A nice pair....

[targa911S]

I have started collecting frontier replica pistols that are converted to cartridge. I had the 1851 Colt Navy for a while...chambered in .38 special. It is a Uberti for Cimarron 8" octagon barrel..





This week I got an 1871 Colt open top with Army grips. A Uberti for Taylors .38 special 8" round barrel..





the pair...




Both are wonderful to shoot! An 1858 Remington is in my future...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

How do they shoot compared to a modern gun? Adjusted the lighting a little to get a better look.

[daepp]

Oh, my bad, I thought this was the music thread...

[targa911S]

Shaun they are actually nicer to shoot than my modern guns. Actually these are modern from the manufacturing stand point but built to old specs. They are well balanced and easy to shoot one handed. They are heavy so very little felt recoil. The 51 has an adjustable sight. Actually the 51 is a movie gun. It's the same gun Eastwood carried in all the spaghetti westerns. It is marketed from Uberti as "The Man With No Name " pistol as Eastwoods character had no name in those movies. The 71 has the old school fixed sights. They both shoot about a 2" patten at 30 feet.

[herr_oberst]

I'm intrigued by how well these 4 pieces join together. (Probably 3, but for the sake of argument let's just say 4 pieces)

Beautiful craftsmanship......

[targa911S]

it's 4. Yes VERY high craftsmanship. The grips are 1 piece as well. Actually 3 pieces glued together and then fit to the frame.

[sc_rufctr]

I love these old revolvers. I fired one years ago and the first thing that struck me is how easy they are to use.
The heavy barrel off sets the recoil and they just work. Whoever designed these knew what it was like to actually use a pistol in the real world.

[targa911S]

The perfect assessment. Plus Taylors buys from Uberti and then tunes them to perfection. They both shoot smoothly but the Taylors is just perfection. I don't think Cimarron does that. They just import them with their name on the box and barrel. Uberti makes a fine gun on it's own, Taylors just makes it better. Kinda like RUF or AMG.

[sc_rufctr]

[74-911]

Targa (Dave) :

Don't mean to hi-jack your thread but as you are the expert in these matters I have question for you. I have a Euroarms Brescia 1851 Navy I bought in the early 70's which I used to shoot regularly but has been hanging on walls for probably the past 25 years.

The last couple of times I had it out it was very difficult to load as the cylinder stop was not retracting enough on half-cock to allow the cylinder to spin freely. I had to really manipulate the hammer by hand to free the cyclinder to rotate to load.

Question: Is this a difficult repair assuming part(s) are required and available? I considered taking it apart but I really don't want to bugger up any of the screws which is a distinct probability. Any guidance would be appreciated.
thanks,
Jack

[targa911S]

Hey Jack. A "proper" set of screwdrivers is a must, but you can grind one to the proper size of the screws. They are all
the same size. Remove the 3 on the bottom and the one in the heel of the backstrap. The trigger guard will come off then.You may as well take the whole backstop off as you will have to reset the hammer spring. Black powder is really nasty stuff as you know and I think a good cleaning and lube of the stop and the return spring will get you back up and running. There is a screw that holds the return spring plate in. Make sure that is tight as well. Hope that helps. If you get stuck, PM me. If you REALLY get stuck send it to me. It's back powder. BATF doesn't care if you ship it to me. They don't consider it a weapon. I'm a licensee anyway.

[targa911S]

exploded view for ya...
# 27 and #28 are your culprits.

[Taz's Master]

There's a: " Taylor's & Co. 1892 Takedown model in 357mag. It has a 24" octagonal barrel, decent wood and very nice color case hardened finish." for sale on The High Road. Looks like just the thing to make that nice pair a lovely trio.

[jarrodblake]

I have a set of 1851 Navys that I rebuilt last year, fig navy 36 cal revolver italy xxiv made in 1968 that is apart in the pic. The other is a 1851 44 cal revolver italy xx8 made in 1972. I bought all the replacement parts off of ebay. That said You may have to mill them or fill them down to fit them to your make. But they are ez to rebuild.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Hey Jack. A "proper" set of screwdrivers is a must, but you can grind one to the proper size of the screws. They are all
the same size. Remove the 3 on the bottom and the one in the heel of the backstrap. The trigger guard will come off then.You may as well take the whole backstop off as you will have to reset the hammer spring. Black powder is really nasty stuff as you know and I think a good cleaning and lube of the stop and the return spring will get you back up and running. There is a screw that holds the return spring plate in. Make sure that is tight as well. Hope that helps. If you get stuck, PM me. If you REALLY get stuck send it to me. It's back powder. BATF doesn't care if you ship it to me. They don't consider it a weapon. I'm a licensee anyway.

Dave,
Really appreciate the response and the exploded view. Will scrounge up some screwdrivers to grind down when I get a chance and see what's up. I knew my automotive type screw drivers would royally mess up the screws. It had been hanging on the wall so long I had kind of forgotten about it until this thread. Definitely a great looking "pair" you have accumulated, the workmanship really shows.

I suspect one of those two parts you point out is defective as when the hammer is about 1/2 way to half-cock the stop is completely down but when the hammer reaches half-cock the stop pops back up.

thanks again....

[targa911S]

The cool part I think about my two is that they shoot cartridges. So easy to load and just fun to shoot. Thanks for the lead Taz. Yes the rifles are next. There are a ton of parts for the BP ones on Ebay Jack if you need parts that is the place to go.I think you will find it is not defective but either loose spring plate or crudded up.

[Jeff Higgins]

Very cool stuff. I've been kinda tossing around the idea of picking up one of the 1851 Navy conversions. One of the best balanced revolvers Colt ever made.

[targa911S]

I was waiting for you to weigh in Jeff. You would like either one of these as shooters.