Any One Here Shoot Percussion Revolvers?

[Wyatt Burp]

I've had a blast with my sleek Ubert 1860 Army .44 and just picked up this 2nd model Dragoon. I wanted one of these specific sixguns because they were so popular around here during the California gold rush. Bandits would pack these in pairs with extras in pommel holsters and the three books pictured here have endless examples of these guns being used in wild gunfights in the 1850's. These guns are of superb quality. The Dragoon has no markings or unsightly proofmarks visable anywhere except under the loading lever. Time to make a slim jim for it.

 

[Muley Gil]

I got my first one in 1969, at the age of 15. It was a brass frame Navy Arms .44. Since then, I've had several Remington 1863 .44s, a Colt 1860 .44, a 1862 Police .36, a 1849 Pocket .31, and a Ruger stainless Old Army.

Someday I hope to get a Dragoon.

They're all fun!!

 

[arjay]

My very first gun was a navy .36 nearly 40 years ago.Had a lot of fun with it.

 

[feralmerril]

I started out with a matched pair of .36 replica navys in the 60s. They were a lot of fun. I never shot these colts that were made my colt back in the 1970s. They were U.S. Cavary commemertives. Wish I still had em! I do own the original Remington new model army. Someone long before me had it reblued and put on the old king red post front sight and squared up the hog wallow rear. It shoots as well as any modern revolvers I have if you take your time with it.

 

[Evil Dog]

Always loved the 1861 Navy (yes, 1861, not 1851).

 

[Qball]

Shure, i have some to
Two Remington 1858 .44 (copies) 5" barrels
and a Colt 1860 .44 (also a clone) just under 3" barrel.
Lots of fun when at the range

 

[feralmerril]

Muley mentioned a ruger old army. I had one too. Here is a old favorite picture taken many years ago at night around a campfire. I am on the right and my buddy bill is examining my ruger. The red head is a old close friend, carrie becker. He was feeling ill at the picture. Something he ate. That picture is close to 40 years ago!

 

[Stevie]

I just bought a third model Dragoon myself.

Also own a stainless Pietta 1858 Rem clone..and a Pietta .36 Navy...plus an older Navy Arms .44 Navy.

Have owned a few others in the past.

Tips for your new Dragoon...use .457 balls(other sizes too small)...will hold roughly 50gr powder by volume...40-45gr is about right for lead balls...less than maybe 35gr..and the rammer may not be able to seat the ball to the powder without an under-ball wad.

My rammer-lever would drop under recoil with all but the lightest loads...very little spring tension on the latch. I took the latch apart..and made a spacer to fit under the spring in the lever cavity..this puts enough tension on the spring to hold the lever up with all but the stoutest loads.

Will probably shoot high..my new Dragoon does. I guess this is more or less normal according to what other Walker and Dragoon gurus have told me. The old originals being sighted similiar. Pistol combat range must have been much longer in the golden days of mounted Dragoon soldiers/Cavalry....Mine is about dead on at 60-80 yards with a roundball and 40gr powder!!

Mine is good on the windage..and I've learned to aim about a foot low at normal pistol ranges.

 

[Doc Mark]

Morning, Wyatt Burp, and All,

I love flintlocks best of all, but do have a few percussion pistols laying around, from back when we first got into this stuff. For nipple guns, I have a Lyman Great Plains pistol, in .54 caliber. Not to period correct, but lots of fun to shoot, and not bad in the accuracy department. Next up, a Ruger Stainless Old Army, which I got in almost new condition, for around $200, and which has been a real joy to shoot. I built a nice little folding oak stand for it, which made reloading it very easy, and always enjoyed shooting it, and am still very glad to have it. Then, we got my wife a Navy Arms Kentucky pistol, in it's original walnut display case, again for a very nice price, and we still have it. I bought a flint lock for it, and will one day turn it into a rock gun, which would please her no end! Last, we come to my most favorite of them all: An Uberti Colt Paterson revolver, with it's loading tool, which I bought NIB, back before we got out of doing the mountain man thing, and into Colonial times. Oh MAN, is that a sweet-shooting, and lovely little gun, or what!!?!! If you take care of it, and clean the barrel after every five shots, it will put all shots into a quarter-sized hole at 25 yards, all day long! Every person who has shot it, has fallen in love with it, and Uberti got the Paterson styling down just right, unlike the Pietta, and a few others, which are nothing like the original Paterson Colts. By far, this little popper is my most favorite cap gun and I doubt that any other will come along to replace it in my heart!! The only thing is that, unless you wipe it down after shooting it, that lovely charcoal bluing will capture any fingerprints that have been left on it, and you ain't getting them off, either, after that! (Don't ask me how I know about this.......SHEESH!!)

Hearty congrats on your new shooters, and many thanks for sharing them with us here. There used to be a great leather worker in Banning, CAn maned J.D. Varnell, that did some fantastic "Slim Jim" holsters for such guns, and I was lucky enough to get him to make me one for my Paterson. Don't know if he's still around, but if you would like, I can make a few calls and find out. I can also take a few photos of my Paterson and it's rig from Varnell. Let me know, and I'll give it out of the safe. Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[Wyatt Burp]

My 1860 shoots about a foot high at 15 yards or so. I was blasting a plastic jug floating in an irrigation ditch and aimed low and hit it but sure wish they had higher front sights.
And Merrill, I've seen that calvary set for sale recently for $1200 if I remember correctly.
Doc Mark. I'd love to have a Patterson repro. You should post a picture of it. I'll be making a slim jim for my Dragoon. Made ome for a Gren 1860 .44 Special conversion that fits my percussion gun just fine, of course.

 

[NKJ nut]

Yes, I love percussion revolvers. In fact they are my favorite type of black powder gun.

