Pietta .44 navy?

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R

Rocket

32 Cal
Joined
Nov 8, 2023
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Location
S.E. New Mexico
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I picked up this along with my long gun, the price was right.
I gout 6 BP guns for $600.
Sold 4 and they paid for the 2 I kept.
Now the fun starts with learning how to shoot BP safely.
I am very educated and knowledgeable about modern firearms and realy look forward to learning new stuff.
I have been reading post and gained a ton of info from this fourm.
Thank you all!
 
Rocket said:
View attachment 268123
I picked up this along with my long gun, the price was right.
I gout 6 BP guns for $600.
Sold 4 and they paid for the 2 I kept.
Now the fun starts with learning how to shoot BP safely.
I am very educated and knowledgeable about modern firearms and realy look forward to learning new stuff.
I have been reading post and gained a ton of info from this fourm.
Thank you all!
Click to expand...
Handsome and good it's a steel frame! It's a keeper!
 
Lot's to learn with traditional muzzleloaders or cap and ball pistols. Some of the best advice on this forum is older so make yourself familiar with the search function.
 
Nice looking pistol. While a .44 Navy was never made repos in .44 are common I think because some folks prefer a .44 over the original .36 for numerous reasons. The larger .44 bullets/balls can be easier to handle and load for those with fat or arthritic fingers.
 
The production of Navy .44 cal revolvers is something that should never have happened in the "reproduction" market. The term itself should have given them a clue. How do reproduce something that didn't exist in the first place? I obtain one now and then in a trade but I will get rid of them as soon as I can. To keep one in my collection of reproduction revolvers would be sacrilegist.
 
Tinker said:
The production of Navy .44 cal revolvers is something that should never have happened in the "reproduction" market. The term itself should have given them a clue. How do reproduce something that didn't exist in the first place? I obtain one now and then in a trade but I will get rid of them as soon as I can. To keep one in my collection of reproduction revolvers would be sacrilegist.
Click to expand...

NONE of the reproductions are exact reproductions ( so NONE should be available?). I don't think one HAS to buy one, I've never been forced to . . .
It's been the most popular cap gun for CAS forever. The copies we have today are the best produced.

Mike
 
Well ya, there never was a Colt Navy frame in 44 caliber (that we know of). I have read that some feel and some evidence indicates that Sam Colt and the boys experimented with a 51 Navy frame 44 but dropped it in favor of the 1860 Army model in 44. Whatever may have been it is said that any and all prototypes and information was lost in the big Colt fire in what was it 1862.

My first cap and ball was an EMF 51' Navy frame 44 caliber bought in '72. Broke into cap/black powder shooting with that one and have been a 44 fan ever since. Do have two .36's, Colt 51 and 61 Navies, but the 44's are big time favorites. I lost that first 51 Navy 44 due to an accidental burning, bought another some 10 years ago. While I like the longer grips of the '60 Army and Dragoons, I do like the feel of the '51 Navy 44 vs its half-brother the '51 Navy 36. Just seems to be more meat, better balance, and shoot ability. It is said that the Pietta '51 Navy 44 is a1860 frame and cylinder with a '51 Navy grip, '51 hinged loading lever, and octagonal barrel chambered in 44 caliber.

I know the old argument already posted on this thread that the Pietta '51 Navy 44 isn't correct, a gun that never saw production back in the day, and this and that, but IMO a better caliber and gun than just the standard '51 Navy 36. I tell alot of those who say/complain that the '51 Navy 44 isn't/wasn't a real model back in the day and other terms/phrases to downgrade it, claiming that it isn't "period correct" but I say that neither are the $1200 dollar prescription eyeglasses they may be wearing, neither are the BVD underwear they may be wearing, nor are some of the accessories in common use in the 21st century they are using at the range that were unknown in the 1800's, or the $60,000 Ford F-150 they operated to get to whatever shoot they are or were just at. The 'period correct police' just get a little to corrective IMO at times. Pietta must do good with sales on them as they have been and are still in the stable. Other than all that, ya all have safe and great shooting. CC
 
Thank you Gee Dog. I read somewhere once upon a time of this revolver, forgot all about it. Interesting read. I'll have to save that posting. Read a copy of a small article once upon a time that had been written and posted some time back in the early 1900's in some publication of the many prototypes in the R&D departments of major firearms manufacturers in the 1800's that the general public had no knowledge of. Most of them were lost to time as papers of their existence disappeared, the prototypes disappeared, and those who worked on them passed away. I'm sure if all of the old Colt files and such were available today, alot of arguments, curiosities, and 'maybes would be answered.
 
I must say that the arguments presented by all of you gentlemen are very effective in making a case for the .44 cal reproduction revolvers. While I have no idea of the background of those who have commented, IMO you all would have made great lawyers. I am now inclined to relook at some of those .44's, after all I drive my Ram right up to the hitching post and carry my accouterments in a converted machinist tool box. Good-Day Mates!
 
azmntman said:
Rocket Welcome to our lil world. VERY nice looking revolver, if you need to sell 5 hit me up. After all the BS I just read maybe yer ready to ditch it for a gun "they" like LOL. I been looking at a traditions .44 myself. Have to have it goonerized but I have determined I do need one. Unless....?
Click to expand...

OK, since you evidently have a PhD in percussion revolvers and if what was previously posted was all BS lets hear your take on the subject at hand. 🤔😍
 
Was Colt (peace and blessings be upon him), prior to the Bessemer steel process, limited to the caliber he could put on a Navy frame?

The answer may explain why Dragoons were so big and heavy and why the 1860 Army was finally possible for mass production.

Two observations that may be true but are not mutually exclusive:
1. Everyone should get and enjoy whatever gun they like;
2. Colt Navy in .44 is an abomination.
 
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