Who LOVES the 1862 Pocket Police?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jay29

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
33
Location
Upstate NY
Well, I DO! :p

I have been bitten by the Cap and Ball Revolver bug, AGAIN. This time around way more seriously. I picked up my CVA PP, about 15 or more years ago. I shot it a few times and put it away..The bug got me again. Since that time I have gotten way more serious about shooting in general. I dusted off the Pocket Police and cleaned it all up. I took a dremel tool to the hammer site and opened it up a little. I went to the range. I knew it would shoot high as I remember last time. I aimed at the 6 o'clock position at 25 yards. The balls hit about the gun lengths high, straight above. So, I put and orange sticky a gun lengths BELOW the bullseye. So, I compensated for the site discrepancy. :)

The load I use is SPEER .375 swaged ball, 22 grains pyrodex P, wonder wad, CCI #11 cap. This load blows out the bullseye. All in the black. I am happy. However, the balls slip in, instead of leaving a ring. This doesn't seem to affect accuracy.:eek: Maybe VELOCITY?

Tell me about your POCKET POLICE and post pictures. I have a 1860 Army and a 1858 Remington, but the POCKET POLICE is by far my favorite. :)
 
Last edited:
First, use .380 balls; they're hard to find, so you may need to cast your own. However, if the .375 aren't leaving a ring, they could lead to chain fires. Not a good thing. And accuracy will improve.

Second, my Pocket Police has very little clearance between the back of the cylinder and the recoil shield; spent caps and cap fragments get trapped there and jam the cylinder frequently. Mike Cumpston reported the same thing in his book on percussion replica revolvers.

It's a very nicely made gun, light and accurate, but the problem with the caps keeps it off my favorite gun list.

656.jpg
 
Mykeal, I just performed Mec's fix for the cap crap problem and though I had some trepidation about taking a dremel tool to my pretty little pistol it was easy. Afterwords I finished it with some cold bluing and it looks great. I haven't fired it yet to see if it works as well as Mec says it does. I'll let you know.
 
MEC is Cumpston??? Duh!!!

Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees!!! :eek:

I have a 6-1/2" 1862 by Uberti. It is one snazzy little gun. I like it a lot. At 25 yards it was putting bullets right where I was aiming. Hardly any recoil, Nothing but fun, fun, fun! :D:p

Uberti36Pocket.jpg

The Doc is out now. :cool:
 
I'm sure the fix helps; I've recommended it to people myself. It's just too far down on the list of stuff to do (topped, of course, by the honeydo list) right now. Gotta finish my .54 flint GPR, finish my Rogers & Spencer kit, refinish my .45 CVA Kentucky rifle and pistol set....
 
Well, love is not just exactly how I'd describe this phenomenon.

My Uberti 1862 was a pain in the butt right from the beginning and I'll tell you how I fixed the problems. The problems: cap crap getting underneath the hammer and inbetween the cylinder and breech face. It took some time to correctly diagnose the problems, too.

First is that the mainspring was too weak. It set the caps off, but they blew back and underneath the hammer tying the gun up, royally. The eventual fix was to get a new, stiffer spring. A buddy of mine added a helper leaf to his, much like the leaf springs in a car are stacked.

There is supposed to be a groove in the breech face to provide clearance for cap crap. However, mine had a casting defect that left a raised ridge blocking the entrance to the groove. No big deal, just file it out or use a Dremel Tool.

Npw that the fixes are in place, the thing is a fairly decent revolver and a bit of fun to shoot, but love? No!
 
Jay, I like em so much I had to have a brace of them. Both are Uberti's. I searched the web and found only one leather man that promised holster made expressly for the 62 Police. I had to have them and they are beautiful.
The one gun I dream about would be a Uberti made 62 Police in stainless with all the internals ,except springs, made form silcon bronze.
 
So how do you guys think the 1862 Police compares to Colt's full-size navies in the accuracy department? What size groups are you getting? Another thing that I was curious about was the internals, since they are smaller than those of the full size models. Do these guns stand up to regular shooting without having to worry about internal parts breakage?
 
So how do you guys think the 1862 Police compares to Colt's full-size navies in the accuracy department? What size groups are you getting? Another thing that I was curious about was the internals, since they are smaller than those of the full size models. Do these guns stand up to regular shooting without having to worry about internal parts breakage?
Click to expand...

Let's start by saying these are my own reflections on the Pocket revolvers.

I find the Pocket revolver to be the only 36s that have recoil. Whether it is perceived more because of the lack of weight or the small grip frame, I certainly experience more recoil than when I fire my 1861s.

That said, my groups are the same as my 61s. But it has been said that I shoot a lot.

My first Pocket Navy was purchased in 77, none are newer than 94. I have worked on them all, but I have worked on every gun I own. I don't recall any broken internal parts but I did replace the hand on one of the Pocket Navies and the wedge on the other one.

I find them more friendly to carry than the larger framed Navies and Armies.

I do not compete in CAS or other forms of competition.

I don't baby my guns but neither do I abuse them.
 
attachment.php

Here is a Pocket Navy (same size as Pocket Police) with a taller front sight to mike it hit point of aim. the group was fired "duelist" from 25 Yards.

This is a Pocket Police replica shot from the bench at the same distance
attachment.php


This is an original Pocket police fired off hand "duelist at 25 Yards. it 5+inches above point of aim and a bit left.
attachment.php


I find the larger Navies easier to shoot but then, there is almost no handgun that is as easy to shoot accurately as a full sized percussion revolver.
 
Last edited:
I have read MEC's book (I got it as a Christmas present, at my request) but could not interpret the diagram of the fix discussed above. I am expecting a Uberti 5.5 PP Friday or Monday, and won't know until then whether I need to perform that operation. If so, where can I find a larger picture of the fix, or one with better contrast? By the way, Uberti PPs are very hard to find right now. I found that Dixie still has some, so I paid the higher price. The other places I called were out and didn't expect more of that model for 6-8 months!
 
It's probably just as well that I can't get .38 rimfire ammo. I'd be sorely tempted to put a few rounds through this old girl.

100_2773.jpg
 
"Percussion Pistols And Revolvers: History, Performance and Practical Use" by Mike Cumpston and Johnny Bates (Paperback - Jul 20, 2005)

Amazon.com, search for Cumpston & Bates.
 
attachment.php


Whatever I put in that book must have been unnecessarily complicated. The "fix" is simply deepening the semi-circular cut out on the breech to the right of the hammer and then shaving back the lip of the breech right above it. (Picture).

It gives the cap, which is usually burst or splayed open, just a little more room to make it to the capping window and fall off.
 
Last edited:
MEC, my computer won't display your picture. It just shows a box with a red x inside. I guess I'll wait until I try the new gun to see whether I need to worry about it.

By the way, your photo with words and lines superimposed is on page 94, at the end of Chapter 14. I just can't tell where the lines running from "deepen," "relieve," and "radius" end.

(As soon as I launched this "quick reply" the photo opened! Thanks.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
  • Locked
Money burning a hole in my pocket..
Replies
23
Views
1K
expat_alaska
expat_alaska
M
  • Locked
Colt Pocket Models
Replies
15
Views
2K
mec
M
ClemBert
  • Locked
Favorite 1862 Pocket Police?
2
Replies
40
Views
4K
Pocket
Pocket
Dave Markowitz
  • Locked
Uberti 1862 Pocket Police
2
Replies
35
Views
5K
pohill
P
G
  • Locked
1862 Pocket Police Problem
Replies
9
Views
1K
mec
M
Back
Top