Original Colt 1860 bp revolver- anyone own one?

[ROA]

Howdy, I just bought a new colt 1860 army from colt bp company. I don't know much about colts, I am a Ruger man. but I figured, if I was going to buy other than a ruger, I would go authentic. How is this gun? Is it an accurate gun? I just bought one and haven't got a chance to shoot it yet, its still on its way home. I was wondering if anybody knew where I could pick up extra cylinders for it, and a presentation box for a good price?

Also, I picked up triple K's hunter shoulder holster #602. Any experience with this?

What is the best size ball for the 1860 .44? .454 or .457? And the right cap size?
I don't know anything about these guns.. but I plan to get more into the original older style percussion revolvers. My next guns I plan to get is a remmie 1858 from Cimmaron, or Uberti, which is better? and a 1862 pocket police in .36....

Any advice, guys??
thanks in advance!!

 

[Bad Flynch]

Well, you purchased a good revolver. Colt regards these as a continuation of the original series, not as reproductions and not as replicas. You can get a letter from Colt on these guns.

They are very authentic, with minor exceptions. The most notable exception is that the originals had gain-twist rifling and these do not. These new ones are made of better steel by far, and since Colt envisoned them as collector's guns, they are better fit and finished than the originals for the most part. They have some fancy finish mods, too, such as silver plated grip-straps, etc.

Unless you can find one of the original Colt presentation cases and its accoutrements, the case (and so on) will not improve the pistol's value. However, the Dixie presentation case and accoutrements are just fine for oridinary display purposes.

Try both .454 and .457 balls in your gun, as it is possible for the cylinders to vary a little from gun to gun. The cylinder should shave a thin ring off the ball as the ball is seated--about 0.003" is right. 0.003" is the thickness of an average human hair or an ordinary piece of paper.

The same thing goes for caps. Pistols were originally intended to use #10 caps and rifles were to use #11. However, in this day and age of one-size-fits-all mentality, it is possible that #11 will do just fine--and they are sometimes easier to find. In addition, there is some normal manufacturing tolerance difference from lot to lot in the nipples and different manufacturer's caps fit slightly differently, so give your locally available brand a try. You'll learn to tell when they are too loose or too tight by experience.

 

[K.A.T.]

1860 Army

I bought a Colt 1860 a couple of months ago, it likes the CCI #11's the #10's are too small. I use the .454 balls, it will shoot the .457 balls, it just shaves off a little more lead when loading. I have shot anywhere from 25g. to 30g. of FFF Goex powder. I tried some pyrodex FF powder I had laying around it shot well also. It shots a 2 to 3 inch group with everything I tried, I guess that is the best I can do, I think the gun is capable of doing better if I could shot better. It will shoot about 8" high,that is normal so don't freak out. The only thing that I found that made a difference in accuracy was using a lubepill instead of a felt wad,the lubepill made an improvement.I tried a couple of different makes of balls,it didn't seem to matter which one I shot. I think you will be very pleased with it. A couple of weeks later I bought a Uberti World Class 1858 Stainless Steel, it is a great shooter also,it sounds like you are following in my footsteps about 3 months behind me. Go for the Stainless Steel you will like it, my 1858 takes a Remington #10 cap,perfect fit.Another member said he ordered an extra cylinder for his Colt 1860 from Uberti and it was a perfect fit.I ordered a couple of screws from them,just to have a few extra,they fit fine,but their nipples would not fit.You might want to order a barrel wedge from Uberti to use,the original one is numbered to match the gun,put it aside so you will have it,they take alot of abuse,so wear out the Uberti wedge not the original.You will have to have a Colt 1851 Navy also that was my third one,haven't shot it yet,I now have a Colt Walker in the mail headed my way!So now you know the path you are headed down.

 

[K.A.T.]

Presentation Case

Look on GunBroker.com at #75362275 case for 1860.