Uberti 48' Wells Fargo

ShotgunDave · Nov 13, 2018

I just acquired this little bugger today. What a great little pistol!

Along with the pistol came a Howell conversion cylinder, in .32 S&W

I'll make some black powder loads for it. This little pistol will most likely see use by my 14 year old daughter more than me.

It is an exceptionally well made gun. It doesn't have the poor arbor fit that a lot of other folks talk about. The arbor to barrel fit is spot on. The action on the other hand, is going to require some work. Cocking the hammer feels like there's a bunch of sand in the thing. I'll be pulling it apart tomorrow and cleaning up the guts.

expat_alaska · Nov 13, 2018

IMO, it is a very nice looking pistol, along with the conversion cylinder. I will bet it gets shot using the conversion cylinder more than the BP C&B cylinder as it will either have to be loaded off pistol or you will have to get used to pushing the balls into the cylinder using the end of the arbor, which should have a concave end to fit the ball. All of the 1848 Pockets had a squareback TG. The round TG did not happen until 1849, and Colt used up all of the SB TG parts until his supply was exhausted.

I hope you have small hands. I bought a Replica Arms (ASM 1963) 1848 6" with load lever a few years ago not knowing how small they were. I have long fingers, it did not fit, gave it to another deserving soul on this forum, and am staying with 1851 Navy type guns.

I sincerely hope you like your pistol.

ShotgunDave · Nov 13, 2018

expat_alaska said:
IMO, it is a very nice looking pistol, along with the conversion cylinder. I will bet it gets shot using the conversion cylinder more than the BP C&B cylinder as it will either have to be loaded off pistol or you will have to get used to pushing the balls into the cylinder using the end of the arbor, which should have a concave end to fit the ball. All of the 1848 Pockets had a squareback TG. The round TG did not happen until 1849, and Colt used up all of the SB TG parts until his supply was exhausted.

I hope you have small hands. I bought a Replica Arms (ASM 1963) 1848 6" with load lever a few years ago not knowing how small they were. I have long fingers, it did not fit, gave it to another deserving soul on this forum, and am staying with 1851 Navy type guns.

I sincerely hope you like your pistol.

View attachment 811890

You're absolutely right. The conversion cylinder will probably see more use. Mainly because it will be my young daughter shooting it most of the time. I'll load black powder cartridges for her. She likes the "boom" and the smoke of BP. Although this gun probably doesn't go boom. LOL!

I have rather large hands actually. Just cocking this little gun is funny looking. My finger pokes through the guard up to the second knuckle! I'll probably run a few rounds through it, just to say I did, but mainly it's for the kid.

saaman · Nov 13, 2018

Nice little pistol ShotgunDave! I have the same set up, but yours appears to have a longer barrel--is it 5 inch? I shoot 32 hollow base wadcutters with a light amount of smokeless powder and get good accuracy.

Sistema1927 · Nov 13, 2018

I have the same Uberti, but it also has Allen F.A. Santa Fe markings on it. I also have the same conversion cylinder, but find I shoot C&B more.

mh2000 · Nov 14, 2018

Nice! I have similar '62 pocket navy. Had to hone both sides of the hammer quite a bit to get the cocking smooth! My big knife sharpening stone worked great.

Thanks to the others for explaining how to load the thing! (I was always curious!) enjoy!

My 16 year old boy loves my big Remington 1858! Bigger boom!

maint1517 · Nov 14, 2018

ShotgunDave said:
I just acquired this little bugger today. What a great little pistol!
View attachment 811880
Along with the pistol came a Howell conversion cylinder, in .32 S&W
View attachment 811881
I'll make some black powder loads for it. This little pistol will most likely see use by my 14 year old daughter more than me.

It is an exceptionally well made gun. It doesn't have the poor arbor fit that a lot of other folks talk about. The arbor to barrel fit is spot on. The action on the other hand, is going to require some work. Cocking the hammer feels like there's a bunch of sand in the thing. I'll be pulling it apart tomorrow and cleaning up the guts.

Nice pocket pistol! And great job getting your daughter into shooting!
I did the same with my stepson many years ago. Now he's in his twenties and he's just gotten into bp shooting a few months ago. He's hooked, just like I am!
I ended up with the 1848 ASM expat_alaska mentioned. After some trigger/ bolt spring issues, it functions flawlessly. Fun little pistol to shoot. Hope your daughter enjoys yours.

drobs · Nov 14, 2018

Nice looking guns.
You can do some cheap shootin with the 31 cal revolvers and some of this:

.310
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Super-Buck-Lead-1-1_2-8-lb_jar-310/productinfo/SBK15/
.320
https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Super-Buck-Lead-0-8-lb_jar-320/productinfo/SBK10/

ShotgunDave · Nov 14, 2018

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

saaman, it is actually a 4" barrel. But even so, this gun is tiny! I have bigger hands and this pistol looks like a kids toy when I'm holding it.

My daughter is pretty proficient with a .22 so she should handle this piece without any trouble. She's really excited about it.

drobs, thanks for those links! I'll be ordering some of those balls for sure! That's a great price for a large quantity of ammo.

drobs · Nov 14, 2018

This last trip home I did some shooting with my 51 Navy and that Ballistic Products 0000 buck in .380 diameter. Works good and shaved a nice ring.

robhof · Nov 14, 2018

I've got the ASM version and it is indeed small, but actually a larger grip than the Remington Pocket, that's really small. I was shooting mine at the range a while back and some kids with their new AR's were so interested that I loaded a few cylinders for them and I do believe I got some B/P converts, they were totally interested in the reloading process and the low recoil of the little 31. Comparison of

1848, Remington Pocket and the NAA 22.

ShotgunDave · Nov 14, 2018

robhof said:
I've got the ASM version and it is indeed small, but actually a larger grip than the Remington Pocket, that's really small. I was shooting mine at the range a while back and some kids with their new AR's were so interested that I loaded a few cylinders for them and I do believe I got some B/P converts, they were totally interested in the reloading process and the low recoil of the little 31. Comparison of View attachment 811953 1848, Remington Pocket and the NAA 22.

That's a great picture. The Colt looks like a Navy next to the Remington and the NAA! I forgot how dinky the Remington's are.

So cool that you got other people interested at the range. I bet a lot of younger folks have no clue about BP firearms.

ShotgunDave · Nov 15, 2018

Well Fellas, looks like we lost a bunch of posts in the server problems last night. No worries! Thanks for all the replies, I did read them all before they disappeared.

expat_alaska · Nov 16, 2018

I think this may have been blown out with the server problems. If I am repeating myself, I apologize.

The 6" barreled guns had load levers which were long enough to load the cylinder on the gun. The 1848 also had a shorter frame and a shorter forcing cone than the 1849, along with a shallow v-notch load aperture unlike the 1849, and all of the 1848 pistols did not have round/oval stop slots as many were rectangular, and some early 1849 pistols were produced and sold with a squareback TG until Colt exhausted his supply of them. I also cite a photo in Flayderman's Guide.

The following is a repro 1848 Colt by Replica Arms El Paso Texas made by ASM with a date code of 1963 XIX, but I think it does well to illustrate what I have stated. I no longer own it because it is just too small to hold in hand with my long fingers.

Jim

ShotgunDave · Nov 16, 2018

Thanks for re-posting that Jim. We did lose a little in the server problems.

Uberti 48' Wells Fargo

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