What are you putting your money on. Draw

[Notchy Bob]

Is this forum set up to allow polls? This would be an ideal topic for one, and it would help keep all of us on track. While the discussion has been interesting and is all for fun, I understood the question to be which one revolver ...

As it is, I believe the Colt 1860 Army appears to be the favorite.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Addendum: I poked around a little and discovered this forum is indeed poll-enabled. This particular topic (which revolver) has been pretty well covered at this point, but maybe next time we have this sort of question, we can try a poll.

 

[Bad Karma]

This is a beautiful country and I envy you, not too many neighborhood problems, beautiful nature everywhere you can look, it's fantastic.
Where I live, everything is somebody's property anywhere you go. There are towns and villages everywhere, houses too, and everywhere you look, you see only cultivated fields and dried up marshes and almost all the trees have been cut down to spread the land and let the tractors and plows pass through.....
It is not beautiful, and it is sad...

I would have told you that something similar would never happen here, the country is just too big. I would have been wrong in many ways. The piece of ground you’re looking at is about 3000 acres, now owned by a wealthy eastern businessman. It’s remote enough that it’s not likely to be developed or subdivided but most of the surrounding ranches have been. The valleys are all filled with people and homes. Honestly, I would love to see more farmers and ranchers the beat the heck out of the golf courses, hotels, gated communities, and condominiums…

Is this forum set up to allow polls? This would be an ideal topic for one, and it would help keep all of us on track. While the discussion has been interesting and is all for fun, I understood the question to be which one revolver ...

As it is, I believe the Colt 1860 Army appears to be the favorite.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Addendum: I poked around a little and discovered this forum is indeed poll-enabled. This particular topic (which revolver) has been pretty well covered at this point, but maybe next time we have this sort of question, we can try a poll.

Is there any doubt that the question will be asked again! (Maybe give it a few weeks and place your poll!)

 

[Michiganmuzzy]

ROAs did not exist in the cap and ball era. Looks like a 58 REM. But is an entirely different animal

I am aware of all that because i own 2 ROAs and a '58.

 

[TrapperDude]

I can easily understand, the 1860 is the most beautiful and racy Colt, the stock is excellent and it shoots well (my favorite Colt revolver)...
The Remington Belt Single Action Revolver is light and sturdy enough to carry all day, its .36 caliber is very effective and its mechanics could not be simpler...
I don't think men used to carry the big, heavy, impractical Remington and Colt .44/45 caliber for the day.

That's not what Louis L'Amoure said...

Personally, I would choose that with which I am familiar, so I would have to go with the Remington 1858. One of these days, I'd like to get an 1860 Army to go with my sleek 1858, but until I shoot one, I won't make a judgment about it.

One thing I do like about my 1858 is that when caps blow up, they fall out to the side, through the capping recess in the recoil shield if they start to come off the nipple. That keeps it running reliably.

 

[SOLANCO]

If you were in the Old West and had to choose one piece on your hip to keep you safe which revolver would you choose? Whether you be a Trapper in the deep country or Pistolero passing through town what side arm are you putting your money/life on?

 

[SOLANCO]

After watching this thread for a good while it occurs to me that I am not betting my life on any firearm. Nor any other weapon. The absolute, first, final and indispensable tool in these situations is situational awareness. Without it, even nuclear weapons won't help you.

 

[TrapperDude]

After watching this thread for a good while it occurs to me that I am not betting my life on any firearm. Nor any other weapon. The absolute, first, final and indispensable tool in these situations is situational awareness. Without it, even nuclear weapons won't help you.

Just as the yin flows with the yang, ☯ and the yang flows with the yin, each an inescapable part of the other, defense against a serious threat requires that situational awareness flow with the weapon just as the weapon flows with the situational awareness. If one exists without the other, the defense will be ineffective.

Ultimately, a weapon must accompany the situational awareness when facing an armed threat one cannot escape.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

When wild Bill was driving wagons in New Mexico he fought a bear with his .36 cal and the lead splattered on the bears scull. He fought off the grizz with a knife.

A cival war Calvary soldier who shot many a men said that the .44 cal made big wounds but that the .36 cal was a straight to the heart killer.

Most gun fighters chose a .36 cal.

Which is better between .36 cal and .44 cal has always been debated and this is why companies always tried to develop a .41 cal, its in between. Colt actually made a few and you can see them at the gun museum at the bass pro shop in Springfield Missouri.

Me I chose a Colt 1851 but I do reserve the right to have a 10 gage somewhere close by for bigger jobs.

 

[TrapperDude]

When wild Bill was driving wagons in New Mexico he fought a bear with his .36 cal and the lead splattered on the bears scull. He fought off the grizz with a knife.

A cival war Calvary soldier who shot many a men said that the .44 cal made big wounds but that the .36 cal was a straight to the heart killer.

Most gun fighters chose a .36 cal.

