1851 Avenging Angel Conversion

[Mr. Mosin]

I am shortening the barrel on an 1851 Navy… I have a lathe, compound miter saw, and the ole hacksaw… I’m a capable machinist, but am unaccustomed to working with what I’m guessing is ordnance steel of a sort, or tempered/treated high carbon. So… would I need to take it easy on the lathe, and do all my operations in one setup, or chop the barrel with a hacksaw, and radius the muzzle on a lathe (if I felt like it) ?

 

[1KPerDay]

I'd chop it with a saw or other suitable tool and then face it square with the lathe. It's not super-tough steel though. Modern blackpowder replicas are effectively made of cheese. Duelist1951 on Youtube has a few good videos on making stubby cap and ball revolvers and he always just uses a hacksaw. I do the same. Last time I squared off the cut using a cheap disc sander from hobo freight.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

I'd chop it with a saw or other suitable tool and then face it square with the lathe. It's not super-tough steel though. Modern blackpowder replicas are effectively made of cheese. Duelist1951 on Youtube has a few good videos on making stubby cap and ball revolvers and he always just uses a hacksaw. I do the same. Last time I squared off the cut using a cheap disc sander from hobo freight.

Hmmph… I would they would be produced with good steel, at the least.

 

[1KPerDay]

Hmmph… I would they would be produced with good steel, at the least.

I would say that they are produced with "good enough" steel.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Hmmph… I would they would be produced with good steel, at the least.

They're good enough to handle jacketed bullets at 1000 + fps.

Mike

 

[StrawHat]

Have you ever cut a rifle barrel? Or a handgun barrel? I have chopped, maybe two dozen and all with hacksaws. They may be “modern” steel but they are still workable. Same with frames. I have rounded 6 or 8 S&W N frames just using files.

The Italians build a very good, serviceable, and easily modified revolver.

Go for it!

Kevin

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

I've whacked the barrels off a couple of them. The steel ain't real hard. It works fairly easy with files and hand tools. Not the toughest stuff out there. Pietta revolvers are a bit harder as far as internal parts are concerned. They are using MIM technology using what I believe may be 1095 powdered steel. Don't quote me on that. Barrels seem to be a mild steel so yours should be easy to cut and work.