Howell Uberti .45 Colt COAL

[ssb73q]

Hi, can someone tell me the maximum .45 Colt COAL for the Howell Uberti 1860 conversion cylinder?

I know that the COAL for the Pietta 1860 Howell (Taylor) conversion cylinder is ~1.580". I have more than a thousand .45 Colt loaded to the 1.550" COAL. This is shorter than the spec COAL for .45 Colt, 1.60". A COAL of 1.60" is too long for use in the Howell Pietta 1860 conversion cylinder.

I noticed on the Kirst site that they specify a maximum COAL for their .45 Colt Uberti 1860 conversion cylinder of 1.53". If that holds for the Howell cylinder, I'm screwed.

Thursday I should get a new Uberti 1860 that I would like to add a Howell conversion cylinder if I can use my loaded .45 Colt ammo.

Anyone know of the maximum COAL for the Uberti 1860 Howell (Taylor) conversion cylinder?

Regards,
Richard

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Richard,

Howell's page states it is chambered for the 45 Schofield, which is 0.176" shorter than the 45 Colt.
I'm thinking the 45 Colt will stop short of going all the way in because of the chamber, hopefully I'm wrong.

"The OS1860 converts your Uberti or Pietta 1860 ‘Army’ style revolver to fire the venerable .45 Schofield cartridge!
To obtain this, the cylinder was engineered to have a five shot capacity and for use in CAS competition."

[ssb73q]

Hi Antique, the Howell (Taylor) .45 Colt 1860 conversion cylinder is known to not allow spec .45 Colt, 1.6", to fit that cylinder. The Pietta version of that cylinder has a maximum COAL of 1.58" (measured). I have loaded all my .45 Colt to a COAL of 1.55" so they fit in my two conversion cylinders. From information on the Kirst site their 1860 cylinder for the Uberti is 0.05" shorter than the Pietta cylinder. If the difference is similar for the Howell, I'm SOL. I'm still waiting for a reply to my emails from Howell and Taylor on the Uberti 1860 COAL.

I suspected that the Uberti 1860 C&B cylinder is ~0.020" shorter than the Pietta, but don't know for sure. If that is the case, my loaded .45 Colt cartridges may still fit in the Howell (Taylor) Uberti 1860 conversion cylinder. I won't know the Pietta/Uberti C&B cylinder difference until I get my Uberti tomorrow.

Regards,
Richard

[sltm1]

ssb, I ran into that problem a while back with a gun i no longer own. My fix was to wipe the tip of the lead projectile on a piece of concrete removing some  till the cylinder rotated with out a hang up....lot's easier than un loading and reloading a bunch of rounds!!

[ssb73q]

Hi sltm1, I had thought of making a jig for my mini-lathe to trim off a few thousands from the bullet end. It is disappointing that both Howell and Taylor hasn't replied to my email on the COAL for their Uberti 1860 conversion cylinder. I even spelled out COAL, cartridge overall length.

I had hoped that someone here would post the difference between the length of C&B cylinders between the Uberti and Pietta 1860. Tomorrow I will determine that for myself after I get the Uberti 1860 and post that result for the archive of this message board. As far as I can find on the internet, data of cylinder length for Uberti and Pietta C&B cylinders doesn't exist.

Regards,
Richard

[sltm1]

Well, when out at the range, when i shoot more than I expected to (usually), it's hard to plug in a lathe LOL. My only conversion cylinder is an older Rogers & Spencer 6 shot by R&D, so i can't help with the measurements

[ssb73q]

Hi, I heard back from Taylor Firearms about the COAL of their Uberti 1860 conversion cylinder:

"The max OAL is 1.570 for .45 LC."

That's great since I will be able to use my loaded .45 Colt with a COAL of 1.55" with that cylinder.

I ordered the Taylor conversion cylinder.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, the new Taylor Uberti 1860 .45 Colt conversion cylinder arrived. It dropped right in and the timing is perfect. I measured the COAL of both the Uberti .45 Colt conversion cylinder and the Pietta .45 Colt cylinder, both are exactly 1.575". How can the be since the Uberti C&B cylinder is smaller than the Pietta C&B? The difference is made up by the thickness of the conversion rear plate that holds the firing pins. The Uberti is 0.250" thick, the Pietta 0.273".

