question about Howell gated 1851 navy conversion

[Native shooter]

I have a question about the howell gated conversion for the 1851 colt navy revolver. Does the gated piece just slide into the frame? or does it need gunsmithing to have it installed

 

[1KPerDay]

Gunsmith. Read up here:

he conversion ring on the Howell conversion kit is the same size in diameter as the ones produced by Colt. The difference is in how they are mounted on the frame. Instead of milling away a portion of the frame, our conversion rings are designed to overcome the need for this operation, while maintaining the appearance of the original conversions.

Our conversion ring is securely mounted to the frame by two machine screws which require drilling and tapping. A word about mounting the conversion ring. The reason we decided to mount our conversion ring in the manner we did is so that the ring is secure. Mounting in this way insures durability of the revolver. If the ring is allowed to ‘free float’, it does not absorb the force of the hammer blow, but transmits it to the cylinder, which in turn transmits the built up inertia of the hammer blow, ring, and cylinder, to the forcing cone area of the barrel. Over time, this will cause your gun’s wedge to become battered and a general ‘looseness’ of the gun overall. Since the barrel is secured to the cylinder pin, it too will be affected by this force. This is one reason you hear about ‘looseness’ in percussion revolvers on based on the Colt patterns. By securing the ring, the force of the hammer blow is dispensed to the frame. The firing pin does impart force to the primer, but the primer material is soft enough not to further transmit this force, and the general life expectancy of the converted revolver is extended.

http://www.howelloldwestconversions.com/gated.html

 

[Native shooter]

thank you, kinda got lazy at looking on how to do it

 

[45 Dragoon]

That is of course unless you fix the arbor problem, then the battered wedge problem goes away. The tolerance ( a tight .002") is such that the floating ring system is not a problem. The cylinder isn't the "slide hammer" that it normally becomes with a short arbor. Fixed ring or not, the short arbor will allow the revolver to beat itself up over time. My floating ring gated conversions are all excellent performers and maintain their tolerances even after thousands of rounds of "rather warm" .45 Colt .

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com