Pietta 1851 Navy cylinder jams

[Wolfman0125]

As far as pointability--that is shooting off the cuff on the draw, the Colt is so far ahead of the Remington as to be no comparison. The Colt just naturally gets on the target--the Remington takes a bit of maneuvering. IMO. The problem with the Navy, is that they all seem to be sighted so high. You should be able to put a 12 gauge fired case on top of the front site and nail it more often than not inside of 25 yards. A thin higher dovetailed front blade with a bit of windage adjustment does wonders for them.

I just remove the sight blade and dovetail a 2x4 for a sight post on my Remmy and I can shoot a group the size of a turkey platter at 10 yards just fine!

 

[rickpa]

Sights are the Colts big drawback. Who wants the rear sight dropping out of view when the hammer falls? Awful hard to call your shots when there is no rear sight to reference.

 

[4575wcf]

I have never minded the sight dropping out of sight with the Colt, By the time that happens the shot is off. What I do not like to do is hold a foot under anything I hope to hit and try to "guess" the POI up into the target. I have my old stainless Remington shooting directly to point of aim, but it is one of the very early small frame Euroarms replicas that suffers from the frame spreading at the loading lever cutout and loosening things up periodically. It is a great candidate for a five shot original style Remington .45 LC conversion with a chicago screw set up through the loading lever cutout to keep things in place.

 

[Bad Karma]

For the Uberti Colt Army order this sight.
UB:900015

Description
Uberti Front Sight for Round Bbl (Open Top, R-Mason, R-Army)
Check Stock
Price
US$9.00

Pietta owners can use this part number

15
Code
SAA5410

Description
Pietta Front Sight Blade Unfinished - 4 3/4", 5 1/2" Bbl (1873 SA, GWII)
Check Stock
Price
US$11.00

Navy owners will need to remove the original foresight. Measure everything and make a taller replacement from brass stock. I usually opened up the rear notch a bit after I’ve shot the pistol enough to know what it needs and then I can correct windage by cutting the notch to one side or the other depending on what it needs to hit center. With a little bit of effort your pistol should easily easily hit that 12 gauge shell with no guesswork or Kentucky windage.

The first notch, above, is one that I cut and it works very well, this pistol groups right at 1.5” on a 25 yard target. A trick of the lighting makes it appear as if one side of the sight is taller than the other. They are square and equal.

this one ^^^ was done by Lee Shaver after he’d cut the barrel and lever to 5.5” and tuned the pistol. I was leary of the shallow vee but in practice the setup works very well and it’s a fast sight, easy to pick up. Another 5MOA pistol. Turns out Mr Shaver knows a thing or two about pistols too.

 

[Bad Karma]

Sights are the Colts big drawback. Who wants the rear sight dropping out of view when the hammer falls? Awful hard to call your shots when there is no rear sight to reference.

If you’re focused on the front sight you won’t really notice the hammer dropping. That’s been my experience of 60 years or so. I have plenty of options but the 1860 Colts Army is my favorite pistol. Period.

 

[4575wcf]

This is the old Euroarms Stainless Remington. I ordered a block of poly ivory and got out the grips before anything like that was available. The internals were soft and wear between the trigger and full cock notch causes it to get hair triggered. In turn the hammer fall gets shorter, now it is ready for new internals. I made the taller front sight and opened up the frame notch it shoots directly to the sights. Every original spring shattered, including the main all have been replaced. Still enough left of the old girl to do a 5 shot Remington conversion, but I think I will probably fit a new barrel and go down to .38 special.

 

[rickpa]

If you’re focused on the front sight you won’t really notice the hammer dropping. That’s been my experience of 60 years or so. I have plenty of options but the 1860 Colts Army is my favorite pistol. Period.

Difference of opinion is what makes horse races. I've shot pistols in different competitions since the mid 70's and I find it useful to concentrate on the alignment of both sights to call my shots. Front is clear but I can still see the rear even if fuzzy. Everyone has their own style.

