1851, 1860, 1861 revolver comparisons

[Mike.357]

Nice looking flinter there Mark. I am really thinking it might be a good choice should ammo purchases be taxed to death.

#11's will work I am pretty sure. I can use #10's on my '51 Rebel Navy but to be honest they are not reliable. A lot of the time it takes two strikes to set off the cap. #11's go on the first try. But there is a chance of the cap falling off, so pinching it down is key.

The CCI caps are heavier and a little harder to pinch than Remingtons. I like the Remington better but I do use both. 4.75 is a great price for them.

What did you pay for the fff?

[Mark@Sea]

About 20 a pound for the fffg. Got a pound of 4fg for priming the flinters, too. Same price. The pyrodex is running about 14 a pound. What do caps run at home? I thought about buying more than 4 tins, but wasn't sure about it.

[Mike.357]

I can get Remington at Bass Pro or Gander for just under 5 bucks a tin.

CCI I get at a outdoorsman/primitive weapon/hunting goods store. They are 5 bucks for the #10's and 7.50 for the #11 magnums, ouch! I do not buy many magnums unless I can't get Remingtons at Gander Mtn. The guy at the outdoors store does make me a good deal on .454 balls though. better than I can get anywhere else, internet included. so i buy all my lead balls from him. Real nice guy too. I am guessing if I asked he would knock some off the caps as he does on the balls. But I like the Remingtons better anyway.

Goex PB was just over 20 I think, and Pryo is over 20 as well.

What I really need is a flask that measures 20 grns of fff or pyro.

I use a dipper or cartridge to measure my charge now. No big deal really.

[Mark@Sea]

I was looking at flasks last night. I need a primer flask for the 4F, a pistol flask, and a larger flask that will dispense an 80 grain charge... best net deal I found is the regular colt flask for 20 bucks. Unscrew the spout, pour in whatever measured charge you want to use, mark the powder line with a sharpie. 5 minutes with a dremel, a file, and some sandpaper, and you're set. Put your index finger over the tip of the spout, invert and work the spring-loaded valve, and you've got your 20 grains, or whatever.

Haven't found a spout large enough for the 80 grain charge yet.

Want me to order you a colt flask? Might as well save the shipping fee, put it in with my order.

[Mike.357]

Yeah Mark that would be great. I don't know why I never thought about cutting the tip down. I have found that 20 grains works good in all my stuff, 30 is max I shoot but really unless hunting is involved it is a waste of powder.

I use instant grits for filler between the powder and ball. Grits are dirt cheap. Powder is not.

if you can do it let me know what I owe and I will leave it with Sue at our shoot up there in a few weeks.

[Mark@Sea]

Just ordered it, $22, it'll be there when you come up for the shoot. How about trading for balls? 44, 36, or 50's.

[Mike.357]

We could do a trade.

I get .454 balls for 11 bucks a hundred out the door. They are Speer brand, nice and soft.

I am stopping there Friday to get some. I bought the last box last week and asked him to order 4 or 5 more. He does that and puts them on the shelf but I am the only one buying so far. His shelf price is 13.95 but I get a better deal

What size 50 would you be looking for?

PS: Sue is not going to shoot me for getting you hyped up for

BP is she? LOL

[Mark@Sea]

Probably about .490....

I THINK I ordered the flask, and a 20 grain spout, but lost 'net and will have to wait and check my home e-mail to see if they processed the order. Don't wanna order twice.

Don't think she minds too much - she still giggles at me about the cannon.

Out the door and on the road for the next 10 hours or so...

[Mike.357]

I had a dream about your cannon last night, LOL it was weird.

What does it shoot? I asked you in my dream last night and you answered

"number 7's"

What the heck is a number 7?

[Mark@Sea]

Hi Mike, sorry for the late reply.

As far as I know, #7 was a mule in the Grizzly Adams TV series.

The cannon arrived yesterday - what a hoot! 80 grains of 2F makes a dandy boom. I have some .690 balls on order, and some fuse. I shot wads and used 4F in the touchhole, worked like a champ. Also fired my 2 flintlock pistols. The cleaning chore was not as bad as I thought it might be; the hoppes #9 BP formula works well, and I also used Butchs' Bore Shine and Iossol, came out pretty good last night.

Managed to find 1 box of .50 ball for the flintlocks yesterday. Mahoneys or Wideners probably have 36 and 44, but I don't really have time this weekend for that.

[Mike.357]

I will get you two boxes of .454 balls for the .44. I stopped by there today but UPS had not come yet. Anyway he assure dme he ordered them and I can pick them up at my convenience.

