Traditions BP revolvers
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Traditions is an importer/distributor. They do not manufacture the revolvers. They purchase wholesale blocks of guns directly from manufacturers and add their own label.
That being said, the quality of the hardware they sell is generally very good to excellent; one can get the occasional lemon, a sad fact that is true of almost every gun manufacturer in business today regardless of home country.
That being said, the quality of the hardware they sell is generally very good to excellent; one can get the occasional lemon, a sad fact that is true of almost every gun manufacturer in business today regardless of home country.
What mykeal said.
Also, about 10 years ago Guns & Ammo editor/writer Phil Spangenberger did an article on metalurgy of cap & ball revolvers.
Phil slammed Traditions revolvers saying some parts were dead soft and the testers could not get the metal hardness to register above zero on the Rockwell hardness scale. I suspect there may have been some sour grapes about advertising or endorsements that caused this article?
More recent Traditions revolvers I've seen were all Pietta's. As mykeal said these seem pretty good.
Have owned various Traditions revolvers and in general prefer Uberti's.
Are you considering a used or new Traditions revolver?
Also, about 10 years ago Guns & Ammo editor/writer Phil Spangenberger did an article on metalurgy of cap & ball revolvers.
Phil slammed Traditions revolvers saying some parts were dead soft and the testers could not get the metal hardness to register above zero on the Rockwell hardness scale. I suspect there may have been some sour grapes about advertising or endorsements that caused this article?
More recent Traditions revolvers I've seen were all Pietta's. As mykeal said these seem pretty good.
Have owned various Traditions revolvers and in general prefer Uberti's.
Are you considering a used or new Traditions revolver?
It does sound like Phil was trying to slam the makers of cap and ball guns doesn't it?
By saying it didn't register above zero it sounds pretty bad but, there are several Rockwell hardness scales and I seriously doubt that the material registered zero on all of them.
Actually, the Rockwell scale most folks think of when they are talking about hardness is the "C" scale. It was designed for the harder materials, not for things like low carbon mild steel.
A hardness of zero on the Rockwell C scale is a hardness of 152 on the Brinell scale.
That's about average for the low carbon cold drawn steel most muzzleloaders are made from.
Oh, OK. Sorry, I didn't mean to bore all of you folks with the technical talk again. :redface:
By saying it didn't register above zero it sounds pretty bad but, there are several Rockwell hardness scales and I seriously doubt that the material registered zero on all of them.
Actually, the Rockwell scale most folks think of when they are talking about hardness is the "C" scale. It was designed for the harder materials, not for things like low carbon mild steel.
A hardness of zero on the Rockwell C scale is a hardness of 152 on the Brinell scale.
That's about average for the low carbon cold drawn steel most muzzleloaders are made from.
Oh, OK. Sorry, I didn't mean to bore all of you folks with the technical talk again. :redface:
Thanks Zonie !
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jtmattison
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They're made by Pietta of Italy. Many forum members use Pietta revolvers with various importer labels on them.
Overall they are great revolvers in my opinion.
HD
Overall they are great revolvers in my opinion.
HD
One of my sons' friends bought a Pietta manufactured 1851 Navy and one of the nipples stripped out threads after only one attempt at dissambly. The threads were in the cylinder, not the nipple's threads. My sons Pietta 1851 is almost impossible to get apart (as if the tolerances are off) the wedge is too tight and is extremely hard to remove.
shooter13:
You may be right. The machining may be off a bit.
On the other hand, many folks don't understand the way the wedge in a Colt is supposed to work and they pound it in as far as they can.
It should be installed far enough to keep the barrel tight against the frame but not much more.
Usually this results in just the tip of the wedge sticking a little way outside the right side flat of the barrel. The little spring catch often does not stick out at all.
With the wedge in this position, back out the little screw in the left side of the barrel until it stops on the groove that is cut into the wedge and then leave it there. This is meant to serve as a stop for the wedge to keep the owner from installing it too far the next time he removes the barrel.
When installed correctly the wedge should not come loose by itself but it shouldn't take a lot of pounding to get it out either.
You may be right. The machining may be off a bit.
On the other hand, many folks don't understand the way the wedge in a Colt is supposed to work and they pound it in as far as they can.
It should be installed far enough to keep the barrel tight against the frame but not much more.
Usually this results in just the tip of the wedge sticking a little way outside the right side flat of the barrel. The little spring catch often does not stick out at all.
With the wedge in this position, back out the little screw in the left side of the barrel until it stops on the groove that is cut into the wedge and then leave it there. This is meant to serve as a stop for the wedge to keep the owner from installing it too far the next time he removes the barrel.
When installed correctly the wedge should not come loose by itself but it shouldn't take a lot of pounding to get it out either.
The Traditions guns are made by Pietta. Pietta of years back did have some issues with soft metal. I've had more bad experiences with the brand than good ones. To their credit, they have improved the quality in recent years. The guns that they tested may have been from one of their problematic batches. For the small difference in price, I prefer to buy Uberti to this day, though the quality of both is probably so similar now that there's no real difference.