 

[Gee Dog]

For longer shots both sights are necessary or you'll ''slip up'', as Hickok phrases it. Closer-in, the front sight works well on its own.

 

[Bad Karma]

Difference of opinion is what makes horse races. I've shot pistols in different competitions since the mid 70's and I find it useful to concentrate on the alignment of both sights to call my shots. Front is clear but I can still see the rear even if fuzzy. Everyone has their own style.

Yes. I’m thinking of recreational shooting and not organized target shooting. Different horses are used on different courses.

 

[Billy Boy]

Hello everyone. Twice now while shooting this pistol I’ve had the cylinder lock up. These were not cap jams. I had to remove the barrel and cylinder to get it unlocked. Neither the hammer or cylinder would move a bit.
Has anyone else dealt with this and whet can I do to fix it. Thanks.

Iv’e had cap jams where nothing was visible in the hammer/frame slot and required complete disassembly. Usually found a small, flat piece of cap skirt where it shouldn't be ..

 

[4575wcf]

From what I have read the cowboy action guys have tuned their revolvers to work with a tight fitting #10, and a heavy enough mainspring to keep the hammer down on the fired cap and contain it, using loads just heavy enough to get the ball to the target without blowing the caps to pieces. This when shooting against the clock when everything has to cycle. For general use, a bit of attention to where the fired cap is dropping when cocking is sufficient to keep them out of the lock work. One thing that occurs to you is that folks like JB Hickok, Wes Hardin and other shootists back in the day who used the cap and ball for serious defense, must of had to remember to work the guns rather slowly and carefully, but in a hurry while being fired upon. How was a fellow supposed to remember all of that in the heat of the moment? Things have not changed though and sure as shooting, if you panicked and hurried things you could wind up with a couple of useless pistols.

 

[Red Owl]

Hey Tarp- I'm in Central FL. One other thing, try to identify the chambers, mark the back and then start shooting. Does the hang up always occur on the same chamber or does it occur on different chambers at different times? If it is always the same chamber then look to that. Some times there is a bur or machining error in the racket teeth. A few strokes with needle files may fix the problem. The bolt cut on the cylinder might also have a bur that doesn't allow the bolt to drop.
Other things, a ball in the next chamber can skip forward on recoil and jam the gun. That chamber might be a little loose-use a slightly larger ball. Lead build up on the back rim of the barrel can jam the rotation.
On drawing the hammer back there are four clicks, folks used to say C-O-L-T. The bolt should pop up into its notch in the cylinder just before you move another 1/16" to 1/8" back on the hammer to have the trigger nose engage its notch(hold the trigger at full cock). On a lot of guns the reverse happens but folks just yank back the hammer and never realize it.
Let us know how things progress, we are always learning.
And, I strip down my guns after every shooting session. Get a couple of screwdrivers and grind them down to EXACTLY match the slots in the bolts. You'll never mar up the slot that way. Get a pizza pan and as you disassemble the gun put the parts in the pan. Use a toothbrush and q-tip swabs and clean the whole gun with hot soapy water and dry immediately. I use light gun oil to prevent rust. Once you get the hang of it you can strip down a Colt blindfolded- not hard at all.

 

[Bad Karma]

From what I have read the cowboy action guys have tuned their revolvers to work with a tight fitting #10, and a heavy enough mainspring to keep the hammer down on the fired cap and contain it, using loads just heavy enough to get the ball to the target without blowing the caps to pieces. This when shooting against the clock when everything has to cycle. For general use, a bit of attention to where the fired cap is dropping when cocking is sufficient to keep them out of the lock work. One thing that occurs to you is that folks like JB Hickok, Wes Hardin and other shootists back in the day who used the cap and ball for serious defense, must of had to remember to work the guns rather slowly and carefully, but in a hurry while being fired upon. How was a fellow supposed to remember all of that in the heat of the moment? Things have not changed though and sure as shooting, if you panicked and hurried things you could wind up with a couple of useless pistols.

Then as now, the guy who keeps his cool under fire has a significant advantage. It’s not always possible…