EvilGenius
Member
Like in the title, I'm looking at getting my first black powder firearm maybe by the end of the summer.
I've been fond of old west revolvers for years, but just had other guns I felt were more practical and necessary to have first. Now that I've got the basics (two good pistol, a pump action shotgun and an AR) It's time for me to go after the less practical, but honestly more interesting firearms.
Initially I was drooling over an 1875 Rem, but then I felt like the actions and overall size of the SAA type revolvers were just too short and small. I think they're perfect for what they are, but there's just something more satisfying for me to look at like the older bigger and longer almost sleek looking black powder revolvers.
I'm looking at the common 1858 Rem, the 1860 colt and the 1847 Walker. The rem seems to be one common pistol that every BP shooter has, I think it looks great in an all blued frame, but the octagonal barrel and front sight are a little bit of a turn off. I didn't like the 1860s at first, but over time the smoothed and sleek looking barrel/loading lever assembly started to catch on and it started to grow on me. Mostly the same with the walker, I love the size and overall style (especially the trigger guard), but the brick assembly in front of the cylinder threw me off, but grew on me over time.
The one hang up and this will probably make y'all cringe, I will likely want to convert whatever I get to cartridges at one point, but will stick with BP .45 colt loads.
Now luckily I can get both the 1858 and the 1860 in already converted models. I think the type II conversion for the 1860 is gorgeous and the converted 1858 is not too bad. But I like the 1858 better with the original length cylinder. However, with the easy disassembly on the 1858 I could get the kirst drop in cylinder and swap either BP or cartridge cylinders in as I please.
Not really an option for me with the colts. I don't want to have to whack out the wedge clip everytime I reload, which means if I got an 1860 it'd have to be a type II from the beginning (makes sense due to the complexity of the conversion), but on the walker I could shoot it as a BP pistol initially and then later send it in to Kirst and have it converted.
Now I figger most of y'all are already yelling 1858 at your screen, but for the last 6 months or so my gf has been writing a novel (she does that from time to time) about some folks around here in the 1870s and has needed to do a lot of research for it which has really kicked my revolver lust into high gear. As a result of that I'm really starting to turn an eye towards the walker because of it's history with Col. Walker, the Rangers and the Mexican American war. Being a proud native Texan I'd really like to have something in my small, but growing arsenal that represents the history and culture of this place and I plan to buy whichever model I get in person from the folks at Cimarron Arms in Fredericksburg.
My questions are:
Are my expectations reasonable?
Specifically on the Walker, the common conversion seems to be to .45LC. Can you load a normal .45LC BP cartridge and shoot it out of the ".44" barrel, or does it have to have a new custom barrel installed as well?
I've been fond of old west revolvers for years, but just had other guns I felt were more practical and necessary to have first. Now that I've got the basics (two good pistol, a pump action shotgun and an AR) It's time for me to go after the less practical, but honestly more interesting firearms.
Initially I was drooling over an 1875 Rem, but then I felt like the actions and overall size of the SAA type revolvers were just too short and small. I think they're perfect for what they are, but there's just something more satisfying for me to look at like the older bigger and longer almost sleek looking black powder revolvers.
I'm looking at the common 1858 Rem, the 1860 colt and the 1847 Walker. The rem seems to be one common pistol that every BP shooter has, I think it looks great in an all blued frame, but the octagonal barrel and front sight are a little bit of a turn off. I didn't like the 1860s at first, but over time the smoothed and sleek looking barrel/loading lever assembly started to catch on and it started to grow on me. Mostly the same with the walker, I love the size and overall style (especially the trigger guard), but the brick assembly in front of the cylinder threw me off, but grew on me over time.
The one hang up and this will probably make y'all cringe, I will likely want to convert whatever I get to cartridges at one point, but will stick with BP .45 colt loads.
Now luckily I can get both the 1858 and the 1860 in already converted models. I think the type II conversion for the 1860 is gorgeous and the converted 1858 is not too bad. But I like the 1858 better with the original length cylinder. However, with the easy disassembly on the 1858 I could get the kirst drop in cylinder and swap either BP or cartridge cylinders in as I please.
Not really an option for me with the colts. I don't want to have to whack out the wedge clip everytime I reload, which means if I got an 1860 it'd have to be a type II from the beginning (makes sense due to the complexity of the conversion), but on the walker I could shoot it as a BP pistol initially and then later send it in to Kirst and have it converted.
Now I figger most of y'all are already yelling 1858 at your screen, but for the last 6 months or so my gf has been writing a novel (she does that from time to time) about some folks around here in the 1870s and has needed to do a lot of research for it which has really kicked my revolver lust into high gear. As a result of that I'm really starting to turn an eye towards the walker because of it's history with Col. Walker, the Rangers and the Mexican American war. Being a proud native Texan I'd really like to have something in my small, but growing arsenal that represents the history and culture of this place and I plan to buy whichever model I get in person from the folks at Cimarron Arms in Fredericksburg.
My questions are:
Are my expectations reasonable?
Specifically on the Walker, the common conversion seems to be to .45LC. Can you load a normal .45LC BP cartridge and shoot it out of the ".44" barrel, or does it have to have a new custom barrel installed as well?