I'm now one happy camper in that my thousand+ of loaded .45 Colt has a COAL of 1.550".

BTW, the Taylor 1860 conversion cylinder has a larger COAL than the Kirst, something to keep in mind.

Regards,
Richard

[AntiqueSledMan]

Richard,

You say the only difference is in the rear plate?
Are they interchangeable?

[45 Dragoon]

My Kirst gated '60 (Pietta) has no problem with off the shelf 250gr rnfp ammo. If my '60 had been an Uberti, I wouldn't have gotten the Kirst (or any other) for it.  Worst thing with it being a 5 shot now is the timing issue. That's why my time is more focused on the Dragoons.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

[ssb73q]

Hi Antique, the body of the cylinders are identical except that the registration pin is longer on the Pietta cylinder, shorter on the Uberti cylinder.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, today I got a good deal on a Howell Uberti .45 Colt 1860 conversion cylinder. Midway occasionally has sales on their conversion cylinders where I check often. I like to have two conversion cylinders for each of the BP revolver models. I only had one conversion cylinder for my Uberti 1860. Today there was this conversion cylinder on sale for $163:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/135064/howell-old-west-conversions-conversion-cylinder-44-caliber-uberti-1860-army-steel-frame-black-powder-revolver-45-colt-long-colt-5-round-stainless

Only one was available at the sales price. It's stainless steel, but may look cool in a blued Uberti 1860 revolver.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, today I got a good deal on a Howell Uberti .45 Colt 1860 conversion cylinder. Midway occasionally has sales on their conversion cylinders where I check often. I like to have two conversion cylinders for each of the BP revolver models. I only had one conversion cylinder for my Uberti 1860. Today there was this conversion cylinder on sale for $163:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/135064/howell-old-west-conversions-conversion-cylinder-44-caliber-uberti-1860-army-steel-frame-black-powder-revolver-45-colt-long-colt-5-round-stainless

Only one was available at the sales price. It's stainless steel, but may look cool in a blued Uberti 1860 revolver.

Regards,
Richard

Hi, the new on sale Howell stainless steel .45 Colt conversion cylinder just came in the door. That stainless steel is sure gorgeous. The cylinder dropped right in to my Uberti 1860s with zero issues, the gap is the same as my other .45 Colt conversion cylinder. The Uberti with stainless steel conversion cylinder:



I think that the stainless steel conversion cylinder in the blued 1860 looks cool. I will shoot it Saturday.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, my son-in-law was out yesterday and we shot the stainless steel .45 Colt conversion cylinder in the Uberti 1860 shown above. The conversion cylinder worked perfectly, but when we got to shot 143 my son-in-law said "where is the front sight"? The front sight popped out of the revolver. We found it a few feet behind where my son-in-law was shooting.

I never never would have expected a tight fitting 1860 brass front sight that was also JB Weld would pop out. The sight took rough filing during sighting in, ~01" was filled off, and holstering, but then failed when shooting. This now has me concerned for all the other tall sights installed in my other 1860s.

Looking at the sight that failed, it is very shiny where maybe the JB Weld failed to hold the sight? Maybe I should rough up the sight and the barrel key slot and reinstall? Try red loctite instead of JB Weld? I may give this stuff a try:

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/thread-locking-liquids/black-max-adhesive-prod6139.aspx

Have you ever experienced a handgun front sight popping off when shooting?

Regards,
Richard

[45 Dragoon]

I would use the black stuff. And, this is exactly why I don't do front sights ( yet anyway). I can't afford to spend the time, only to have them sent back. They probably wouldn't be able to find the sight so I'd have to make another one, blah blah blah. Lol!!

If I was set up to dovetail sights, that would be the way to go for customers. The only sight I've done for a customer was on a '60 and it was an 1860 penny  (date showing). It was soldered into a the base part of the original sight after the base had been prepared to receive it.  It took time .  .  .  . 

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks