My 1878 Colt

Canuck44

Canuck44

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Terrace, B.C.
tokguy said:
This conversation is a bit Tangential to this sub forum; but it is an interesting deviation none-the-less.
I 'think' it's spot on. My GF's son is LEO, a CO. He knows nothing of the Antique Game, actually a cool young guy...can't wait to pull out the 41 when he comes out. But he is ignorant of the rules...( Think 'First rule of Fight Club...' ) hence the first rule is caution around Fish Cop's...because that is who we will run across whilst wearing one. 41 LC is a tad weak for most Apex predators... better than rocks and sticks though.
Expensive loophole, but cool. If they close it..." Sold it to a fella, don't remember his name..." which is fair. Who records the names of people you have sold to? You check the PAL/RPAL, do the exchange and continue on with life.
Which Colt are you rocking anyhow? It pretty much has to be a Colt IMO
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I have my Great Grand Dads 1878 Colt DA in .41LC. I also have acquired over time the three Ideal molds for the 41. I have the mold for the lighter .41 Short Colt, the heel based mold and the hollow based mold for the l41 Long Colt. Up until now I have been making .41 LCbrass out of 38spl cases. My gunsmith just gave me about 100 pieces of Starline brass. It has to be shortened if I want to use the heek based bullets. In my gun they are more accurate than the hollow based bullets. The latter would likely work better using black powder. Right now I just use a light load of smokeless. I use Less liquid alox for lube. I use a Lee Factory die for my heel based bullets. Lee, contrary to what their present techinician says used to make a 386 FCD for the 41LC....I have one.

Lets take this discussion to the Antique Section and let these folks deal with "Concealed Carry" amd their quest for the Holly Grail.

Take Care

Bob
ps I will start a new thread using your question as a base.
 
Just some further info on my Colt. Great Grand dad acquired the revolver before 1898 as my Grand dad Irwin, as a boy shot robins with it near and around Nelson BC between 1898 and 1904. Since 1904 I know the gun, up until I acquired it has less than 150 rds shot through it. Since Grand Dad's death in 1962 I have put about 200 rds through it. All but a hand full have been cartridges made by me since coming up to Terrace in 2002. I have about six loaded original .41 LC balloon head cartridges left over from Grandpa's era which will remain un-shot.

The gun is accurate enough. My smith cleaned up the trigger a bit for me but it remains an early Colt with, by today's standards pretty rough, heavy and long. Still, not a bad shooter. At close range it will stop or slow down a Black Bear/cat. Anything larger and I am afraid the sixth one would be for me. LOL

I am now looking for a 1892 with a useable trigger mechanism etc for a pet project I have.

PM me tokguy your phone number. I have some questions to ask you offline.

Take Care

Bob
 
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I have a colt 1877 in .41. Everything I read said the heel base mold is the way to go. The old 1877s had paper thin chamber walls so I'm not brave enough to try smokeless in em!
 
playkation said:
I have a colt 1877 in .41. Everything I read said the heel base mold is the way to go. The old 1877s had paper thin chamber walls so I'm not brave enough to try smokeless in em!
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I have the 1888 .41LC Colt in a six inch barrel. Using the 194gr heel based bullet over 3.3 gr of Unique is a light safe load in the gun. Out to 15 yards the gun is minute of man which is about what those old guns managed. I also have the lighter Ideal mold for the .41Short Colt but the bullet, a heel based design, does not shoot as well. The Ideal hollow based has not performed near as well as the 194 gr bullet but I must admit I have not shot alot of those out of the gun. I worry more about the forcing cone than I do the cylinder walls frankly. Keep the load light and your gun will always be a fun plinker.

I don't think Colt ever did decide on the dimensions of the .41LC. Case length varied as did cylinder throats, barrel bore and cylinder length. Fun to load for though.

Take Care

Bob
 
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I've got an 1878 in 45LC, 7.5" barrel, nickel finish. It is 205MD stamped on the lower left frame.

I'm not into loading black powder, so I'm wondering if there is any light load recommendations anyone may have using maybe, Unique, Bullseye, 2400, etc etc.??

Bullet recommendations? Just lead.
 
Koldt my 'smith tells me the frames on those old early Colts are not much particularly strong. I have a load for my .41LC that likely would not hurt your gun but you risk cracking the forcing cone or cylinders. I personally would not do it. PM me if you want the load.

Take Care

Bob
 
Canuck44 said:
Koldt my 'smith tells me the frames on those old early Colts are not much particularly strong. I have a load for my .41LC that likely would not hurt your gun but you risk cracking the forcing cone or cylinders. I personally would not do it. PM me if you want the load.

Take Care

Bob
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This is my first, one and only black powder gun. I will heed your advise. I've got one or two other pistols I can shoot. The previous owner gave me some 45C brass. Figured I'd try it out. But maybe not and just leave it hung on the wall.
 
Well Paul I got a bunch of brass from our 'smith in Kitimat. We will have to discuss loading up some of them with either my heel based 195 or the slightly lighter hollow based ones. You donate some coal and we can load up enough rds to complete an IDPA match. I am NOT going to SO you again though. I still have smoke,dust and crap in my lungs from that steel shoot a few years back. :>)

Take Care

Bob
 
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