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Uberti 1860 Colt Question

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hadden west said:
I was hoping I wouldn't have go that route. I have a 2nd Gen. Colt, 1851 Navy, but it's never been fired, and I can't talk myself in to it.

Go buy another one to shoot. I've handled both 2nd gen '51 Navies and 1860 Army's and there's no comparison in feel and pointability with the Italian guns. My ASM 1860s are identical to my Colt 2nd 1860s but the Colt's are lighter and just point better. Couldn't bring myself to shoot them either! Someday I'll get one of each for shooting.
 
Every one of my too many Colt replicas either Uberti or Pietta shot high. If you comb through Mike Beliveau's (Duelist 1954) videos he shows how to remove the brass pimple, cut a dovetail and install a taller front sight. Either that or get a set of Swiss files and square up and deepen the rear (hammer) sight notch. Shoot a lot and file carefully.
Good luck
Bunk
 
Walker is suppose to shoot high at 25. They were designed for long distance capability. Saying goes, take the rider or the horse at 100.
 
I've shot just about everything that's currently available from Italy, and they all shoot high. At 25 yards I have to aim 6.5" low for the Walker. More than twice that for the 3rd Model Dragoon. If shooting to POA is important, I suggest replacing the front sight as is noted elsewhere on this forum.

Dave
NRA Distinguished Expert in Muzzleloading Pistol & Rifle



Hi Dave, How do you get a "NRA Distinguished Expert in Muzzleloading Pistol & Rifle" award or distinction ? ... Charles
 
If you found the Walker too big you likely won't be happy with a Dragoon. Plus the levers still drop in most Dragoons and require some modding. The early style latch wasn't the strongest.

I'd go with an 1860 Army, that's likely to be my next purchase.

They hit high because the US Army Ordnance Dept was populated by old Officers who could not let go of the "Horse Pistol" concept when pistols were used in the Napoleonic style tactics that were taught way too long......and/or Sam Colt felt that 75-100 yards was a good dummy proof combat regulation and that up close you wouldn't be using those tiny nearly useless sights anyway.

If you can line up that tiny hammer notch with a little brass blade and hit a single man with an aimed shot at 75 yards in the heat of a pitched battle , in smoke, with adrenaline surging through your veins you're a better man than me.

Uberti just copies the originals because nutty people like me actually want them to function like they were intended to originally when they were in service , if I want a 25 yard target pistol I have much better options.
 
Every one of my too many Colt replicas either Uberti or Pietta shot high. If you comb through Mike Beliveau's (Duelist 1954) videos he shows how to remove the brass pimple, cut a dovetail and install a taller front sight. Either that or get a set of Swiss files and square up and deepen the rear (hammer) sight notch. Shoot a lot and file carefully.
Good luck
Bunk
VTI sells a sight for the open top cartridge pistol which is taller, (different part number) I’ve replaced two of mine with those and they work perfectly. Otherwise, file work on the hammer is the other way if you want to retain the original configuration.
 
Through WW2 battle zeros were set by determining trajectory that yielded a max ord (maximum ordinance hight above the line-of-sight) that yielded a hit when aiming at the belt buckle of your target.

No need to worry about range in order to get a hit as long as the target is not beyond the battle zero range. With the Springfield rifle in WW1 this was approx 550 yards. Max ord was approx 24” (working from memory).

Same with these pistols and military weapons of the period.
 
it always annoyed me to high hell on why the manufacturers do not put taller front sites on most open site guns especially C and B revolvers and muzzle loading rifles. then when you find your load you can simply file the site down to match the zero you want
 
I have both a Uberti Dragoon and an 1860 Army and they both shot unacceptably high. After fabricating a replacement sight from a nickle coin I learned here that Taylors offers taller replacement sights intended for conversion guns and this sight works just fine and solves the problem on both guns.
 
I was hoping I wouldn't have go that route. I have a 2nd Gen. Colt, 1851 Navy, but it's never been fired, and I can't talk myself in to it. My ROA's have spoiled me with adjustable sights, but they don't feel like the Colts. The Walker I had was a Uberti that I bought new about 10 years ago, and I loved it because it shot point of aim at 25 yards, but I didn't like the ram rod dropping when I shot it. It was just too big, to really enjoy.

Thanks for input.
I would be happy to shoot it for you. I will post the targets on the forum for all to see.
 
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