Thinking about getting into a BP revolver and leaning towards the Pietta 1851 Confederate Navy .44 cal.. First a few questions, will cci #11 caps work on this pistol ? I have a good supply of #11 caps but have never even seen #10 caps . Next, some have said the brass frame pistols don't last or hold up and will only handle "light loads". Any truth to this ? Overall, is it a quality pistol as far as durability , accuracy, and maintenance ? Any thoughts or opinions ?
-Thanks
I bought mine 30 years ago, along with several extra cylinders. It was for an article in a now defunct magazine about the "lowest budget" needed getting into CAS shooting, and at the time, the brass, .44 "Navy" revolvers were the least expensive option.
I was quite surprised at how accurate they were at 50 feet from a rest. I also noticed that five out of the six chambers in each of the cylinders, the cylidner sold with the revolver from the factory or the extras, were very accurate, but in every one the sixth chamber always threw a the ball slightly out of the grouping. SO I marked that chamber, and removed the nipple. In CAS you only loaded five chambers anyway, so why not use the slightly less accurate one as the empty one? Removing the nipple made remembering which chamber was the undesired one, easy.
I shot 20 grains of 3Fg with a dry felt wad, a .451 ball, and
Dynamit Noble RWS pistol caps. Sometimes I'd shoot 15 grains and double up the felt wads. You're only trying to ring the steel, afterall. Never had a problem, BUT you will need pistol caps, as rifle caps are too big.
I bought another of the same model as they were so inexpensive at the time, and removed the loading lever and cut down the barrel for a "vest pocket pistol" for the CAS side matches that were held from time to time. It still shot very well although I didn't put on a front sight, and only point-shot with it.
LD
