Colt's Navy questions.

[Quincy]

I recently picked up an Uberti 1851 in .36. I have read many of the postings on this sub-forum, but still have a couple of questions. Reading through the post about tuning the old C & B revolvers, one of the suggested steps is to replace the hand spring with the coil spring conversion. Does the hand spring break frequently? If so, can the spring be replaced or does the hand and spring need to be replaced as an assembly? If the hand is replaced, does it need to be tuned in any way?

I see several purveyors offer replacement nipples that advertise that they'll work better at holding the caps in place. True? If so, any suggestions which seem to work best?

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome.

Q

[AKexpat]

I have 7 different Pietta 1851 Navy .36 type pistols. It is well known in these circles that the Ubertis are known for a short arbor/deep arbor recess in the barrel lug, which if not corrected will cause the pistol to shoot loose eventually, sooner than later. If you use the wedge to adjust the barrel/cylinder gap, you have this problem.

Piettas do not have this problem.

Insofar as caps/nipples are concerned, it depends upon the brand/size caps you use. If the cap fits snugly on the nipple without pinching it, you are good. If it fits looser than that, you can slightly file a bit from the nipple ends to make the nipple larger in diameter, thus the cap will fit tighter. If you can seat the cap without using a small wooden dowel to push it firmly onto the nipple, it is too large for the nipple.

If you want different nipples, go to

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/

They have just about anything you need.

I have never have had a hand or spring break. If you want the coil spring (ala Ruger Old Army) and are concerned about it, contact Mike (Goon) at

http://www.goonsgunworks.com/

He does many good things for replica 1851 Navy revolvers, especially Ubertis. To adjust for the arbor/recess slack he does the modification to the recess as opposed to the arbor length, so you can use any other barrel you have for the gun modified the same without changing the arbor length.

He will completely go through your gun and do the modifications you wish. I have never heard of a single complaint about him or his work from anyone. He will also install a cap rake so the spent caps fall outside the action. He will tune the action so that the timing is right with the bolt to the cylinder. If your mainspring is too heavy, he can cure that also.

It will possibly cost as much as you spent for your gun, but IMO well worth it.

If you are able to catch him on the phone, he will talk your ear off, which is a good thing, but it takes him away from doing work on the many guns he has on his backlog. He is that good.

I am in no way associated with Goon and his enterprise.

Just my $.02 worth.

Jim

[rodwhaincamo]

I don’t require a dowel to seat the caps on my stock Pietta nipples or my ToTW replacement nipples on my ROA and they are a perfect fit and don’t jam up the works. I wouldn’t want to need a dowel to load my guns.

[Hellgate]

I have owned about 40 C&Bs since my first one in 1968. I have never had a steel framed gun shoot loose due to a short arbor. And yes, I adjust the cylinder gap with wedge tension. It's not ideal but it will work for several thousand rounds. I would not file the ends of the nipples to make them shorter & fatter in order to fit the caps or else the hammer will no longer hit the caps to set them off. You would need to shim up the nipples. I have shimmed up many a low nipple. Just replace them with TOW's stainless replacement nipples or get the Slix Shot nipples. I still have my first C&B: an Uberti 1861 36cal Navy and it is as tight as the day I bought it. Yes, you can replace the spring on the hand. I use a section of hairpin as my spring. Cut to length and shape it like the original. You need to stake it in place like the original. I've done a half dozen of those. The plunger type hand sporing is far superior but I wouldn't automatically do it unless you plan of shooting your gun a lot. I believe my '61 Navy is still on its original hand spring. I use a dowel to do the final cap seating. Cuts Crooked has about 1/2 of a thumbnail left after his loaded chamber blew while seating a cap with his thumb. I agree with pretty much everything else said above.

[bedbugbilly]

I echo Hellgate . . .

I have owned many C & B revolvers - first one in the early 1960s and with the exception of a couple, all have been 1851 Navy models. I've never had a steel frame shoot loose. Before "slicking" up your Navy . . . shoot it. Then shoot it some more. A good set of nipples makes all the difference in the world when compared to some of the "factory" nipples that come on the C & Bs today. Both Piettas and puberties are good. Some of the older brands - Army San Marko (ASM), etc. were known for soft internals and quite honestly, quality varied a lot.

I'm shooting a Uberti 1851 now and just added a Uberti Richards & Mason Conversion (38 spell). I have never had to replace any of the internals on any of the revolvers I've owned over the years with the exception of a 1860 Army (Dixie Gun Works stamped) that I bought probably around 1976 or so - I'm not sure now just who the maker was but the thing was off on it.

Shoot your pistol and enjoy it. You'll figure out soon if you need new nipples, etc. A lot of folks complain about cap fragments locking up the works . . . if you had been alvie when the originals were sold, you'd learn the "Colt twist" when cocking and it would be second nature to you. The one thing you may notice is that it is probably going to shoot high. Shooting a single action, especially the Colts with a notched hammer and minimal front sight requires "kentucky windage" - the same goes for a 1873 SAA. The post front sight on a 1851 can easily be removed and a taller one fashioned out of a piece of brass/bronze brazing rod to get it up where you can shoot to point of aim.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Quincy]

Is the front sight simply press fit to the barrel?

[Fingers McGee]

What Hellgate and BBB said +1. I use Slix Shot nipples on my competition C&Bs and Treso nipples on all others. I use #10 Remington caps exclusively on the C&Bs that I shoot without problems. I've broken so many hand springs over the years (three in one match) that my competition guns have the coil spring mod. Anyone with a drill press could do it.

[Hellgate]

Quincy,
The '51 Navy sights I have removed were merely inserted into an untapped flat bottomed hole. Several original Navy colts I've examined had dovetailed front sights. I suspect many originals had windage problems like their Italian copies.

Fingers,
I've only broken TWO handsprings in the same match. So far, I have not had to replace a bobbypin hand spring. I love it when we concur on opinions.

[Quincy]

Thanks for all the information. I appreciate it.