Need Help Shooting 1871 SA "Navy"

[Redcoat3340]

I shoot mostly pistol. 9 & 45 with some .380 and 32 acp.

I shoot okay considering my 7+-decade old eyes and I ain't as steady on my pins as I used to be.

But I get most of them at least in the 9 ring at 10 & 12 yards.

I shoot revolvers almost as well, but not quite. Usually a 38/44, 15-3 and 10-6, with a bit of 38 S&W ala a Perfected and Terrier.

I'm having a bit of trouble with a Uberti 38 sp 1860 Open Top.

Great honking 8" barrel and smallish grips. All that weight up front throws me off as does the grip.

What am I doing wrong?

I can barely get four fingers on the grip and my off hand doesn't feel right (the pinky kinda dangles) with a two handed hold.

At 7 yards they're mostly in the black at least, but I have no confidence in the gun and not having any fun.

I could sell/trade the gun, it was an impulse buy and I wanted to have a SA "cowboy" type revolver. I picked up a Pietta 1873 38/357 that looks a lot more manageable but haven't had it to the range yet.

Suggestions?

 

[JayFramer]

You should be able to fit a set of Uberti made 1860 Army grips to eem... those are a bit longer, thems is, and should fit on the navy frame and visa versa.

 

[vonn]

Heavy guns require you to be stronger and I dry practice to keep that level up. Getting old is a pain.

 

[warren5421]

Contact VTI or a local SASS club and see if you can get an 1860 Army grip frame, trigger guard, grips and a hammer spring. Change it out and you will find out your hand will fit fine.

 

[2152hq]

"...What am I doing wrong?...."

I don't think you personally are doing anything wrong. The gun is just way muzzle heavy and the grip doesn't happen to fit you.

The small caliber leaves a lot of metal in the cylinder and bbl vs. a 44 or 45 cal version which are much lighter weight. Same idea as 38-44 HeavyDuty and the same gun in 44sp.

That extra long bbl doesn't help. A 5" is a nice length on those.

Many find the orig '51 Navy style grip small and opt for the longer 1860 style grip frame which I believe is offered on the Cimmaron marked (Uberti mfg) OpenTop repro.

So I'd say it's a matter of do you like it enough to put up with it as it is,,or do you send it down the road and buy another of the same model but in 44 or 45 with bbl length and grip you desire.

I wouldn't put extra $$ into it modifying it like shortening the bbl or changing over the grip frame/tg and grips. It'll still be heavy compared to a larger cal version of the same.
Plus the grip frame and trigger guard parts usually come as castings or partially finished oversize castings that have to be fitted and then finished as well as the grips. I don't know how much of that work you would do or want to do on the gun.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Tips for Cap and ball shooting:

I have a couple of 1860 Army a Remington New Army and 3 Walkers, all 44 and all reproductions.

I don't cast round ball, I buy Hornady .457's for ball to ball consistency. Make sure the black powder charge is either the same volume or the same weight, never assume either or especially both! Real Black Powder is a smelly pain to clean compared to smokeless, but nothing else ignites like BP! BP gives the best velocity and consistant velocity of any powder for C&B guns.

Pyrodex is just as big of pain to clean and just as corrosive as BP, but can be shipped because it is actually a very bad verity of smokeless! I like American Pioneer, no sulfur!, but very hydroscopic, so it can be cleaned with smoke solvent or hot soapy water!

Lastly building exercise. I had a stroke, and during rehab they said NO SHOOTING! I went along and in 6 weeks they cleared me for shooting. But while it was off limits, I put the plastic ring back in my Ruger Vaquero to dry fire. (Snap-Caps or fired cases work great too!) I would raise the gun at the TV every commercial and one handed cock and fire aimed shots for the entire commercial, at the next commercial I would do the same with the other hand. Great build up for wrist, thumb, forearm, and biceps. Six weeks of that and Those parts of my body were in great shape!
DO NOT DRY-FIRE ANY CAP AND BALL REVOLVER! YOU WILL QUICKLY CRUSH THE NIPPLES!!!

Ivan