Appalachiannative
Member
Why exactly are brass frame BP revolvers made? I've been told they are historically inaccurate and as far as I know steel is cheaper than brass, or at least I think it is.
Oh ok so it's kinda like my traditions deer hunter. Only thing historically accurate is that fact that it shoots black powder with a cap1. They are less expensive (Dixie GW: 1858 steel $450 / brass $295 currently) and so appeal to a wider audience! $$$
RH0489 Dixie Pietta Remington New Model Army Revolver (dixiegunworks.com)
RH0875 PIETTA M1858 REMINGTON TEXAS REV .44C (dixiegunworks.com)
2. Since some Confederate revolvers WERE made of metals other than steel, they can be marketed as "REB" variations even if not being a reproduction of a specific original model.
3. They go "BANG" and make lots of stinky smoke when you pull the trigger just like their more historically correct cousins.
Hmm. Perhaps then labor cost off sets the material costI believe brass is more expensive than steel, but a lot easier to work.
Hmm. Perhaps then labor cost off sets the material cost
Of course! The tools are steel the product is brass! Eureka! It always helps to bounce ideas off multiple heads. I really like this forumAnd reduced tool wear
Penny wise and pound foolish. My first BP revolvers were a pair of brass-framed 1851's, and for years I literally could not give them away. (I gave them to my sister's ex and eventually they came back to me.)1. They are less expensive (Dixie GW: 1858 steel $450 / brass $295 currently) and so appeal to a wider audience! $$$
FWIW original Confederate revolvers were not made from brass nor were cannon barrels. They were made from a bronze alloy called gunmetal. 5whiskey what brand is it? I've got a .36 Remington that has imprinted the cylinder ratchet into the recoil shield from 25 grain loads and it didn't take a lot of them to do it either.
Hey, I was going to mention that, "gunmetal". Dagnabbit. I have wondered why the repros were never made with that alloy, rather than brass. A polished bronze alloy would really bling. Bronze has a really nice rich color to it.
FWIW original Confederate revolvers were not made from brass nor were cannon barrels. They were made from a bronze alloy called gunmetal. 5whiskey what brand is it? I've got a .36 Remington that has imprinted the cylinder ratchet into the recoil shield from 25 grain loads and it didn't take a lot of them to do it either.
Engineering rambling...
But gunmetal is arguable nearly as much a Brass as it is a Bronze. The line between Brass (an alloy primarily of Copper and Zinc) and Bronze (an alloy primarily of Copper and Tin) is really fuzzy and the further into the past the fuzzier that seems to get. By most accounts gunmetal is an alloy of Copper, Tin and Zinc, so is it Brass or Bronze? Due to having slightly more Tin than Zinc it is, in the modern sense, gunmetal is more frequently considered Bronze but in the heyday of its use it was frequently called Red Brass. There are lots of Copper based alloys that could fall into either of these broad families of alloys. Brass and Bronze are far from rigidly defined without being more specific in their naming, ie Brass-260 is what we would call cartridge brass and is a 70/30 alloys of Copper and Zinc. Other brasses and bronzes can have many other alloying elements beyond tin and/or zinc, Bronze-863 has aluminum, iron, lead, magnesium, in addition to both tin and zinc, and it has more zinc than tin but is still considers a Bronze, go figure...
Brass vs Bronze, Copper and Zinc and other vs Copper and Tin and others and the "others" frequently contain Tin or Zinc blurring the line between them...