BTW, I love the pics of your revolvers but those books really get me excited

 

[Doc Mark]

My 1860 shoots about a foot high at 15 yards or so. I was blasting a plastic jug floating in an irrigation ditch and aimed low and hit it but sure wish they had higher front sights.
And Merrill, I've seen that calvary set for sale recently for $1200 if I remember correctly.
Doc Mark. I'd love to have a Patterson repro. You should post a picture of it. I'll be making a slim jim for my Dragoon. Made ome for a Gren 1860 .44 Special conversion that fits my percussion gun just fine, of course.

Hi, WB,

Great rig you put together for your own pistol! Well done! yes, the Paterson Colts from Uberti are a true joy to own and shoot, and I recommend them very highly. Stick with the Uberti-made Patersons, and you will be VERY happy, indeed. I will try to dig mine out of the safe, soon, and snap some pics of it, and it's holster. Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Yes, I love percussion revolvers. In fact they are my favorite type of black powder gun.

BTW, I love the pics of your revolvers but those books really get me excited

Gold Dust And Gun Smoke is my favorite book. The author was a regular on "Wild West Tech" where previously unknown Ca. gunfights were finally brought to light. I've visited many places described in these books, before and after I read it. In 1866 a posse member killed three stage robbers with four shots from a Henry rifle up by Nevada City. I packed a lunch and a Colt and hiked to the exact revine where he surprised the three hiding out and they went for their sixguns. Highway 49 goes right through many of these violent old bloodsoaked towns.

 

[growr]

I shoot cap and ball revolvers (1860 Armies) in SASS matches all of the time and have a blast. Had to learn from the Canadians at the State
SASS Championship here in Montana how to make them reliable. Now that I have that down it is rare for a gun to misbehave.

I have also found that REAL blackpowder for whatever reasons is far more consistent the synthetics.

Can any eagle eyed member explain WHY this is the case?

I changed the nipples from original to ones made by Treso and use Remington #10 caps as they go on and seat fully with ease and also STAY on after firing which was a HUGE improvement for me.
I no longer put any grease over the ball as a sealant, but instead use a wonderwad and then seat a .454 ball that when being seated is shaving off a small ring of lead thus sealing the cylinder....no more grease running all over my pants and holsters!!

On occasion I will use some ClearShot formed pellets that are 30 gr of FFFG. These are SO nice to use! Drop a pellet into the cylinder seat a ball and you are DONE!

I also have quit using a lubricant on the cylinder spindle as the Canadians were showing me that the gear attract way too much crud and soot.

Many times now, I can do a 12 stage match without gunking up and having to clean the spindle not that it is a big deal mind you, just nice.

Maybe some of this will work for you guys as well!

Randy

 

[LAKOTA169]

I have one revolver I got back in the '60's. Used to shoot it a lot, but it's been years since I shot it last. Got more into the muzzleloading long guns. I do have a couple of front loading pistols.
Made the belt and holster back in the early 70's.

 

[Mike1957]

Nothing like the smell of real black powder. Until you have clean up the mess.
The 1858 Remington is the one that gets shot the most. But all of them are fun.

Pietta 1861 Navy .36

Le Mat .44 Pietta

1847 Walker Uberti

Star DA .44 Pietta

1858 Remington Pietta

Cartridge conversion guns are a lot of fun as well. This one is an Uberti 1851 Navy conversion in .38 Special. Mostly use light .38 reloads with Red Dot. But once in a while I`ll load a few .38s with black powder for it.

Single shot muzzleloads are a lot of fun.
A couple of T/Cs. A .45 Hawken rifle and a Patriot pistol. Both are very accurate. More than half of the deer I`ve even got were taken with that Hawken rifle. Was a Christmas gift from my folks back in 77.

 

[mkk41]

Been a percussion revolver shooter since watching The Outlaw Josey Wales when it first came out. Still my favorite movie! Soon got a brass framed 1858 Remington copy , and actually distorted the brass frame trying to ram a ball on too much powder. Replaced that with a Ruger Old Army , which I still have , as well as a second Old Army with factory brass Dragoon grip frame. A reissue-series Walker and Signature-series 1860 round out my smokewagons.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Been a percussion revolver shooter since watching The Outlaw Josey Wales when it first came out. Still my favorite movie! Soon got a brass framed 1858 Remington copy , and actually distorted the brass frame trying to ram a ball on too much powder. Replaced that with a Ruger Old Army , which I still have , as well as a second Old Army with factory brass Dragoon grip frame. A reissue-series Walker and Signature-series 1860 round out my smokewagons.

That's a great assortment, Mike 1957. Mkk41, I just watched Josie Wales while waiting for the Dragoon to show up. Other movies that feature percussion sixguns in action realistically is "Ned Kelly" with Heath Ledger. It's worth watching just to see the guns in use. "Ride With The Devil" is pretty good but with a sanitized Lawrence, Ks. raid and brass framed Remington's which I think didn't exist. And Gettysburg, of course.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

I had a .44 caliber 1858 Remington (Navy Arms?) that I used to shoot - until I had a chain fire and discharged 4 rounds at once. That my friends, is interesting! No damage was done to the revolver, but I decided to stick to the modern firearms after that incident.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I had a .44 caliber 1858 Remington (Navy Arms?) that I used to shoot - until I had a chain fire and discharged 4 rounds at once. That my friends, is interesting! No damage was done to the revolver, but I decided to stick to the modern firearms after that incident.

Regards,

Dave

We were watching a shootout at Calico, Ca., an old ghost mining town , and this guy was shooting a '58 Remington from behind a wagon and I noticed he had a chainfire like you experienced, but without lead balls. He then just rolled over and "died". I think he was supposed to survive since he was the law but the chainfire changed the script. It was interesting seeing this happen at the exact time you wouldn't want it to happen, in a gunfight!