This pistol started life as a .44 Navy Sheriff Model, with a brass frame. It came in a lot of Pietta guns I bought on GB. I didn't pay a lot for the guns, so the Navy brasser was just kind of a bonus gun. I'm not really into the fantasy stuff, but I had an idea of what to do with it.
I went on eBay and found a Pietta 1860 Army frame for cheap. It was brand new and only $80. And it was steel. Perfect. So I swapped out all the brasser parts to the steel frame and was pretty content with it. It was a real testament to the interchangeability of Pietta parts. The only real work it needed was a little file work on the hammer channel. I slicked up the guts just because I was already in there. Then I got another brilliant idea.
I already have several Navy clones most in .36 but also a couple in .44 caliber. So I didn't really need another one, I decided to make this one a cartridge gun. I had a Howell conversion, that I used in my other .44 Navy to fire .45 Colt BP loads in. So I put that cylinder into this gun. It worked perfectly. No work needed.
It's really fun to shoot and easy to grab and carry. And speaking of carry, it kinda became my go-to gun when I feel I need to take a pistol with me. It fit's into a jacket pocket really nice and 5 rounds of .45 Colt, loaded with 30 grains of BP and a 250 grain bullet, isn't anything to sneeze at. I just like it.
Then I got my last idea for this pistol. I decided that since I'm carrying it around when I need it, I didn't want it flashy. So I swapped out the backstrap and trigger guard with the other .44 Navy. I like the dark blue better on this gun. Just kind of blacks it out instead of being blingy like the polished brass. It's also a more open, rounded trigger guard. I like the look of it. Hope you enjoy it too.