Which is better between .36 cal and .44 cal has always been debated and this is why companies always tried to develop a .41 cal, its in between. Colt actually made a few and you can see them at the gun museum at the bass pro shop in Springfield Missouri.

Me I chose a Colt 1851 but I do reserve the right to have a 10 gage somewhere close by for bigger jobs.

Something I was reading said that the .44 was developed more for taking out enemy cavalry's horses, while the Navy used the .36 because it was sufficient for anti-personnel purposes. There's some pretty sound logic to that.

I would imagine that the average frontiersman probably enjoyed the weight savings a .36 brought to the table, both in terms of the weight of the weapon and the weight of the ammo. A pound overall might seem like nothing, but if you are hauling stuff around for an extended period, that pound can make a difference. Efficiency has to assert itself over luxury.

 

[William Lincoln]

Before antibiotics ,anything that created a deep wound was bad. The 1851 Navy did that
as well as anything and saved on loading. Even today it is hard to out shoot the 1851 Colt Navy.

 

[J dirt]

I would have to go with the 1851 navy. The caliber is adequate, the ammo is easier to carry and the ergonomics are the best for me.

Beside all that, the navy is the best looking handgun there ever was.

 

[Colonial Boy]

My vote goes to the Adams and Tranter double action revolvers of the 1850s, fast, powerful , thoroughly modern although percussion and ln the case of the 1858 Tranter, designed for combat, being a point and shoot pistol.

 

[UndeadPoet]

I’d rather dis and re-assemble a Ruger Mark I .22 than that Thunderer!

LOL! Same goes for the Mark II…

 

[user 33697]

Good point. Although, since we are in the Old West and reloads and or help could be a long time coming I guess I’ll remain a fan of the New York reload...

Inquiry: What is a New York reload? Preloaded spare cylinder?

 

[nhmoose]

Second gun, draw shoot

 

[Rich44]

Put me on the list for 1860 Army, and I will be bringing my own.

 

[maillemaker]

I find the Remington New Model Army to be a more technologically advanced firearm than the open-top design of any of the Colts. Things that I like about the Remington over the Colt:

• Removing the cylinder is super easy. While there are limited documented cases of people carrying extra cylinders, it is certainly possible to do, making the Remington possible to reload relatively quickly. It also makes cleaning easier.
• There is only one screw holding on the grips. This means you can remove one screw, remove the grips, and dunk-clean the gun without any further disassembly. Though I'm not sure in ancient times if I would have wanted to do that. In modern times, it's easy to blast out the nooks and crannies with compressed air.
• The sight picture does not change when you pull the trigger on a Remington like it does on a Colt.

An even more refined model is the Rogers and Spencer. In addition to the benefits of the Remington, it has generous cutouts for putting caps on the nipples, and it has a boss around the front of the cylinder that helps deflect blast from hitting the arbor and gumming it up.

But ultimately, I doubt it matters much in a gunfight. Everyone probably only gets off a shot or two anyway, and ballistically they all perform about the same. I bet mostly it comes down to the nerve and skill of the guy shooting it.

 

[Stantheman86]

A pair of Colt Pocket Navies .

The best handling revolver I've ever handled , light and easy to pack, and if 5 rounds of .36 doesn't solve the problem I've got 5 more.

I don't need to be walking around with the Big Iron , in the time it takes to get a big .44 or even a Colt Navy out of a belt or holster, I've produced the Pocket Navy and popped off 2 shots already. I've put all 5 in the boiler room of a paper silhouette at 25 yards , the gun is capable and really, the odds of shooting past 10 yards with a revolver are low.

 

[VA Hawken]

Late to the party, but I’ll add in my vote for the 1851 Navy Colt

 

[Bad Karma]

I find the Remington New Model Army to be a more technologically advanced firearm than the open-top design of any of the Colts. Things that I like about the Remington over the Colt:

• Removing the cylinder is super easy. While there are limited documented cases of people carrying extra cylinders, it is certainly possible to do, making the Remington possible to reload relatively quickly. It also makes cleaning easier.
• There is only one screw holding on the grips. This means you can remove one screw, remove the grips, and dunk-clean the gun without any further disassembly. Though I'm not sure in ancient times if I would have wanted to do that. In modern times, it's easy to blast out the nooks and crannies with compressed air.
• The sight picture does not change when you pull the trigger on a Remington like it does on a Colt.

An even more refined model is the Rogers and Spencer. In addition to the benefits of the Remington, it has generous cutouts for putting caps on the nipples, and it has a boss around the front of the cylinder that helps deflect blast from hitting the arbor and gumming it up.

But ultimately, I doubt it matters much in a gunfight. Everyone probably only gets off a shot or two anyway, and ballistically they all perform about the same. I bet mostly it comes down to the nerve and skill of the guy shooting it.

Yeah. Mindset and training far more important factors.