Cap and Ball. Ready to take plunge but...

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yarrum

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I have made up my mind what revolver I would like but I have a couple of questions:

1) Manufacturer. I have decided on a '51 Navy (.36) steel frame. I am planning on getting it from Dixie Gun Works. Is Uberti worth the extra $ 75 over Dixie (Pietta)?

2) Powder. I purchased what I thought was blackpowder the other day but got it home to discover I was sold triple se7en. What load should I start with?
 
Uberti's fit and finish is a bit better. Mechanically not much difference.
Just depends if you want a prettier gun.

Real black powder isn't sold at most stores. You usually have to specifically ask for it. For some reason most stores that do sell it keep it quiet.

Your jug of 777 will work. Reduce the owners manual recommended load about 10% and see how it shoots.
 
The stores around these parts are not allowed by law to keep real black powder on the shelves ...so you have to ask for it ...if they have it they have to store it in a special box in the back room .
Most have quit selling it because of this ..you can always get it on line at a better price anyway .
 
For my money, I would pay the extra $75.00 for the Uberti. Fit and finish is much better in my experience.
 
Yes, the Uberti revolvers are...

very well made and the finish is the best in tne business. I think they are worth the extra money.
 
Many years ago Colt put their name on Uberti..

revolvers and sold them as Colts. We all knew who made them . It was Aldo Uberti Cardone, Italy. They were more expensive than other revolvers but the quality was the same as the Ubertis.
 
snooperman said:
Many years ago Colt put their name on Uberti revolvers and sold them as Colts. We all knew who made them . It was Aldo Uberti Cardone, Italy. They were more expensive than other revolvers but the quality was the same as the Ubertis.
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That is patently false & has been covered on this and other forums.

FM
 
I have several Pietba's and one Uberti. My Uberti happens to be a 51 Navy (36 cal.). I would say that the fit and finish of the Uberti is somewhat better, but I don't enjoy shooting it any more than the Pietta's. My favorite BP revolver is a Pietta 60 Army. If this is your first, I would highly recommend the Pietta 60 Army. I think you would love it and save some $$$. If you enjoy shooting BP revolvers, whatever you buy will probably not be your last.
 
My opinion, though Pietta's quality has risen significantly in recent years, and the Pietta 1860 looks right, the Pietta 1851 doesn't. The gripframe has a pronounced bell flare to the heel, unlike the Colt or Uberti, and feels wrong in the hand. If they would use the shape they put on the Great Western II, it would look right. Otherwise, it's a good gun, and Pietta's color case looks better than Uberti's, whether or not either color case is real.
 
snooperman said:
revolvers and sold them as Colts. We all knew who made them . It was Aldo Uberti Cardone, Italy. They were more expensive than other revolvers but the quality was the same as the Ubertis.
Click to expand...
When is this myth going to die? Your statement could not be more incorrect.

Pietta vs Uberti fit and finish, ten years ago Uberti was superior, today it's very close. It's my experience that Pietta has a better fit and Uberti has a better finish.
 
Six one,half a dozen the other, anymore.Pietta has come a long long way.the innards of the Uberti will mostly swap with real Colts,the Piettas mostly won't,because the parts on the Piettas are physically larger [the hand and spring for instance] which makes the Pietta more robust.I think Uberti's fit and finish are marginally better,but the Piettas are tougher.
 
dont get a .36 grab a .44 1851 best beginners gun there is. and the .44 has little or no recoil i mean my 22 mag has more recoil, its not bad at all
 
51 Navy

The "Who really made it" statement, correctly countered by Fingers McGee and madcratebuilder, is subject to clarification once again.

Although Uberti made some parts for the 2nd gen Colts, and others, including Uberti, and ASM, maybe Pietta, made parts for the 3rd gen Colts, they were fit and finished in the USA. The 2nd gen in New Jersey by Iver Johnson and Louis and Anthony Imperato for Colt, and they made the frames, center pins, nipples and screws in the USA.

The 3rd gen by the "Colt Black Powder Arms" of Brooklyn, N.Y., (Not a division of Colt) produced the 3rd gen Signature Series reproductions. This company was also organized by Louis and Anthony Imperato. Again many parts were supplied from Italy, but many parts were American made, and all assembly, fit and finishing was done in the USA.

On the other point:

I will agree that the Pietta has some larger parts, the hand is, for one, but being more robust might be questioned. Pietta steel is noticably softer than Uberti's. In cutting a forcing cone with a Brownell's tool, the Pietta barrels cut like they were made of aluminum. The Pietta hand, as made for the Remington, will not stand up to the hard steel of the R&D or Kirst conversion cylinder.
 
I agree with RC Flints statment on grip differences. I prefer the Uberti and ASM grips as they are similar to the SAA which they were patterned after.
 
dont get a .36 grab a .44 1851 best beginners gun there is. and the .44 has little or no recoil i mean my 22 mag has more recoil, its not bad at all
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I wouldn't call it that low. But there's no doubt that black powder produces a longer and lower max impact than smokeless powder does by a long shot. Shooting .457 balls from my .44's has a recoil very similar to or only slightly stronger than .38Spl from a 6 inch barrel K frame S&W. But it's a LONGER push than the .38Spl. And shooting .36 C&B from my experience just today is sort of like shooting .38Spl wadcutter target loads.
 
If you're going to get an 1851, get it in the original caliber: .36.
In .44 caliber, the cylinder won't hold as much powder as other designs originally made for the .44 caliber.

The only advantage to getting a .44 in the 1851 Model is the ready availability of slightly oversized balls of .454 and .457 inch.
The loading manuals have preached the use of .451 inch balls for decades, but a slightly oversized ball of .454 or .457 inch works better.

In the .36, only the .375 inch balls is readily available. Actually, it's best to use balls of .378 or .380 inch. Alas, these sizes of balls are not readily found and almost always have to be ordered from the internet.

There are sound reasons for using balls slightly larger than the factory recommendation of .375 or .451 inch.
Ramming the oversized ball down into the chamber creates a wider bearing band around the ball. This helps the ball cling more to the chamber walls, resisting movement from the recoil of other chambers.
The rammed ball also provides a wider area for the rifling to grip, offering better obturation and likely aiding accuracy.

As for make: I'd go with Uberti. The Ubertis have slightly deeper rifling grooves than other makes, which probably means they shrug off the effects of accuracy-robbing fouling buildup.
I have both Pietta and Uberti guns. Both are fine but my Uberti Remington 1858 .44 is amazingly accurate: 6 balls into a 1.5-inch circle at 25 yards from a benchrest.
My Pietta-made .36 won't quite do as well.
But then, every firearm is an individual and it may be attributable to that.
Whatever you buy, avoid brass frames. Not only are such revolvers more prone to wear with full loads, most brass-framed revolvers are not as finely fit or finished as their steel counterparts, even from the same maker.
 
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