BRASSERS....ya love 'em or ya hate 'em, it seems. One one hand, brass frame revolvers are structurally weaker than their steel brethren. You don't have to be a metallurgist to grasp the obvious. Many will tell you to skip the brasser altogether and spend the extra on a steel-framed revolver. This is sage advice as a whole. But, the brassers have their own qualities that shouldn't be overlooked, including:
1) Brass is easy to machine with simple hand tools and sandpaper
2) Brass polishes up like 14 carat gold with a little brass polish and some elbow grease
3) Brass is easily de-farbed for those so inclined
4) Once you've worked your brass, no re-bluing is required. Just polish it
5) If you don't like what you did, do some more work and polish again. Repeat as necessary
6) While not the same metallurgy (original period brassers contained more bronze and were likely stronger) they are, for the most part, historically correct, and make an interesting platform for a collection of Confederate revolvers.
7) Brassers are considerably cheaper, especially on the auction websites, than their steel counterparts. One can build a rather large collection of brassers for the same dollar amount as a modest collection of steel-framed revolvers, and even less for that of the XX-generation Colts.
Of course, one must load brassers to much lighter limits, and there is always the potential for the Colt repros 'shooting loose'. You might win a few, lose a few in this arena, especially if you are buying used from an unknown history. However, if the recoil shield is un-dented and the arbor is tight, there is no reason to expect it would shoot loose if you treat it right. And one can't deny that a properly shined-up brasser is a beautiful sight to behold!
While the debate will probably rage on forever, let's hear your opinions....good or bad....and brasser stories. Vive le brasser!
