Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

 I'll put a few more rounds through it this summer before I make any changes of any kind, just to get more familiar with it.
Thanks for the input.

Brownie

Oldman,...Question for you.
In your post # 38,  you said " This thing was not releasing the bolt until the hammer actually hit the nipple".
By that statement, did you mean that the that the hammer cam was not releasing the bolt to timely engage a cylinder notch as you pulled the hammer to
the full cock position??
Thanks,
Brownie

Greetings all,       

  As you all know, replica Colts from Italy have been hard to come by in recent years. I had been interested in a Uberti 1861 Navy for sometime. Last June Taylor’s website suddenly changed from “out of stock” to “in stock” for the 1861, and so time to place my order.

   On arrival, and after cleaning of enough preservative oil to top off the lawnmower, I was quite
pleased with the parts fit and finish as well as the lock work.  Timing seems right on and the bolt locks up the cylinder nice and tight at full cock. The only “fly in the bullet lube” was that the wedge would bottom out against its retaining screw. It was not a really sloppy fit, it’s just that I could move it with my thumb alone.  So back to Taylor’s it went.

   Their fix was to peen the front of the arbor slot in an attempt to upset the metal and narrow the slot. It sorta worked, but after 50 or so rounds its not really as tight as it should be. Taylor’s gets an “A” for effort and quick turn around time,….  and some knucklehead at Uberti gets an “F” Minus for not rejecting it during their Q.C. process.

  Anyway, I replaced the original nipples with a set of S.S. ones from Track of The Wolf and tested it with Hornady .375 R.B.’s , over 15 grains of FFFG and Cream of Wheat filler topped with a little Crisco.

  With nine cylinders of R.B.s through it, I was quite surprised and pleased with the accuracy.
It is more accurate than my two Second Gen. Colts and maybe even a bit better than my Uberti Remington.
So far the wedge has not changed position during shooting, and the barrel is not loose on the arbor. I hope to cure the wedge issue with proper lengthening of the arbor, or maybe just send the thing to Mr. Goon.

  The really interesting thing about shooting the gun was that it was shooting dead on the mark at my 20 yard range right out of the box with NO sight tinkering. The 1861 Navy has a blade style sight as opposed to the 1851’s “golden pimple”. Perhaps that is the difference ???

So,…I wonder if anyone else who might own a Uberti 1861 Navy finds that it shoots very close to the mark without sight adjustment ?

I also wonder what sight modifications other 1861 Navy owners have found beneficial to accurate shooting ? Does everyone enlarge the hammer notch a bit?

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions or comments on the 1861 Navy that may be offered.

Brownie

I just noted in the news that the bridge tender in West Palm Beach Florida has been arrested in the case of the elderly women who fell from the bridge as it was being raised last February. She was charged with "manslaughter by culpable negligence".
With that event in mind, hard to believe at least Baldwin and the armorer won't be charged.

Brownie

Thanks for the complements. I read some of the comments about flintlocks, and perceived ignition lag . The Jim Chambers lock is an excellent lock that is very fast with ignition. Once I touch the front trigger, as soon as I hear /sense the flint strike the frizzen the round ball is on it's way. Seems like the key to flintlocks is a quality lock, correct orientation to the flash hole, and of course a good sharp flint. It produces between one and two inch (bench rest) groups at fifty yards.
 
Flintlocks take a lot of experimenting with load components. For example, common recommendation is the tightest ball / patch combination you can hammer down the bore. Not always. I started with a .015 linen patch and .360 R/Balls. Took a while to figure out, but this rifle seems to shoot best with a .358 R/B and .010 patch with just a "dash" of spit. Saturating a patch with lube, of whatever type, may not always be conducive to allowing the ball a good grip on the rifling with the patch in all cases.

In 21 years of shooting this rifle, I've never had a problem with the lock. The frizzen still makes lots pf sparks. This rifle has a straight barrel. I have another rifle ready to be started with a "swamped" barrel, (tapered and flared). They are much lighter for off hand shooting. That rifle will also wear a Chambers lock.    I made the bag and the horn.
Here's another photo,...forgive me, I'm still getting hang of correctly resizing them ! 

Do these cappers work with Remingtons ?
thanks

Very nice photos, and that Northern Shoveler pair have quite a bow wave, too !