Engraved 1851 sale

[sourdough]

Hi, I took apart the new Pietta engraved .44 1851 for inspection and cleaning. The interior of the revolver was spotless, not a hint of debris. The new Wolff reduced power spring was installed and the hand was shortened slightly so the revolver would work with the Howell 1860 .45 Colt conversion cylinder. The revolver was assembled and checked using both the C&B and conversion cylinder, perfect. There is one aspect of this engraved revolver that may put some people off. The frame color is more like a muddy rust than a red and blue color typical of recent Pietta's. The frame appeared shiny with the Pietta preservation oil on it, but with Ballistol, the frame looks a bit dull. I kind of like it, it's not prissy, but handsome in its dullness. IMO this revolver will serve well as a shooter. The promised photos:

Regards,
Richard

Thanks for the photos! I like it, as well as the case colors. Not the norm insofar as Pietta repros go, but I really think Pietta has been re-thinking their business model over the past few years. Your pistol exhibits the newer grip profile and the wood figure is better than the quarter-sawed and flat-sawed wood I have on my G&G and 1851 Navy Third/Fourth Model I have. Your pistol must have a date code of [CN] or [CP] in order to have that grip-style configuration.

And, you have a blued steel TG and BS that makes it look like a faux London Navy Model. If I had a nickname for that pistol, it would be "Blackie". It is that nice!

I am not a fan of 1851 Navy .44 pistols, but it looks like you have winner here.

With the conversion cylinder, that will be an awesome pistol! Looking forward to range reports with the .45 Colt.

You done good, boy (in my best Southern parlance)!

Congrats!

Jim

[ssb73q]

Hi Jim, it may not just be the age of this revolver that eliminates the dreaded Pietta tail. IMO it is a "London" model where Pietta never had the "tail". When adding the reduced power spring, I needed to grind off ~1/8" off the bottom if the spring to have the backstrap install properly. This suggests that the Pietta London model also has a shorter grip than the other Pietta 1851s.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, a dovetail slot was cut in the engraved Pietta 1851 barrel. That dovetail tool is slicker than sliced bread. To mount the tool on the barrel, the loading lever post needed to be drifted out. I had always understood that dovetails on firearms should be drifted left to right to remove a dovetail part. I learned today that it is just the opposite with this revolver. The part came out, but may be a little loose going back in where I may need to peen the dovetail. It's always something.

The dovetail for the 0.4" high dovetail sight:



BTW, that silver stuff on the barrel is duct tape to protect the barrel when in the soft jaw vice. Just before final sight installation, the bare steel in the dovetail will be blued.

I heard back from Mike that he will make me a leather holster for this revolver with a high front sight capability. I'm so pleased. That holster can then also be used for my other 1851s with tall front sights.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, while waiting for the steel dovetail sights I roughed in a similar sized brass sight to see if it is high enough for .45 Colt. These are a few photos:



The debris on the sight is dust from a rag.





The revolver was then laser bore sighted to check if the sight is high enough. It's plenty high and would be filed to have poi=poa. That sharp edge on the back of the sight will be radiused so that it won't cut up the holster.

I kind of like the brass front sight and may not use the steel sight, need to see the steel sights first.

Regards,
Richard

[LonesomePigeon]

I think the brass sight looks good on that gun. I have a question about that dovetail jig too. Would it work for putting in a rear sight over the barrel lug area?

[ssb73q]

Hi Lonesome, that dovetail tool won't work for the rear area of the barrel because the barrel won't fit in the tool:

http://www.cainsoutdoor.com/shop/item.asp?item=302417

It would be possible to do that by hand just using a "safe" file if you are careful.

I would be very reluctant in putting in a dovetail for a rear sight because the front sight would then need to be very high. Also, the shorter sight radius would hurt accuracy IMO.

