Cap N Ball revolver sound off!

Claven2

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OK, well now that the market's been supplied with inexpensive Cap N Ball Uberti and Pietta revolvers for a little while, I suspect a few of u own and shoot these beauties, yet I see almost no discussion of them.

Let's get the talk going!

What do you have? What do you shoot? What are necessary modifications in your opinion? What accessories work for you and which don't?

IMHO we should not only talk about this, but lobby for a CnB forum :twisted:

Personally I shoot an older Pietta 1860 Army in .44 (ie, not from Marstar - mine's from the 1990's). She's had a few parts replacements like the loading lever (a keeper tab broke on the original) and a new wedge as the original broke hte spring. Of course she's on her 3rd or 4th trigger spring :roll:

I use the Lee .454" round ball mould and shoot pure cast lead (not alloyed).

I use the Pedersoli Colt style powder flask with .44 cal spout to charge and I use crisco as my most often used lube do to the cost and convenience. I also use a thunder ridge nipple wrench. Thunder Ridge is an AWESOME place to buy CnB stuff, by the way.

Necessary mods for me were Treso nipples to better fit CCI 11 caps and a taller front sight to get near POA at 25 yards. Fro a front sight I got my smith to make a duplicate of the original brass sight, only twice as high. Still looks authentic and shoots MUCH better.

For cleaning I do the complete tear down to the last screw and srub with hot soapy water. I towel dry and then put all metal into the oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes with the door left open a crack. While still hot I smear with Crisco for lube and preservation.

Generally for powder I use Hodgdon 3Fg triple 7.

One thing I find invaluable is a hardwood dowel with a cross-bar or spherical handle lathed down at the tip to fit inside a nipple recess. I use this to hard- seat the percussion caps.

Lets hear from some other shooters!
 
Spencer

I shoot an original Rogers & Spencer Army model 44
cap & ball,1865 man. Lots of fun and pretty accurate
for an old boy. :) Regards 375rum
 
2 Uberti 1858 Remington's plus R&D 45LC conversion cylinder
1 Uberti 1861 Navy
1 Colt 2nd Gen 1860 Army

Treso nipples on all of them. Other than that, they all worked just fine out of the box. Use one of the Thunder Ridge loading stands to load the Remmie cylinders out of the gun. Ted Cash cappers all the way. Have a stainless Old Army as well, but am in the process of selling it. Great gun, but not a real replica of anything and a bit heavy. As far as cleaning goes; cylinders go into soapy water and get scrubbed with toothbrush, test-tube brush and pipecleaners; barrel and frame gets wiped clean with Windex/Vinegar/Water solution or Thompson's #13. Everything gets blasted dry with compressed air. Barrel, basepins, and rear of cylinder get coated in Bore Butter, inside of action gets sprayed with Ballistol, outside of everything gets wiped down with Ballistol.

Made a cap-seating tool out of a scratch-awl handle with a piece of 3/16 dowl inserted into it and a 22LR empty set onto the end of the dowl. Remington #10 caps seem to work.

Shoot Pyrodex RS in the Remmies to keep the fouling down. Can make it through 3 stages before I have to wipe the basepins and fronts of the cylinders with Windex/Vinegar/Water solution and relube with Bore Butter. Colts seem to do OK with Goex, but don't get shot as much as the Remmies.
 
I got Pieta Navy from Marstar. Right out of the box cylinder does not index properly. I need new hand that is bit longer. Did not have chance to shoot it jet. Will Marstar going to get into Italian parts for the arms they sale?
 
Cap and ball revolvers

Ok you had to ask, so here goes. I have the following,

one Texas Patterson
one Texas walker
one Dragoon 3rd model
Three 1851 Navys
Two 1861 Navys
Three 1860 Armys
two 1858 Remington
All Uberti. I shoot nothing but 3fff Goex Blackpowder. I lube the guns and chambers with 50/50 bees wax and crisco. most have had the rear hammer sights deepend to shoot to point of aim at twenty feet, for cowboy action shooting. I also load only blackpowder in my cartridge revolvers and they are,
Two 1860 Richard mason coversions
Two 1873 Cattleman
Two 1875 Remington Outlaws
All Uberti
Tomorrow i pick up my latest additions, two Pieatti 1873 Cattleman in stainless steel, white grips, 5.5 barrels, 45 colt.
 
Holy #### Flash pan blue, if I ever make it out to BC, you gotta let me play with at least a few of those :shock: . I own a whack of black powder cartridge revolvers, and used to own an original .36 Colt pocket navy (wish I still did). I have been trying to decide on a new cap and ball piece, but have not yet made up my mind what I want. I had so many gun projects on the go as it was, that I had to complete a few first, before buying any more guns. I am almost caught up, so I will be looking soon.

The Wizard
 
kevin.303 said:
whats the consensus on the Uberti 3rd model Dragoon? planning a christmas present for myself if i get a new job.

Arguably the best of the Dragoon pistols, IMO. Plus it's cut for a shoulder stock, if you can ever find a repro Dragoon stock. I say don't ask questions, just get one!
 
