Colt 1851 Navy

[Nikopol]

Hello i am looking for schematics, accurate ones for a colt 1851 navy and was also looking for a .36 calber shell mould for this classic 6 shooter

if anyone can help i much appreciate it

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Schematics I don't have, but a Lee .360 round ball mould from Midway, USA will run you around $15.00

www.midwayusa.com

 

[MCgunner]

Try the black powder forum. Lots of knowledge about cap and ball there and they might know about the schematics. Midway's the best and most of my molds are Lee.

 

[Dienekes]

the Uberti website has some as I recall.

Good luck with the Lee molds. I have been casting for 40 plus years and aluminum doesn't cut it around my house. For as many balls as most people use it's cheaper in time and expenses to just buy some round balls to shoot.

 

[MCgunner]

I've always preferred aluminum. It's easier to control temperature. You can dunk an edge of it if it's getting too hot and it won't crack, just cool a bit. I have only one mold out of several dozen that's not a Lee mold. It's a brass .31 caliber mold I got from Dixie that throws a round ball and a conical in each of two cavities.

Round ball is cheap, though. I have the Lee 220 grain .457 conical and a hollow point version of it for my Old Army, all I shoot in it. Super accurate and packs a punch. Not sure how much use the hollow point is, but I had to try it. Problem is, the cavity is rather small and shallow.

 

[gopguy]

Gun parts has the schmatics.

http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?chrProductSKU=PDF0071B

 

[gopguy]

This is free and in PDF.

eelement.appolis.com/bluebook/Info/PDF/POWDER/MBPBlackPowderRevolverParts.pdf

 

[Nikopol]

i just found a good mould for .36 calibur bullets, and thanks very much for all your help, all i need to do now is find .36 calibur shells, if i can find a single .36 calibur shell i can prob get a mould made to replicate the shells,

 

[Nikopol]

black powder ? sorry i just noticed, so does this pistol not take shells, ? strange, i am not well informed when it comes to firearms still a newbie

 

[Vern Humphrey]

black powder ? sorry i just noticed, so does this pistol not take shells, ? strange, i am not well informed when it comes to firearms still a newbie

The 1851 Colt Navy revolver was developed before metalic cartridges. It was designed to be loaded with loose powder and a seperate ball. The powder was ignited with a percussion cap.

"Cartridges" in those days were made of paper. You could buy a bullet with a paper tube of nitrated paper glued to it. The paper (about like cigarette paper) contained the powder, and the whole assembly was loaded into the chamber. It made loading a bit faster, but was quite fragile and not, of course, water proof.

 

[Stickjockey]

Edit: Vern beat me to it.

 

[Jim K]

Cartridges were also made from skin (like sausage casing) and foil; those were somewhat water resistant. Dixie Gun Works sells nitrated paper for making cartridges; it will burn up when the gun is fired, so there is nothing to remove from the chamber.

Jim

 

[MCgunner]

If you want to shoot it, read up on cap and ball revolver loading and shooting. You might look to http://www.cabelas.com for a .36 caliber black powder starter kit. You should get a powder flask with proper size measure on it, some caps, cast some balls, and get some crisco. Some like over powder wads, I just use crisco. The crisco is for putting over the balls to keep any chance of chain fires at bay. It's a safety thing, do shoot the gun without this or the over powder wads.

Read the sticky threads in this forum.

 

[chuckles]

Jim Keenan wrote:

Cartridges were also made from skin (like sausage casing)

Ah, the smell of breakfast sausage wafts across field of battle. I never knew that about the casings. Good idea though.

 

[cbsbyte]

A .36 Cal cap & ball revolvers useally use a .375-.380 diameter round ball size depending on gun manufacture. My 1851 Navy made by Uberti takes .380 ball size.

 

[mec]

this shows the usual loading steps.

you can make combustable paper cartridges with cigarette papers, or nitrated paper and glue. some people like them. I find them a pain. by all means, read the stickies -particularly the one by Gatofeo.

These revolvers are quite rewarding but they require you to have more time on your hands than might be the case with a different shooting hobby.