First shots with new Uberti 1861 Navy

Status
Not open for further replies.
Stock they are great...but ive since opened up chambers to be .003 over groove diameter of .372 (chambers came stock .365-.367 and are now all .375) and have a wire spring set up internally. Now my guns are very accurate and i get no gas cutting etc

Seems kind of goofy that they would bore the chambers under-size. Perhaps they are trying to reduce pressures in case the shooter manages to load up with a hard cast bullet and a maximum load of Triple 7 (or something like that).
 
Mr.desmobob....remington 11s work just as well as the 10s. Check around for those. Unlike CCI's whos 10s are smaller than their 11s, remington 10s are just a little longer (longer skirt) than 11s but are the same dimentions overall. All i can get locally are remington 11s for $3.19 a tin...so i stock up when i can, but i also make my own caps.
 
Mr.desmobob...also wanted to ask if you are using any lube. If so...what kind? Over the ball? Over powder but under ball? Lubed felt wad? Its great that you are using triple 7, id stay away from pyrodex...that stuff is nasty. I would say that if you are going to order remington caps i would order from sportsmans warehouse because they sell them for $5.99 and while you are at it get some BlackMZ....its a very very clean and inexpensive black powder substitute and they have it for $9.99 a pound at sportsmans warehouse where we it costs 25-30 bucks everywhere else. It will be very much worth paying the hazmat fee. I only use my very strong clean burning homemade black powder but if i use store bought powder then i use Old Eynseford because its way cleaner and stronger than the other powders....it pretty much matches Swiss but costs about 1/3 less. And if im not using black powder all i will ever use is BlackMZ. Try it...im sure you will enjoy it and its well worth the price, that is if you go through sportsmans warehouse.
 
I am currently using pre-lubricated Ox-Yoke wads. I'm getting three cylinders of shooting before fouling starts slowing things down. I made up some lube pills last night that I'll experiment with this afternoon (lamb tallow/paraffin/beeswax) and my order from Durafelt arrives today, so I can make up some more heavily-lubed wads than the Ox-Yokes. I have some lanolin to add to the tallow/parafin/beeswax mix this time.

I contacted Sportsman's Warehouse about ordering a thousand of the Remington #10 caps but they said they can't ship them; they must be picked up in one of their stores. Their nearest store is about four states away from me. :-( I'm going to have to order a large quantity of them from somewhere else.

Thanks for the tips,
Bob
 
Thats very strange. I purchased 8 tins from them once along with 10 pounds of Black MZ and i had no issue. This was only like 3 months ago too
 
Mr.desmobob, i too used durofelt and made gato feo #1 lube and even a stiffer version of equal lambs tallow, bees wax, and paraffin wax...they worked great but i noticed i didnt need as much lube in such a small barrel and the wad took up valuable powder space so i experimented for months making pills and cookies and all types of lubes. Turns out all i needed was a semi stiff thin lube "disc" made of 1:5 or 1:6 of tallow to bees wax. So id get a 4×8 inch baking pan (measured at the bottom, they taper larger at the top so they may be called a 5×9 pan for making loaves of bread) with a paper towel cut to fit the bottom 4x8 inches. Then i put 20 grams of my 1:6 tallow to beeswax ratio...melt it and once its soaked up by the paper towel u can cool it and out pops a thin sheet of lube wax. Then i punch out my thin discs and place them over powder and under ball/bullet. Since its so thin it desinigrates and lubes the entire bore very well and its stiff enough not to melt and contaminate the powder. I make paper cartridges and place a wax paper disc over the powder...then the lube disc..then another wax paper disc and then a cereal box cardboard disc. The wax/lube disc and cardboard disc prevent gas cutting. Heres a pic of the lube .And cartridges 20191009_100431.jpg 20191009_100512.jpg 20191009_100626.jpg 20191009_101351.jpg 20191009_101246.jpg
 
you can see the thin layer of lube in my cartridges...barely takes up any space yet its thinness assures that it completely disintegrates and no lube is wasted.
 
