New Colt style handguns

[Bunk]

Congratulations you have just bought your first new cap & ball revolver. It is actually functional kit that needs some help to be reliable and fun.
Short of spending a bucket of money sending it to a qualified gunsmith there are a things that can be done on the kitchen table with a very small investment in time and money.
Most importantly a set of gunsmith hollow ground screwdrivers is essential because the gun will have to be completely taken apart for cleaning every so often.
Mike Beliveau (Duelist 1954) has some very good videos on range preparation of the Colt and I suspect some would apply to Remington guns also.
Be well aware of the short arbor problem on most Uberti guns. A simple fix with a couple of #10 washers solves that manufacturing error..
Nothing spoils the fun more than a gun that will not work every time.
Hold center
Hit center
Have fun
Bunk

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have owned half a dozen different cap and ball revolvers over 40+ years. I have done a bit of work on several of them and had to replace a few broken parts. My first was a Navy Arms kit and I still have it . I did smooth action. The others were all second hand and have functioned okay without major work being done. Most off the shelf new ones will function fine. They are not much different than a new cartridge gun in that sense. Just as most modern guns can be improved with some tuning so too cap and balls. I would hate to discourage someone from getting a new Pietta or Uberti cap and ball with the thought they are buying a kit which will need a bunch of work.

 

[SOLANCO]

I am going to reference an unmentionable as an example to make a point. Hope it's ok with the mods. I have a S&W 629 Mountain Revolver which was a project of their Custom Shop. Never had a problem with an ordinary 629. But the action of my Mountain Revolver is an order of magnitude better than that of a stock 629.
My take? A functioning firearm right from the factory will always have room for improvement. It may suit you as is. You needn't go the extra mile. But if you want to it will pay dividends.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I agee Bunk and Solanco with the caveat a person wanting to get a cap and ball can likely get a decent functioning revolver for $250-$350. They can have a very good one for $500-$600 or more. There is room for both.

 

[William P Sepessy]

Well, every time I get a new cap & ball revolver and I start to wonder what I'm going to find when I take it apart. I try to keep in mind the relatively low purchase price. I'm just glad there are now sites like this to reference for help and advice. It's taken a good 20 years of work to get to the point of feeling like I can deal with almost anything I encounter.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’ll disagree that most of the new productions don’t need work to function well.

Generally, they do. Especially new Ubertis. Many new percussion revolvers suck caps and are just really rough. An evening of elbow grease and a few bucks in tools will yield a way more reliable, and fun, gun.

 

[ZUG]

I guess it depends on what you expect out of the handgun. If you want top notch performance, then you will be sending the handgun off to a top-notch BP pistol smith if you just are a backyard "plinker" then the handgun will suit you fine as is.

 

[William P Sepessy]

The problem is after using a gun that has been correctly set up and has a buttery smooth action you are now spoiled. That's when you notice the even slight roughness of a stock gun. Fortunately, this is usually not difficult to clean up with files/stones/sand paper. My favorite method is now working the parts on a flat surface with various grades of paper out to 1200 or 1500 grit. It makes a big difference and you feel it every time you cock the gun.