As I nderstand it Pietta makes Dragoon and Walkers, maybe wait a month or so and see if Marstar brings some in at more competitive prices than shooter's Choice wants for the Ubertis.
 
I have Walker repro. I believe it is an early Uberti, but appears only to have reproductions of the colt markings but says made in Italy under the loading lever. The odd thing about this gun is takes .480" balls. The pistol came with a LBT custom .477 twin cavity conical mold that drops pure lead slugs at about 195 grains. I load 55 grains of goex 3F behind it = lotsa smoke = lotsa fun!! :D :D

I clean with soap and hot water and use wonder lube bore butter for lube and rust preventer. I can shoot about 30 to 40 rounds before things tighten up.

I am looking for a used mate for this revolver but have been unsuccesful so far. Can anyone verify that this is truly a Uberti piece. What's up with the .475 bore ?
I would consider an Armi San Marco or Pietta clone if it matched the one I have. I would appreciate comments on the quality of the mentioned manufacturers from someone who has had experience with these walkers.
 
I was just wondering where you guys from around Ottawa, who shoot cap and ball revolvers, get your accessories, including the caps and balls, cleaning kits, powder flasks, and generally all the stuff you need to shoot and maintain these beasts!
 
Stittsville Gun Club

They have a Pro shop which carries all I need....I buy all of my B/P from them and some reloading supplies. I drive 75 miles to go there but their prices are much better than local shops.
 
how about a 1974 version of ruger's OLD ARMY?- ajustable sights in blue- uses the same slugs as in my 45 acp- 30 grains of fff, and either cci or remington 11 caps- i've hit minute of milk jug at 250 yards with this thing- no idea how fast the slug was going as it was a 44 pure lead and there had to be considerable blowby- had one of those cheap brass bullet moulds meant for the italian jobs- of course, you have to lube with golden CRISCO so it leaves a funny stain on the target
 
I've had quite a few different cap and ball revolvers over the years (including Rugers) but my current favorite is an interesting "low-budget commemorative" of sorts. About 30 years ago or so, an organization (Upper Canada Historical Arms Society, I believe) possibly in conjunction with a dealer, came up with a "limited issue" intended to commemorate Canada's first official military handgun - 800 "London Model" 1851 Colt revolvers acquired in 1855-56 for issue to Militia Volunteer Cavalry Troops. Of course at that time it was actually the pre-Confederation Province of Canada, consisting of the two sub-provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Each of the original revolvers was to be stamped on the left grip panel to denote issue in either Upper or Lower Canada ("UC" or "LC"), over a capital letter signifying the particular Troop of issue within that province, over a "rack number" to the maximum of 50 revolvers which could be issued to any one Troop.

The "commemoratives" were Uberti "London Model" Navy revolver repros (blued steel gripstraps and triggerguards, rather than brass, being the most noticeable distinction of that model) each of which was to be stamped on the gripstrap with markings akin to those one of the original revolvers would have received. I acquired one of these "commemorative revolvers" - albeit without any of the documentation which apparently accompanied them - a couple of years ago. Interestingly, the markings on it (UC/A/11) signify issue to the "Frontenac Troop" of Volunteer Cavalry, headquartered at Kingston - in the very area where my Loyalist ancestors settled, and where the family lived throughout the 1800's. Wonder if any of those ancestors ever served in the militia cavalry? :rolleyes:

51navy09.jpg


The background in the photo consists of facsimiles of two original Militia Department documents of the era. On the left is a standard receipt signed (1861) by the commanding officer of one such Troop for the issue of Arms and Accoutrements - it is actually for the "Essex Troop of Volunteer Cavalry (letter 'T')" , but you should be able to make out that the 5th line down in the handwritten list reads "50 Pistols (Colt's Revolving)". The Militia General Order on the right ("Adjutant General's Office, Toronto, 16th May, 1856") is a set of instructions regarding issuance and marking of weapons and accoutrements to militia units generally - but over half of it consists of "directions for loading and cleaning Colt's pistols ... for the information of Officers and Men in the Volunteer Militia Troops of Cavalry." :)
 
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SIGP 2101;
I assume you have not fired it ?? Simply return for replacement....
We already have a large stock of parts for the BP revolvers we sell, as well as a full line of accessories
John
 
Good morning:

We will have a new line of parts and accessories for black powder shooters on our site shortly. This will include flasks, measures, revolver replacement parts, and even display cases.

- Peter
 
johnone said:
SIGP 2101;
I assume you have not fired it ?? Simply return for replacement....
We already have a large stock of parts for the BP revolvers we sell, as well as a full line of accessories
John

Hey John,
thanks for the offer. You right I did not fire it yet but it is easy fixable. I already got couple of hands and with a little bit of honing will index perfectly. I would rather deal wit that than wait for a few weeks for new piece to arrive in. Last time I asked you did not have any parts for BP revolvers in stock. I got mine from US.

It is good to know we can by parts domestically now. THANKS
 
rhs said:
...rear of cylinder get coated in Bore Butter, inside of action gets sprayed with Ballistol, outside of everything gets wiped down with Ballistol.
Who sells bore butter and ballistol in Canada??

thnx

B
 
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