Colt 1860 Army

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Texan Scott

Member
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
3,184
Location
The Texas Hill Country
Ok, my eyes are bigger than my budget, sadly... there are now three black powder gun I feel I must have. One is the Colt 1860 Army, which I've never even handled. (Yes, I've been ogling gun porn again).

I was surprised to see it is a 5- shot; does it need to be carried with an empty cylinder for safety like the '58 Remington, or does the hammer properly index between the charge holes?

Also, the biggest complaint I see in forums is the "wedge"... what is it, what does it do? What happens when it peens or flattens/ loosens?

Curiosity will get me killed... probably by my wife. :p
 
The 1860 is a 6-shooter. Load five and carry one empty. Or load six and don't drop the darned thing. Or load six and learn to use the small pin between two of the cylinders as a hammer-rest.


Lago Vista close to you? Have friends at the airport there.


Willie

.
 
The gun can be loaded in all chambers and carried safely. There are indexing pins between the chambers at the rear end of the cylinder that fit into a slot in the hammer. Carried with the hammer down, you cock the hammer and the hand pushes the cylinder to index at the proper place. The "wedge" is the way the barrel is "married" to the frame. There's a slot in the barrel (below the barrel/forcing cone) for the wedge to slide in and pull the rear frame forward and close up the cylinder/forcing cone gap. People often "hammer" these in place until the wedge is peened or the slot in the cylinder shaft elongates. They're fun guns though and the higher grade models will last decades.
 
It should be a six shot. You load five for safety or use the detents.

The wedge is what holds the whole thing together. Theoretically you can whack the wedge, take the barrel off the frame, swap the cylinder, drop in another (loaded), whack the wedge back in place, and keep shooting. In practice, well...... you'll find out when you have it. :) It is part of the cleaning disassembly process normally.

The 1860 was the first BP revolver I ever fired, and is a personal favorite of mine. I want a proper 1862, which is a five shot and smaller framed version, but most that I've seen are just cut down 1860s.
 
Lago Vista's a couple hours east of here... real estate's s lot pricier too (for a reason. Lake country's nice!)

Not sure where I got the idea the 60 was a five shot ... but that answers that nicely, thanks!

And the wedge serves the same function as on a muzzle loader more or less... cool, thank you!
 
Be aware that when you first get a new one there's a 50/50 chance that you will have to use some substantial force to get the wedge out. They loosen up a bit over time.

There are pros and cons to the various designs - cap and ball revolvers were a transitional technology and they're all pretty quirky. After you really get running with the 1860 go get a 1836 Paterson or 1847 Walker so you'll really appreciate how much progress they'd made by 1860!
 
^^ what he said... And then try an 1851, and an 1861, and an 1862... and then some cartridge conversions...

By the time we get to the 1873 things were getting purty well figgered out up in Hartford, with those pesky Rollin White full-thru the cylinder bore patents expirin' and all... ;)


Seriously, the later the model, the better these things are. The 1860 is a beauty, the 1861 fits the hand better and is likely the best balanced, and there's nothing sexier than a 1862 Pocket Police.




Willie

.
 
The Uberti version of the 1862 Colt Pocket Police is slick. Much better than the Pietta, which is not a true 1862 version. The Uberti 1862 is .36 cal and a five shot. Think of miniature 1860...:cool:
 
If you go to Fredricksburg, don't go to Texas Jack's. Don't walk around the store and see all the cool stuff they have particularly 1860 Armys.

If you do you will not leave empty handed.
FLOOD015.jpg
Uberti 1862 Pocket Police.
B0000180.jpg
Uberti 3rd Model Dragoon.
 
Ed, the Uberti built 1862 Police has the smaller "pocket' frame. Its the Pietta or Palmetto(?) built 1862 Police that are built on the cut down Navy or bigger frame. You can get them just call Taylors or Cimarron Arms they have the Uberti framed 1862 Police. They are sweet to handle and at 36 caliber pack a punch also.
 
Thanks guys (including OP for tolerating my distraction from the main questions)...I suspect y'all just cost me some cash! ;). I knew I'd seen a small frame '62 but every time I went looking with money in pocket I must've hit a pietta.
 
The 1860 is a light, elegant and easy-handling revolver. In some respects the Single Action Army was a step *backwards* from this design. It does sometimes have that sticking cap problem, but there are fixes for it. And I believe the core problem lies with modern caps, not with the revolver design.

Or load six and learn to use the small pin between two of the cylinders as a hammer-rest.
Click to expand...

This is what I've been doing. Works fine.
 
FYI, to not go to Texas Jacks is to deny yourself an exceptional experience. I have gone there and not spent any money! Of course, my wife had the checkbook and credit cards and she made sure she was at a store on the other end of Main Street. Seriously, the staff there is very knowledgeable and very helpful.
 
The Powderhorn in San Antonio carries BP
Click to expand...

The last time I checked there, they don't stock the real stuff any more, unless they just started to again.

In San Antonio, Dons Gun Shop on Fredricksburg Rd. was the only place I could find it.
 
Getting non-substitute powder is a real pain. I'm down to my last pound of fffg and have been wanting to try a flintlock (meaning ffffg for priming) but I never guessed it would be easier to buy the stuff in California (OK, 8 years ago) than Texas.
 
schuetzen black powder

There are a few sites online that have schuetzen BP for 14.00 lb plus shipping and hazmat and it's instock
 
actually the Remington has a very positive tween position hammer notches allowing for the carrying of 6 charged chambers with relative safety.The colts have small tween pins that connect with the hammer. effective but not as effective as the Remingtion
I personally fell in love with the 60 colt which led to 36 1861 Navy and finally two 1862 police
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Stainless 1860 Colt
Replies
0
Views
700
DoubleDeuce 1
D
J
  • Locked
Charge range for Colt 1860 Army?
Replies
1
Views
616
mykeal
M
Crawdad1
  • Locked
1860 Colt Army
Replies
16
Views
2K
kituwa
K
P
  • Locked
Stainless steel 1860 Colt Army
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
flatheadsal
F
J
  • Locked
Another 1860 Army question
2
Replies
25
Views
4K
HL Hunley
H
Back
Top