Good old guns - conversions!
This is another shot of my revolving carbine conversion, only with the Kirst .45 ACP conversion installed. Shown with the carbine is his little brother, which started life as a new Uberti 1858 5.5" .44 Cal. cap & ball revolver. I love Uberti's quality when it comes to their cap & ball revolvers, but I just can't leave well enough alone. I did my antiquing same as the carbine, and cut the recoil shield for the conversion. Right now it's set up with the .22 conversion, while the carbine is set up with the .45 ACP conversion and the ejector.
What I need to make this whole set complete would be another ejector so I didn't have to choose which one to have it on, and an additional cylinder in .45 Colt. The centerfire back plate I have will work with either the .45 ACP cylinder I now have, and would also work with a .45 Colt cylinder if I got one, so I wouln't need to get another back plate. But that additional cylinder would give me .45 Colt and also .45 Schofield. That would give me a lot of options!
Either the revolver or the carbine could be set up to shoot; .22 rimfire (I won't even list all the options that could cover!), .44 round or conical cap & ball, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, and .45 Schofield. I guess I could even add .45 Auto Rim to the list, although I don't think I've even seen one of those cartridges!
As a practicle matter I suppose that if I were depending on these pieces in a serious way, I would probably keep the revolver set up as a .22 and the carbine in either .45 ACP or .45 Colt if I had that cylinder.
By the way. I chose the .45 ACP conversion over the .45 Colt on the advise of Jay Strite, a very nice guy who took the time to answer my questions and explain his answers clearly. He stated that they had done a lot, if not most, of their testing with the carbine as opposed to the revolver, and that the .45 ACP was the most accurate of the .45 calibers tested in the carbine. Additionally, the cost of .45 ACP is a lot less than the cost of .45 Colt ammo. I can tell you that, while it takes a little looking around to find .45 ACP with a lead bullet as opposed to jacketed, once you find them, it will cost you about 30% to 40% less than .45 Colt. I ended up with Ultramax and although I can't remember exactly what I paid for it, it was substantially less than any .45 Colt I could find. It aint traditional, but you can afford to shoot it. Of course once you have some brass saved up, I would guess they would be pretty close to the same cost as far as reloading goes. Anyway, like I said, I'm going to get an extra cylinder in .45 Colt, than I can shoot both.
Well, that's my 3 cents. I sure do like looking at all the fine conversions everybody has done on these pages. My own style is that I like to make my pieces look like thay are well cared for 130 year old pieces, but the one's that look like they are brand new with 100% finish are absolutly beautiful too, and they give one the sense of entering a gun store back in the day and buying one of those brand new conversions. I gotta tell ya', there is something about the conversions that really grabs me. When I was a kid I would have never given it any thought, but now when I see these pieces, it just gives me a true feeling of history. And the best part for us is that we can hold that history in our hand and use them. How many hobbies offer that combination of historic education, mechanical knowledge, and potential skill building and exitement all rolled into one!?! I feel sorry for these kids who know nothing more than the electronic stimulation provided by video games. To sleep under the stars next to a camp fire with your dog and your revolver; to wake up shivering and start that fire up again and make hot coffee and eggs. Than to spend the day shooting with friends......I'm sorry to say that most kids will never know what it's like. Well, time for this old Cowboy to head off into the sunset.
Bone-Knee Notches!