My 1st BP Revolver

[arcticap]

I bought a BP rifle from a friend the other day, sort of as a favor for his father. After paying him, he opened up a pistol case to show me this BP revolver and asked me to make him an offer for it. I wasn't sure that I even wanted it when he stated a price that I couldn't refuse.
So now I'm the owner of an Armi San Marco .44 Sheriff's model [5 inch] that only had about 50 rounds shot through it. It shows a date code of 1992 and he even pre-loaded it with 28 grains of black powder in each cylinder. He polished up the brass really nice and it doesn't appear to have been abused.
It has a light trigger which might be a sign of not being properly hardened, but it seems to be okay for now anyway. Otherwise the action seems smooth & tight, and it has nice grips.
What else should I have done, just let it be returned back into the case like an unwanted orphan? :wink:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

nice one, brass frames will shoot great just don't feed it a steady diet of heavy charges.

 

[rebel727]

Shoot tha thang. You might like it.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

28 grains is a heavy load in a brass frame revolver. I personally wouldn't go over 18-20 grains. At the lower charge the gun will last a long time.

 

[Cage Dodger]

You say it only had 50 rounds fired from it? Where was it stored, loose in the back of a pick-up truck? The cylinder and frame look pretty dinged up. I hope you didn't pay too much. If you bought just to shoot and don't care about looks, I guess you did OK.

Cage

 

[Don]

Looks like its in good shape to me, I don't see any dings. I shoot 25 grains out of my brass framed revolvers(.44)and have had no sign of wear thus far.

Don

 

[Cage Dodger]

To me it looks like somebody with poor vision hammered the wedge in with a rock while holding the gun by the cylinder with channel-locks. It sure looks like it has more than 50 rounds through it. Or they didn't take good care of it if that's all it has been used.

Cage

 

[Mulebrain]

You are going to really enjoy this other aspect to a great hobby :thumbsup:

I love anything Colt, and have darn near every model.

I would stick with a 20 grain load, and load to up to 30 if you have too!

Congrats, and let us know what you think??

 

[Mulebrain]

To me it looks like somebody with poor vision hammered the wedge in with a rock while holding the gun by the cylinder with channel-locks. It sure looks like it has more than 50 rounds through it. Or they didn't take good care of it if that's all it has been used.

Cage

I can see, that whoever owned it, did not know how to get the wedge key out. It has the usual evidence of unscrewing the keeper screw, and out of frustration banging the wedge key out. I have an old brass framed cva Navy with the same evidence!

Not a big deal, as long as the fit is still tight!

 

[Cage Dodger]

Am I the only one that sees gouges on the cylinder? Or is it some kind of rollmark pattern that didn't come through in the photos?

Cage

 

[Blizzard of '93]

altho the chamber will hold more about 24gr 3F with felt wad should be your max load with that one. still powerful enuff to shoot 'yotes and groundhogs and such.
19grs w/filler would be good 'plinking-target' load. enjoy - I do! :thumbsup:

 

[bwhoffman]

You say it only had 50 rounds fired from it? Where was it stored, loose in the back of a pick-up truck? The cylinder and frame look pretty dinged up. I hope you didn't pay too much. If you bought just to shoot and don't care about looks, I guess you did OK.

Cage

its kinda like the "dont look a gift horse in the mouth" concept.

doesnt look too abused to me. or to others that have posted.
owner likes enough to post pics of it here.(proud papa syndrome!)
For the deal he implies he got on it, one can probly over look any scratches, dings, back of the truck hash marks ect.

Safe to guess that you have never owned a gun that has been to the "kitchen table gunsmith"
or that has been handled by others or previous owners?

 

[Poor Private]

What your seeing on the cylinder is the rolled sene. Have you taken the time to look at a colt closely? Most colts have a sene rolled onto them (not all). What used colt doesn't have the ole' screwdriver marks on the frame around the pin? I have a duplicate of this pistol and my wife who is 5' tall shot it for the first time last month. Now she loves it. She bulled her 2nd shot at 25 foot. I am afraid I may be losing itto her. 20grn. with wonder wad and .451 round ball. Is a good target load, that we use. Now I got to get her into loading the bugger. Not fair to me, I load she shoots, which doesn't give me time to load my Rogers and Spencer. :rotf:

 

[Cage Dodger]

Sorry if I insulted the OP. I consider the appearance of a gun almost as important as the function. I like to keep all my guns as new-looking as possible.

I do own a couple of pre-owned guns: an Old Army and a MKII bull barrel. The MKII has some bluing wear on the grip that I've learned to accept although I've considered sending it to Ruger for re-bluing.

I realize that guns get marked up with use and I hate finding a new ding on one of my guns. My Old Army is in pretty good shape for being used and someday may start to show some holster wear, although I don't store it in the holster and don't get to shoot/carry it as often as I would like.

And, no, I've never looked at a Colt replica up close. The dings around the wedge pin area just seem like careless usage and the roll-marked cylinder sure looks like gouges in the photos.

Again, my apologies if it seemed like I was putting down someones new pride and joy.

Cage

 

[rebel727]

Yeah the wedge is dinged and the barrel has a few small dings undoubtedly from someone not knowing what they were doing. Also it looks to me like the wedge is in too far but maybe it needs to be that far in. Cylinder is roll engraved, don't see any dings there.

 

[Cage Dodger]

If someone could enlighten me: What is the rollmaked scene on the cylinder? I've stared at the photos till I'm cross-eyed and can't make out any kind of picture. Also, how do the grips attach? I don't see any grip screws.

Cage

 

[rebel727]

It's a Naval battle scene. Grips are one piece. You have to take the grip frame apart to remove them

 

[thewho66]

there is a roller pattern on the cylinder.

 

[Mike 56]

Nice little Colt i don't think i have ever seen a short one like that i like it. A lot of Colts have a few scratches around the wedge a little cold blue and it will look like new. Shoot mine has a few. I got this idea for a loading handle on a forum. Buy a small wooden egg from a craft store drill a hole in the bottom so you side it over the loading leaver to add a little length and makes a nice handle. It might make that short loading leaver easier to use.

Mike

 

[brubincam]

-----THATS USING YOUR EGG-----