Can't wait to see this cannon in action, and I guess we better not shoot any mules.

I bet them flinters were sweet.

[Mark@Sea]

What a day! Found that shop, picked up some powder and a steel frame 1860 .44 he had for $185 - XD, this makes my brass-frame 44 surplus, so if you want to make an offer, I'm open to it.

Saw an 1849, and I want one. Also, picked up my Remington Rand 1911 today. All in all, a good day.

[xd shooter]

Sounds like a really fun day. Sorry Mark I can't put a price on your stuff, though I am interested. PM me a shot at it.

[Mike.357]

Found that shop,

I have only been there one time and spent all of about three minutes there as time was at a premium.

It looked like a cool kind of place. I am hopeful I can stop there this Thursday. I think I am stuck running the Tri-Cities route this coming week, but am hopeful at any rate I can pick up some fff and have fifteen minutes to look around.

[Mark@Sea]

Updates:

The marbles sight is easy to install... especially with a drill press.

That brass frame gun is a remington, so not what you're looking for, XD.

On the road in the morning, back to the boat. Well, it was fun while it lasted....

[Mike.357]

remington

Shot mine today, about 50 rounds of .454 lead downrange propelled by 30 grains of Goex Pinnacle. Also put 15 rounds of .45 Colt through it using the conversion cylinder.

[Mark@Sea]

Mike, Track of the wolf sells measuring spouts for flasks, I ordered you a 20 grainer. Got me one, too, and a 30 for my flinters (both 50 cal), and a 65 for the cannon. That is 20 grains short of max charge, but I don't think I will care too much. The cannon balls came in today. Massive.

[Mike.357]

Track of the wolf sells measuring spouts for flasks, I ordered you a 20 grainer.

Cool, 20 grains is perfect for the '51 Navy. And it works fine in the Remington, I can't remember if I ever tried 20 grains in the 1873. In the 1873 30 grains of fff leaves just enough room for a ball. No need to use grits to get the ball closer to the forcing cone like I usually do with the Remmy and Navy.

[towerclimber37]

Julie said "that's just wrong" about your cannon, mark. she also said that the pistol you want her to shoot is "too pretty to shoot"

I will enjoy shooting cap and ball..I never got into it when you did, so I'll rely on Mike's tutelage to learn about the powder charges, size of balls and so on. I'll do some reading up on it as well!

I put in 67 hours in this week and didn't work last weekend..so almost 70 hours in 5 days.

we went to the aquarium today with my colleague and his wife. it was great! then out to a wonderful dinner.

tomorrow is range day. I will be meeting strickj and glockking at the range and I'm bringing 2 guys from my crew and julie and another wife, so it's going to be a fun day!!

hopefully, work will slow down a little bit after this last tower but I won't count on it.

It's good to see you get home! I look forward to seeing the cannon. ( I missed those posts I guess..so I'm curious to see what it is!)

I'll give you a call tomorrow.

[xd shooter]

Mark I'm just wanting something to get started with you soud like a good guy so I can trust what you say about the gun. Just figure what you need for it & let me know. We can work something out. I'm putting in some long hrs. right now so i'm a little late on the posts.

[Mike.357]

so I can trust what you say about the gun.

XD if Mark says something it is rock solid.

[xd shooter]

I could pretty well tell that by the things he says. That is the reason I keep talking with you two so much is because I'm trusting what you are saying. I would like to see about the Rem. from Mark but I can't call the price on something I have no idea the worth.

[Mike.357]

A lot about the Remmy would depend on the manufacturer.

Has that been mentioned on the subject yet? If so I missed it.

The brass frame would not scare me off. You just have to be careful to not continually shoot hot loads out of it. If you stayed at about 20 grains the gun would last forever. 20 grains is plenty of powder for most any application you would need short of bringing down a bear.

As for gun makers, Uberti is generally excepted as the best maker of BP reproductions, with Pietta a close second. Pietta is nice stuff though.

I have two Pietta pistols, including my Remington and they are well made.

There are some other makers like Armi San Marco and Armi San Paulo. They are little further down on the food chain but not necessarily bad or a problem to have. Just a little harder to get replacement parts for.

I think key to making an offer on his Remmy is to know who made it.

[towerclimber37]

XD,

I know what you mean about the long hours. I'm pulling them too.

[xd shooter]

Thanks for the info Mike. Yea tower it's rough, no weekend at all. I'm overhauling another Detroit engine & would you believe they want it done in two days? I'm just not falling for that anymore, when i'm done i'm done. Though i'm close now!