gorgeous well handling package.(I just might be showing a bit of favoritism here :haha: )

 

[jethro224]

It's here! :grin: :grin: :grin:

Looks pretty good and feel great. I'll hafta do a little tweaking but not too bad. Can't wait to try this thing out. It points like it was growed there. :grin:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Remember to give it a thorough cleaning with regular bore cleaner to cut the heavy grease! I use Shooter's Choice but Hoppe's #9 is just as good! You want to rid the moving parts of heavy grease so it doesn't bind-up on you the very first time you go out and use the thing! A light coat of oil like 3 in 1 will do the trick on the arbor. Some use synthetics, and that's O-K too!

Have fun and make smoke!!

Good luck Jim!

Dave

 

[bdhutier]

Congrats, '51s are just about as awesome as it gets! They perform so well, even my 3 year old loves to shoot it (and mine's a .44)!!

Personally, I never worried much about wads, "sealing" chambers w/this or that, or any of that stuff. As long as I get a complete lead ring, they're sealed. I use plenty of BP, so I don't need a wad or filler. I lubed up the guts a while back with some Lubriplate lithium grease (& cylinder pin whenever I clean), and I've never had an issue. If it starts to get tight after around 7-8 cylinders, then I spray a little of the grease into loaded chambers, and that takes care of it.

I'm a big fan of not over-complicating things...

 

[cowpoke1955]

Congradulations :thumbsup: Let us know how that bad boy handles :wink:

 

[Mulebrain]

I use .375, and 30 grains of fff, number 10 caps. I love shooting the '51 :thumbsup:

 

[oldwolf]

This is what Uberti says to use:

.31 caliber revolvers use a .330 ball.
.36 caliber revolvers use a .380 ball.
.44 caliber revolvers use a .454 ball.