Shot my 1860 Army today. First time.

[jgh4445]

Cast 50 .454 balls of pure lead and went to shoot. First 5 shots were so-so..the cylinder was a bit stiff and one cap hung up and stopped everything. The 6th shot was a dry ball...wouldn't ya know it. Got that cleared up, loosened the wedge pin a smidge and shot another 44 in a row without a hitch. Its a great revolver! (Uberti) It likes the Rem #10 caps as well as the Vorderlader-Zundhutchen ( German?) #1075's. It shot about 8 inches high at 15 yards with the 25gr spout on the flask. I was using Swiss 3F. Also used lubed felt wads over the powder. Didn't try the 30 gr spout cause I didn't have it with me. I'll go back again and try with 30 gr and see what the difference, if any, is. Then I suppose I'll have to try 2F...then Goex in 2 and 3F....doncha just hate to have to shoot so much to see what a gun likes??? Gonna be a while before i get brave enough to do any filing on the hammer rear sight. Might just have to order a spare hammer if I get to that point. Now, what about that R&D conversion cylinder? How 'bout an 1872 open top? This is gonna get addicting.......

 

[towboat_er]

But oh what fun it is.

 

[Pancho]

jgh, just a precaution, Uberti has, in the past, not done a very good job of staking the loading lever latch. Don't do what I did and shot my first five cylinders over tall grass, that's right I lost it and it cost me about $10 to replace the part. I added a dab of JB weld and staked it with a center punch. So far so good.

 

[jgh4445]

Thanks for the heads up Pancho. I'll tend to it.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Mine shoots about that high at 15 yards, too. I have tried it out to 50 yards and it still shoots pretty high. Supposedly they are dead on at 75+ yards, but I'll believe it when I see it. The ball is going to have to drop a lot in another 25 yds to hit POA.

Still, mine is very accurate. The ragged hole above the gun was the first five shots out of the box. Load was 30 grains (using a 30 grain spout on the flask) of Goex 3Fg, Hornady .454 round ball, and Wonder Lube over the ball.

 

[jgh4445]

Hammer, Did you take the shiny stuff offf of the grips? Yours look really good. If you did, how? Good shootin by the way!

 

[Hammerdown77]

Mine were like that out of the box. They weren't shiny. It's like a red stain they put on them.

 

[J-Bar]

Larger powder charges increase chamber pressure, and that can result in more cap fragments being blown back off the nipples and into the action. That is why a lot of us replace the factory nipples, which have comparatively large flash holes with nipples that have smaller holes, to reduce back blast. 30 grains can be a lot of fun, just be prepared to dig some cap fragments out of the hammer and action.

 

[towboat_er]

Great looking pistol.

 

[jgh4445]

JBar...I had already ordered the stainless nipples from track. Hope they work as well as the guy at track said they would.

 

[MCgunner]

Mine shoots about that high at 15 yards, too. I have tried it out to 50 yards and it still shoots pretty high. Supposedly they are dead on at 75+ yards, but I'll believe it when I see it. The ball is going to have to drop a lot in another 25 yds to hit POA.

All Colt copies shoot high. I've never tried mine at 75 either. It's a brasser navy and I load it under 25 grains. It's a .44 as was my previous Navy that I over-loaded and shot loose years ago. I now keep it mild. I'm thinkin' the milder loads would drop enough, I just haven't tried it. I adjust my sight picture to compensate at short ranges.

In mo way does my Pietta '51 shoot groups as good as the above, though. THAT is excellent! I get about 3+" groups with the 7" barrel on my Navy and 5+ with the 5". Ain't great, but it's fun. My '58 Remington 5.5" shoots lights out more accurate and is more fun for me. It actually shoots POA with 30 grains equivalent Pyrodex P and .454 ball. Every gun is different, I suppose.

I really like the rounded look of the '60 Army and think it MIGHT be my next Colt copy/cap and ball revolver. They just look so studly. The Navy is cool, but the octagon barrel doesn't have that smooth rounded look I kinda like. If I were going to put a BP on the wall for display, I think a brace of 60 Armies is about as good as it gets.

 

[Noz]

If the position of the wedge causes binding between the barrel and the cylinder then you need to read Pettifoggers instructions on tuning a Uberti. The arbor in your gun is too short.

 

[Hammerdown77]

You know, I have a question about the wedge on my gun. Mine is a Pietta, and the arbor is the correct length. I haven't yet put 100 rounds through the gun, so it's pretty new. The wedge will now go all the way in and stop with the "ledge" on the bottom of the wedge against the side of the barrel.

Is it supposed to easily go all the way in like that? I don't remember it being like that when I first got it, but it might have and I just didn't notice. It doesn't look battered or anything.

 

[MCgunner]

It should go in until the little clip thing protrudes, no further. New wedges are over-size and you file 'em to fit.

Sounds like you may have a problem with the arbor pulling out or something. That don't sound right to me. I'll let others with more experience give you the REAL skinny as I've fitted only one wedge and it's a little over filed, really need to get another wedge and try again.

 

[junkman_01]

If your barrel assy. has no play to the frame, you do not have a problem.

 

[chicharrones]

Mine were like that out of the box. They weren't shiny. It's like a red stain they put on them.

My Pietta 1860 is the same. Just a nice stain.

I'm sure in time, mine will turn dark from hand oils and dirt.

 

[chicharrones]

This is gonna get addicting.......

It sure is fun! Yesterday at the local outdoor range, everyone was shooting the usual modern smokeless autoloaders (which I have as well) and all people were talking about was me shooting my Pietta 1860 and another guy many benches away firing a .62 cal flint lock pistol. You could hear our "booms" surrounding all the "bams". The smoke was awesome.

 

[straight-shooter]

The clip on the wedge should not protrude through the other side. The proper way is the wedge should come up flush with the other side only and no further. This would be a proper fitting wedge. The clips only purpose is so the wedge doesn't come out of the gun when pulled to release the barrel.

I purchased a Uberti 1860 unfired and unfortunately the wedge pushes all the way through with not much resistance but at least it does lock up the barrel tight so no ill effects.

My Uberti Dragoon on the other hand has a perfectly fitting wedge as described above.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Hammer, Did you take the shiny stuff offf of the grips? Yours look really good. If you did, how? Good shootin by the way!

It's the Uberti's that have the red shiny shellac finish. It's a very quick and easy fix and I've taken the finish off all of my Ubertis and they all look MUCH better in my opinion.

Go get some ZipStrip, take the grips off and simply remove the finish. It takes a grand total of about 30-45 minutes. After that I wash em and do nothing but simply oil with Ballistol.

It's super easy and makes for a much better looking pistol for little effort.

Here's a before and after of my 1860 Army conversion.

Did the same to my Uberti 1851 Navy in this pic. Just so you can see how they look with the finish removed and nothing but oil in the natural wood.

 

[junkman_01]

The top two pics are of a 1860 Army conversion, not a 1873.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Oops, yep, that's what I meant. I'll change it.

That's what happens when I post right before sleep!