Brass Frames, do they hold up?

[Sagetown]

Do the black powder revolvers made in brass frames hold up okay under normal use, say, less that 2000 rounds? Just wondering, whether I ought to go with the steel frame.

Thanks Sage

 

[Donny]

Brass frames

Brass framed revolvers are a great low cost way to get started. They shoot and operate the same as the steel framed guns and as long as you don't stoke them up with heavy loads they will last a long time. Powder loads of 25 grains or less in a .44 cal will not over stress the frame and provide plenty of power for most reasonable applications. Most fellas will advise you to buy the steel framed guns and that's not bad advise but if money is an issue then buy the brass frame and be confident it will provide good servise.

Don

 

[Harve Curry]

I had a brass frame '51, 36 cal, that was very accurate after I had the cylinders reamed to .380". It was a tack driver with 20gr. I won quite a few contests with it. It shot loose with way less then a 1000 rounds.

 

[JayC]

Somewhere on this site, I believe, someone posted photos of the impression left in the recoil shield area of a brass frame by the rear of the cylinder, probably caused by heavy loads. I can't find it right now. Maybe someone else knows where it is. It was within the last couple of months.

 

[Chawbaccer]

I had a brass framed 51 style in .44. I was new and was not told to use reduced loads. It had the impressions on the recoil shield and the arbor hole cracked thru. It had less than a thousand rounds thru it. It is just not worth the trouble even if it is all you can afford.

 

[Glen]

I have a brass framed Pieta in .44 1858 Remington and must have shot 800 or more rounds through it by now. It is doing just fine. I use 28 gr. of Pyrodex in it. I really cannot complain as it is a fine shooter.

However, I am not sure that a brass framed .44 Remington (and some other brass framed replicas) is historically correct, and sometimes I would like to really load it up if I could...so...in a perfect world, I would prefer steel.

 

[zoned10x]

My .36 cal 'Navy' with brass frame must be 20 years and it is still tight, but it has always had light target loads. Keep the pressures down and a brass frame should serve you well. Dixie posts notices in their catalog about brass frames shooting loose after a time, it is a warning worth reading.

 

[scrat]

I have two brass framed revolvers. Love them. They both shoot sooooo good. I just load them light. 20 grains thats it. Both shoot .44.

 

[Harve Curry]

A shooter friend of mine noted that his percussion revolvers had no forcing cone to speak of. The rifling just abruptly began with little to no taper or transition for the ball to enter the rifling. He reasoned that if he used the Brownells forcing cone reamer it would make two improvements, less stress on the frame when the ball hit the rifling, and better accuracy. So he did the 11 degree forcing cone reamer and they do shoot more accurately. Some originals had a gain twist which has similar benefits. Your results may vary.