I got the steel sights, but like you I like the brass sight best. The back end of the sight has been radiused to minimize cutting the holster. I now need to have good weather to do the final sighting in with the .45 Colt conversion cylinder.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, the last check I did on this Pietta engraved 1851 was to measure the barrel/cylinder gap. The C&B cylinder has a gap of 0.007", the gap for the Howell .45 Colt conversion cylinder is slightly less than 0.003". Since the conversion cylinder gap is small enough and this revolver will be used mostly with the conversion cylinder, I will leave the arbor length alone.

Can't wait to shoot this new revolver.

Regards,
Richard

[sourdough]

Hi, the last check I did on this Pietta engraved 1851 was to measure the barrel/cylinder gap. The C&B cylinder has a gap of 0.007", the gap for the Howell .45 Colt conversion cylinder is slightly less than 0.003". Since the conversion cylinder gap is small enough and this revolver will be used mostly with the conversion cylinder, I will leave the arbor length alone.

Can't wait to shoot this new revolver.

Regards,
Richard

Richard,

That .007" gap seems a tad bit excessive, IMO. I hope the wedge is fully seated as that will change the barrel/cylinder gap if not, as you well know.

Good luck with the project, sir!

Jim

[ssb73q]

Hi, dovetailing the front sight of the engraved Pietta .44 1851 went so easy, it got me thinking about doing the same for another Pietta .44 1851 I own. Slam bam thank you mam, it's done, see:



The engraved 1851 is on top.

Now I can accurately shoot .45 Colt from each of these revolvers. And yes, I have two Howell 1860 .45 Colt conversion cylinders.

Regards,
Richard

[Captainkirk]

Richard, that is a very nice looking pair of revolvers. And the fact you can shoot .45LC makes them even better! I do prefer the newer version without the "Pietta Tail", but they are both very nice examples!

[ssb73q]

Hi Kirk, someday when I get brave enough I will do something about those 1851 Pietta tails. The brass backstraps should be easy enough to reshape. The main reason I haven't worked on this is that there is a possibility that there are voids in the brass that machining may expose. In practice, I haven't seen a difference in the ability to properly hold those Pietta tailed revolvers. Fixing them may just be for the aesthetics. But then how do you make a .44 1851 .36? 

Regards,
Richard

[Captainkirk]

Never thought about voids. Watching Mike Beliveau do a re-shaping on YouTube looked fairly quick and easy, so I assumed it would go smoothly but I suppose it's a possibility?
One thing that irks me is wood-to-metal transition that is not perfect, so to me it would be an opportunity to repair that situation at the same time, though most of the new Piettas are very good in that regard.

[ssb73q]

Hi Kirk, this is Mike's video on reshaping the Pietta grip:



Unfortunately I can't find that video that showed a mod with the brass having a casting voids.

The finish on Pietta 1851 grips is like red mud where a refinishing job would provide a more desirable grip finish.

These Pietta tail mods is on my revolver to do list.

The only problem doing mods like this is that the revolver is changed from the original manufacture where value may be decreased. But then again, why should I care since I will never sell the revolvers myself.

Regards,
Richard

[Captainkirk]

Hi Kirk, this is Mike's video on reshaping the Pietta grip:



Unfortunately I can't find that video that showed a mod with the brass having a casting voids.

The finish on Pietta 1851 grips is like red mud where a refinishing job would provide a more desirable grip finish.

These Pietta tail mods is on my revolver to do list.

The only problem doing mods like this is that the revolver is changed from the original manufacture where value may be decreased. But then again, why should I care since I will never sell the revolvers myself.

Regards,
Richard

If you frequent the auction sites you will find that a used Pietta sells for around .50 cents on the dollar anyway (that is, the ones that actually sell and don't keep getting relisted)
Unless it's a "collectible" I wouldn't let that bother you.

[ssb73q]

Hi, I just received a new lined holster made by Leathersmith Mike that allows my 1851 revolvers with tall front sight fit. This is the holster with the engraved Pietta 1851 with 0.4" tall front sight, see:



The holster is beautiful and allows all my tall front sight 1851s to fit like a glove. Mike sure does good work. 

Regards,
Richard