Well, now I did it....

[Mossyrock]

I couldn't hold out any longer.....the craving was just too strong. I broke down this morning and bought a brace of '51 Navy revolvers from Cabelas. Why two? Well, Wild Bill carried two.... Oh, and did I mention that I am having a custom, butt-forward rig made up by San Pedro Saddelry? Now all I need is a bunch of wads, .380 round ball and time to figure these beasts out. Hey, even if they don't shoot worth a damn, at least I'll LOOK good!!

BTW, how is the front sight cone attached to the barrel on a '51?

 

[Derek]

sight cone

It depends on who made the piece.It could be a press-fit, soldered or threaded.Try Manyiron's bullets, Gatofeo's wads and about 22gr of FFFG. You might want to check the size of the nipples for cap-fit. On my piece, [an Armi San Marco] one nipple is perfect, two are a bit loose[chain-fire danger] and three are too tight Replacing them all with Tresco's is my projected fix.Have fun!!

 

[Mossyrock]

They are Pieta's from Cabellas. Once I get them here and check them out, I'll decide if I need to replace the nipples or not. I have mutton tallow on the way from Dixie to make up a batch of Gatofeo's lube. In addition to the '51s, I plan on using his lube in my 50-70 Rolling Block sporter. I've made and used a similar lube using bear grease, but it went rancid and grew a fine crop of mold!

Once I get them here, I will post some pics. The holsters are going to take a while, though....it looks like I wanted something no one else is making. Go figure....and I thought my firearms tastes were so mainstream and normal!!

 

[ewb45acp]

The Piettas can be a bit "iffy" sometimes. I've got a '51 Pietta from Cabela's early this year. It has been perfect out of the box. Nice fit and finish and very good accuracy. My experiences with this one has made the 51 my favorite of the smoke wagon set. I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

I've also got a '62 police by pietta that was a bit disappointing. The action needed a good deal of work to smooth out and the barrel wedge fit was awful. Not really a big deal when all was said and done, and it has ended up being my son's favorite BP gun at the range.