I just saw a Uberti Bisley C&B .44 revolver at a local gun shop. It has a loading gate, and at first glance appeared to be nothing more than a cartridge gun with a replacement cylinder and hammer, something that might have been designed for one of the British Empire nations that have outlawed modern handguns. The first sales person I asked knew nothing about the gun, but his boss told him it was black powder only and could not be converted to .45 Colt. Does anyone have any experience with this gun, or more knowledge than my local shop? Does the ejector rod serve as a ramrod? It was marked $299.
Uberti Bisley cap & ball
- Thread starter JayC
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I don't know the specific gun, but using the ejector rod for loading proper size round balls would be a real pain. Litterally. No, it's probably a conversion with a C&B cylinder in it.
To say that any BP revolver "could not be converted" to fire cartridges is projection-- one may speak for one's self. It can always be done. It's just a matter of how practical it may be. Tell a good mechanic he can't convert a Brown Bess musket to fire cartridges, then give him 10 thousand dollars and a form one, and watch him do it.
To say that any BP revolver "could not be converted" to fire cartridges is projection-- one may speak for one's self. It can always be done. It's just a matter of how practical it may be. Tell a good mechanic he can't convert a Brown Bess musket to fire cartridges, then give him 10 thousand dollars and a form one, and watch him do it.
I have a Cattleman with percussion cylinder
It's not a Bisley, but is essentially the same thing, a redesign of a cartridge gun to use percussion caps and black powder for sale in countries where cartridge handgun ownership is outlawed.
Yes, with enough time and money, it can be remanufactured to be a cartridge gun. All you'd need is a new frame, new hammer, new cylinder and new barrel. The hammer has a 'firing pin' proboscis that strikes the cap; it's intentionally off center:
to fit in an off-center hole in the frame:
and you can just see the nipple through the hole - the cylinder is timed to line up the nipple and chamber off center to meet the hammer, and the barrel is also off center to match the chamber mouth! Yep, you can convert it to a cartridge gun, but it would take a little more effort than changing cylinders...
The gun is a real PITA to load. The cylinder must be removed and loaded on a loading stand outside the gun. The ejection rod is completely non-functional. In addition, there is no clearance to allow spent caps to fall free so they jam the back of the cylinder on almost every shot.
Not a fun gun at all. That being said, it's damn fine looking.
It's not a Bisley, but is essentially the same thing, a redesign of a cartridge gun to use percussion caps and black powder for sale in countries where cartridge handgun ownership is outlawed.
Yes, with enough time and money, it can be remanufactured to be a cartridge gun. All you'd need is a new frame, new hammer, new cylinder and new barrel. The hammer has a 'firing pin' proboscis that strikes the cap; it's intentionally off center:
to fit in an off-center hole in the frame:
and you can just see the nipple through the hole - the cylinder is timed to line up the nipple and chamber off center to meet the hammer, and the barrel is also off center to match the chamber mouth! Yep, you can convert it to a cartridge gun, but it would take a little more effort than changing cylinders...
The gun is a real PITA to load. The cylinder must be removed and loaded on a loading stand outside the gun. The ejection rod is completely non-functional. In addition, there is no clearance to allow spent caps to fall free so they jam the back of the cylinder on almost every shot.
Not a fun gun at all. That being said, it's damn fine looking.
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