Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

I don't want this to come across as a complaint, but anyway here goes. About 20 years ago I needed a backstrap/trigger guard on a early 3rd generation Colt SAA re-blued. I sent it to Colt and it came back a plum color. Someone locally tried and it was again plum color. Decided to send it to Turnbull and it came back plum color again. I called Turnbull and was told there was something about the alloy used in the early 3rd gen Colts. You would figure Colt themselves would know what to do. Anyway I asked another local gunsmith (Dewey Vicknair) to rust blue it and it finally was satisfactory. Lost touch with Mr. Vicknair and hope he still in business as this gentleman does absolutely beautiful work.

I had to satisfy my curiosity about the mainspring strength, which started this thread, on my Colt repro percussion pistols in regard to cap problems. Last night I installed an Uberti mainspring that I previously removed from an Uberti Cattleman about 25 years ago. At that time Uberti was installing a much heavier mainspring and I installed it in one of my Uberti 51 Navy squarebacks. This gun had benefitted from Arbor length correction,  polished internals and hammer face and Slix-Shot nipples. Even using Remington #10 caps this gun still would give the occasional cap issue. So this morning I tested the same gun with a variety of projectiles from round ball and three different heel bullets ranging from 100 to 135 gr. weight. Charge was 18 gr Swiss 3F and Rem. #10 caps. I went from slow, one shot at a time(checking for expended cap fragments) to working the hammer as fast as I cared to for six shots. After 50 rounds there were no cap jamming issues. The new mainspring, while heavier, was not objectionable and could readily be cocked with one hand. Plus the hammer fall was quicker and seemed to "pin" the exploded cap to its nipple.
So I guess more testing is in order, but it was nice to enjoy a morning's shooting with this gun.

Well Mike, I may as well just copy Hawg's reply to your question for the most part. Since I consider modern caps as the real problem, I don't care to modify the guns. I am even a long time avid Cowboy shooter, but one who approaches things from an historical standpoint. However, I don't shoot the percussion pistols exclusively. With the already mentioned attention each gun receives, cap jams are not frequent. Admittedly, though, right in the middle of a Cowboy Match is not the time to be experiencing a cap jam! I fully agree that a light, smooth action is a joy to use, but if a heavier mainspring will almost eliminate those last few cap jams(on the few guns so prone), so be it. Since I don't participate in Cowboy matches worrying about my final Match Standing, what makes me happy is a nice clean presentation as close to period correct as reasonable.
I just saw on another site where someone is approaching the modern cap problem by making his own thicker caps on a 3-D printer! So far no report on how they are working. I would be willing to accept caps made of a different material since the modern cap manufacturers don't seem inclined to address the issue.

I'll say thank you as well, hoping all goes well. I tried making my own caps in the past and hated doing it. This from a person who will happily spend hours and days making paper cartridges, so I don't mind tedious work related my black powder interests. Good luck.

Yes, you would think a museum would strive to be accurate, which is why the new Visitors Center in Gettysburg is such a disappointment to me. They replaced a lot of the original guns with obviously new reproductions. Then, going to their Bookstore, I searched in vain for any firearms related material. I still enjoy a visit to Gettysburg but now look forward to stopping in Dirty Billy's Hats downtown.

Makes me feel pretty smart(sort of)that I spent the last two weeks constructing the paper tubes for .36 and .44. Not quite done yet until I have a nice big pile for both. Loading the powder later is the easy part as I don't personally load any projectile as I don't know which round ball or conical I'll be using that day. Also, so many of the reproduction pistols won't take an entire paper cartridge length without modification. I mostly use the paper cartridges at Cowboy Shoots as they make the loading process quicker and easier. But geez Mike, I couldn't believe the price either.
Hawg, you ask who would buy them? Muzzleloader magazine had articles recently where the author purchased paper cartridges in both 36 and 44 to test in percussion pistols. Said he was going to buy more. I don't understand this as the gentleman is a very experienced black powder shooter and recognized author and I'm sure he would know how to make these things.

Too Good not to post this! Merry Christmas and Happy New year Everyone!!

Zulch, yes I found it tedious to remove the cylinder each time in a Colt type. Any other conversion I've done on a Colt I used the Kirst and cut the loading port.
 As for the question about smokeless, I almost fainted thinking about using it.