1860 Short Barreled Revolver

[Rigmarol]

I've heard of a number of guys going with a dove tail solution on their colts but I hesitate. I LIKE the look of the little nub of a site but of course it shoots too high for close up work (I shoot CAS). If i were to dovetail my Dragoons, I almost feel as though I'm putting lipstick on a pig. Out of place although appealing if you're a pig I guess.

Were dove tail front sights done on these guns in their day?  I don't know so I can't say.

[bigted]

i have never seen a period revolver of Colt nor Remington persuasion with a dovetail style site ... however i like the thought and if trimmed to not stick out of the barrel sides then i would imagin that it would be an enhancement rather then a degrading addition.

[Captainkirk]

Not sure if it was done in the day, but I wouldn't hesitate to guess that if a customer wanted a modified sight, any competent 'smith would have at it.
The problem with the C&B revolvers is that most weren't in service long enough to be modified before thjey were eclipsed by the cartridge revolvers when you compare them to, say...a 1911. In fact, you didn't see most of the major 1911 mods start to take place until the late '70s.....some 70 years after the 1911 was introduced. Most of the unmodified C&B revolvers were stuffed in the footlocker or attic after 1873.

[StrawHat]

bigted,

Here is a (slightly out of focus, sorry) photo of the front sight on the short 1860.



I have done simialr to other C&B revolvers and even a few Model P clones.  Why have a revolver that doesn't shoot to your needs?  Yes, they were done during the original era.  Not to every revovler but to enough that you can find one if you look.  Same with short barrels.  Some (few) left the Colt factory with other than 7 1/2" or 8" barrels but many were shortened by the owners.  but most were left as made by Colts.

And please do not believe the C&B revolvers were retired in 1873.  They were in common use by civilians much later than that.  Many were converted to handle cartridges also.  The Model 1873 Colt was sold mainly to the Army, few civilian sales were made in the first 5 or so years.  So if you wanted a handgun, you had two choices, C&B or conversion.  And the conversion was less expensive than buying  a whole new revolver.  That may have been a consideration when the average cowhand made $1 a day.

There was alaso a special dovetailed sight I made and installed on a Model P.  I made the sight with very long base wings and after sighting it in I rolled the wings down and cut them so they met under the barrel.  A touch of solder and it looked like a banded front sight.  A fellow shooter liked it enough he convinced me to sell it to him.  Wish I had a photo of it.

[bigted]

nice. very cool. think i will give it a try on a barrel piece i have layin around.

[Captainkirk]

And please do not believe the C&B revolvers were retired in 1873.  They were in common use by civilians much later than that.  Many were converted to handle cartridges also.  The Model 1873 Colt was sold mainly to the Army, few civilian sales were made in the first 5 or so years.  So if you wanted a handgun, you had two choices, C&B or conversion.  And the conversion was less expensive than buying  a whole new revolver.  That may have been a consideration when the average cowhand made $1 a day.

Guess I should clarify my statement; as Straw Hat put it, many of the C&B's were converted to cartridge rather than stuck in the trunk, but a man shooting a C&B in the late '70's was undergunned and outdated. Hell, Bannerman had a whole warehouse full of Rogers & Spencers that he sold as novelties or lamps and scrap metal  because nobody wanted them.