First bp handgun purchase

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WOOOOHOOOOO. Wife said i she doesnt care if i get another gun. ok looking at getting another bp gun. All i have is a cva buckhorn. However i really like it. Still rather new to bp shooting. so i need some advice. Not too crazy about spending a lot of money on something i have never shot or dont know anything about yet. however in looking at cabelas here is what i see.

1851 Confederate Navy .44 Caliber pistol.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20817&hasJS=true


So tell me the pros and cons. what i need to know.
 
Cons: If you're into history, Colt never made a .44 Navy, nor did the South that I know of.
Brass framed guns can take a beating with heavy BP loads.

Pros: the price is right. The gun looks good.
 
Brass framed guns can take a beating with heavy BP loads.
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Two of the best BP Revolvers I've worked on were Brass framed, and the two absolute worst BP revolvers were Brass framed.

I'd go with the steel framed guns only if I were you.
 
I got a stainless Ruger off Gunbroker for $325 little over a year ago. There's some deals there now. Gunbroker has bargains if you're patient enough to wait. And if not, I'd go with Cabela's. From everything I've picked up here, they're made by Pietta, and seem the most reasonably priced. I'd also stick with a steel frame as mentioned previously.
 
Well, you've already posted the Cabelas link, which would say you're attracted to the historical aspect of BP guns.
Ruger old army is a modern BP gun, with essentially no design aspects taken from historical colts or Rems. That said, they probably function better and clean up easier.
But, for the price of even a used Ruger, you can get a new Uberti colt clone or 1858 rem. You might like the Uberti 1860 Colt Army model.
I bought my Uberti Dragoon here years ago, they have a good selection and good prices and service.
If you like the Walker revolver, midway has a sale on them right now!
http://www.thunder-ridge.com/products.php?cat=43
 
I've been dealing with Taylor's and they are good and their website shows just about all of the repro guns available from Uberti and Pietta in one neat page. They say that they hand check each gun they sell and even then I had a problem but they took the gun back had their in house gunsmith fix it and it was back in my hands within the week. I was even able to talk to their gunsmith, his name is Tom, and he just about talked my arm off. If you don't buy from them you can get a good idea of what is available. They don't handle anything off the wall like .44 navies
 
Try a Colt Walker. 60 grain loads can be done in one, it's a powerful and fun gun. I've been wanting one badly for a long time now (I did get to shoot a friend's, that was fun)...stick with the Uberti made one, avoid Palmetto's. You can find a "kit" version if you want to save a little money, they're pretty much assembled but need final finishing, which isn't too hard.

I do think though that the Colt Navy was the best design, they feel like an extension of you, they handle so well. But stick with .36 in those if you want historical accuracy (not that a .44 Navy is bad, it just isn't really historically accurate apart from some Southern made imitations of the Colt).
 
If I were to buy a Brass frame C&B revolver I'd prefer to buy it in kit form from a company that would stand behind its product. That way you could examine the casting and final machining of the frame before assembly and return it if defective.
On one Brass frame pistol the cutout for the lower portion of the hammer and the hand was cut to deep and too far towards the threaded area where the Arbor screws into the frame. At the bottom there was only about one and a half threads engaging the frame, and the threads had cut through into the slot for the hand.
Another had a poorly made arbor with rounded undersized threads which pulled through the hole.

A Brass Frame .36 properly cast and machined should work just fine with reasonable loads, but you can't be sure of what you'd get, especially if the gun is on sale.
Some unscrupulous or just stupid vendors will ship out guns that were returned by a previous buyer rather than bite the bullet and break them down for parts. Actually pretty dumb since they could realize more profit on replacement parts.

Unless you are confident of your skills I suggest you play it safe and get a Casehardened Steel framed pistol from a reputable manufacturer.
 
Brass frames

Actually once I did consider buying a Confederate 1851 Navy simply because the name "Confederate" I like the pride of having anything to do with Confederate. BUT, I did not like the brass frames. In the end, I got the LeMat Navy, something you might encounter in a dream. Brass frames will shoot loose after a certain number of rounds because brass, like gold, is very malleable and is not built to tolerate the shocks of firing, even if it is just black powder that produces relatively low chamber pressures. Thats why you don't use Konverters with brass framed navies.

However, a store called Pearl Paint do have some brass framed photo frames for sale if anyone's interested.:)

Just kidding.
 
Rachen said:
I got the LeMat Navy, something you might encounter in a dream.
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Have you taken it apart yet? I've heard they are a nightmare to disassemble beyond removing the barrels, cylinder and grips. Cumpton and Bates (Percussion Pistols and Revolvers, History, Performance and Practical Use) report special tools and heat were needed for both of their Pietta examples. They also mention that the gun was very accurate and reliable for the round balls but the shot barrel required several hammer strikes to fire.

Brass frames will shoot loose after a certain number of rounds because brass, like gold, is very malleable and is not built to tolerate the shocks of firing
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Many posts on this and other forums disagree with that. Brass framed guns have been reported to perform without "shooting loose" for many years as long as the shooter does not abuse the gun with heavy loads. Moderate loads, in the range of those required for accurate shooting, reportedly do not result in frame damage. Brass, unlike gold, can be alloyed (made) to withstand shock loads and was successfully used for cannon barrels and many other weapons. Brass is much less malleable than gold.
 
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Many Replica Brass frame guns fail for the same reason tha many of the Original frames failed. Because the castings were meant to be made of Bronze not commercial brass.
Unfortunately all stocks of Bronze were reserved for casting Cannon, and the South ended up using Brass from old clocks and other items that had not required the stronger alloys of Brass or Bronze.
Some replicas are made of poor alloys, and more than a few are poorly cast and/or finish machined.
 
I have some antique cartridge revolvers that have brass frames. Still going strong after 130+ years...the key is to not overdo it with brass frames.
 
I have some antique cartridge revolvers that have brass frames.
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If you check with antique dealer's resources on these guns you'll probably find that the alloy is actually Bronze rather than Brass.

Gunmetal is a kind of bronze, an alloy of copper, tin, and some zinc, originally used chiefly for making guns, but later superseded by steel. It is also called red brass in America.

Gunmetals produced for different purposes vary slightly in composition. In some cases, the alloy may be composed only from copper and tin, or from copper, tin, and lead. It has many uses in industry, and is used for statues and various small objects, e.g. buttons.

U.S. Government bronze spec. G is a gunmetal composed of 88% copper, 10% tin, and 2% zinc. U.S. Government bronze spec. H is composed of 83% copper, 14% tin, 3% zinc, and 0.8% phosphorus.
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Heres some basic info on the various types of Brass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass

You'll note that the Yellow and White Brass of commerce is generally much higher in zinc content than gunmetal Bronze or other "Red Brass".
Bronze is a much older and generally tougher alloy than Brass. Brass is more brittle and shinier and looks more like gold.
 
The original 1851 Navy did not come in .44 but there is an advantage to choosing a replica in the .44 that doesn't often get mentioned. Pyrodex (and maybe some other companies) makes powder pellets in .44-size but not in .36 caliber size. They are a no fuss-no muss convenience that is really nice.

HTH :cool:
 
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