More Awesomeness, Colt 1851

[Griff]

Just recv'd the Colt 2nd Series 1851 I bought off Gunbroker. The pictures in the ad, did NOT do it justice. Nor did the description. This thing is LNIB... with the box and paperwork, original plastic sleeve & oil paper it was wrapped up in. I'm stoked! Now to decide whether I shoot it... or wait until I get the work I want done, (Manhattan Conversion & Ruger hand spring)!

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[Ray Newman]

Griff: really a nice score as the '51 Navy is a classic!

[Ysabel Kid]

Congratulations!

[Pat C]

Nice Navy , Never seen a box like that ??
The Second Gen I had was in a black box with Sam Colt on front .

[Pat C]

Mine was F series, yours is C series I bet . Explains the different box.

[Griff]

Nice Navy , Never seen a box like that ??
The Second Gen I had was in a black box with Sam Colt on front .

I've seen 3 different boxes, this one, a grey and a black. The Grey held my Signature Series. I believe the black held the later 2nd Series... aka the "F" series.

[Griff]

Mine was F series, yours is C series I bet . Explains the different box.

Yep, 4 digit ser #

[Pat C]

You are correct , tuff call on shooting .Mine was NIB unturned .
Ultimately sold it just didn't have heart to shoot it.
My 1860 Army bought new in 1994 I have shot it. It's the Grey signature series.

[Griff]

You are correct , tuff call on shooting .Mine was NIB unturned .
Ultimately sold it just didn't have heart to shoot it.
My 1860 Army bought new in 1994 I have shot it. It's the Grey signature series.

Oh it WILL get shot... just whether before the modifications are done or after is the question.

[Pat C]

What kind of modifications?

[Griff]

What kind of modifications?

There's four things I like done.

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This keeps caps from falling back thru the hammer slot and either stacking up on the back side of the recoil shield eventually keep the hammer from busting caps or getting down into the lockworks, really screwing up a day.
2nd: Also fill the slot in the hammer and make it a smooth face so it can't grip the spent cap and pull it off the nipple. (I've never felt the need to cap all six & rest the hammer on the pin between chambers, to the point that I've removed the pins from my cylinders. SASS rules don't allow loading six except in the event of a necessary reload, but must be done on the clock).
3rd: Removing the Colt hand spring, polishing the back of the hand, then drilling thru just above the left grip screw hole and installing a Ruger plunger & coil hand spring.
4th: Replace the leaf bolt/trigger spring with a wire one. Replacement Bolt/Trigger Spring

Those 4 mods along with Treso or Slix Nipples make the cap gun darned near as reliable as a suppository gun! I load my .36s with about 15 grains of 3F, a lubed Wonder Wad on the top of the powder and a .375 ball over that. The .375 in my guns shaves a tiny bit of lead off the edge of the ball, effectively sealing the front of the chamber. (Some of my fellow cowboy shooters have said that new Uberti cap guns need a .380 ball to shave any lead, if that's the case, please use the larger ball). I've loaded like this since I bought my 1st 1851 in 1986 and have never had a chain fire. I also charge all six chambers. And even tho' the 6th is not capped, it's still presented no problem. There've been a few occasions where the compound has been missing out of a cap and instead of trying to pry off the bad cap, I just cap the 6th chamber and go about my business. (Put the gun down when finished and declare it broken, no harm no foul). Others have stated their fears about a chain-fire promulugated from the uncapped nipple... but... either I've been exceedingly lucky, or it's a statistically unlikely event. A couple of folks have stated they've experienced it... but... I think there was another cause, (usually sloppy loading), and they're using an excuse. See also: Preventing Chain Fires.

On that 1st 1851, I broke the hand spring 2 weeks before the big cowboy match every year, End of Trail in 1987. My mentor in cowboy action took my ASM revolver (1985 production made with left over parts from Uberti's inventory for the Colt 2nd Series)* to Lee's Gunsmithing in Santa Ana, CA and had him fix it. He did the modifications describe above in 1, 2 & 3, based on his own shooting of cap & ball revolvers. I've added 4 as I've had my SAAs worked on and after breaking the factory spring in one of my Colt 2nd Series, I replaced it a spare SAA spring I had in my tool box and found this also helps the 1851.

* This is what Boyd Davis told me with I bought it in 1986... and have since verified it as every part interchanges perfectly with the Colt 2nd Series I have, (down to even the screws... all SAE thread), with the sole exception of the barrel to frame fit. The pins are located differently.

P.S. The pictures above are not of my revolver, buy one's Lee sent me so I could describe his work. He's since retired from gunsmithing... so now I have to find someone else to do the work on the two I'm needing done.
Here's a shot of the conversion on my Colt... and a photo of the ASM after 30+ years of cowboy action shooting (although now it's pretty much a back up).

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[Pat C]

Very interesting !