The first 100 or so 1860s were full fluted. Same with the 1861. I am aware of at least one 1861 with a square trigger guard.

Kevin
 
Thats very strange. I purchased 8 tins from them once along with 10 pounds of Black MZ and i had no issue. This was only like 3 months ago too

If you look on their website, there is no option to add those caps to your shopping cart; "pick up in store" is the only option. I e-mailed their customer service department and told them I'd be willing to pay HazMat fees if I could order ten tins.
"In regards to your online inquiry, we have looked into this for you and this item is unfortunately a item that can only be shipped to a Sportsman's Warehouse store." I'll get some from Powder Valley when they get them back in stock.

I tried my lube pills today and it seemed like they were too thick and just a little too hard and waxy. I tried them both on top of the Ox-Yoke felt wads and by themselves between the powder and ball. Everything on the shooting bench along side the barrel/cylinder gap ended up speckled with little dots of wax. :) I got through about four cylinders before things started dragging. I could see hardened wax was slowing things down.

I need to use less paraffin and add more tallow, Crisco or olive oil to the next batch to keep the lube a little softer. My felt showed up today so I'll be able to make some wads along with some thinner, softer lube pills.

I'm really enjoying this little Colt replica!
 
Hmm guess they changed how to get caps. I do remember that forever they didnt have them in stock. I had purchased them to try out remington 10s since all i get are 11s...theyre pretty much the same except for the skirt being a hair longer. Hmm...maybe try a 50/50 mix of wax and tallow? That mix is too soft for me due to the intense heat here in south texas. You might like "emmerts lube" . its 50% beeswax, 40% crisco, and 10% canola or olive oil but some people substitute the oil part with 5% oil and 5% lanolin. I enjoy emmerts lube but its too hot here for it...so im stuck using a softer civil war recipe. They used 1:8 ratio tallow to beeswax and i use 1:5 or 1:6 ratio...seems stiff and it does well in heat and doesnt contaminate powder if left for long periods of time and wont seep into my paper cartridges like gatofeo lube or emmerts. I think the key is making the pill "discs" so thin that they melt easier when the lit powder hits it. Id definately go with a softer 1:1 ratio of lambs tallow to wax or emmerts...but this darn heat wont allow it and it ruins the paper in paper cartridges cuz the oil/tallow bleeds into the paper and can get into the powder.
 
Btw what was ur ratio of lube to waxes that slowed down your guns? Was it measured by weight or melted volume? Yes these colts are fun and very addictive.
 
Btw what was ur ratio of lube to waxes that slowed down your guns? Was it measured by weight or melted volume? Yes these colts are fun and very addictive.

I just eye-balled it, pre-melted. I'll add some more tallow and some lanolin and re-melt my lube pills to get a slightly softer batch. I'll also make them thinner this time. I'll aim to make them like the ones you showed in your post... thanks very much for the tip! Then, I'll mix up a soft batch of lube to use with the felt. It's nice and cool up here in upstate NY right now and it will only be getting colder. It will warm up again in about six months!
 
I found three tins of Remington #10 caps today (52 miles from home!). I can hardly wait to see how they compare to the darn CCI #11 caps that have been making my fingers sore from pinching them! :thumbup:
 
I use a variation of 1995 lube as an over-the-ball lube. It's a little thicker than cold soft margarine and a bit messy, but it really works well. You wouldn't want to use it if you are holstering the revolver though. In my Pietta Remington I fired 30 rounds and there was no issue at all with cylinder drag, and I could just have kept shooting. So it's a great range session lube. Just keep a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of Windex handy to clean as you go.

I suppose that a version with more beeswax would make good grease cookies, and that felt wads could be saturated with the right proportion of beeswax to the other two ingredients.

The original recipe proportions work great as patch lube.

And it is a sure cure for warts and snake bite. (Well, maybe not)

1995 Lube
- 2 parts yellow beeswax
- 2 parts pure neatsfoot oil
- 2 parts Murphy's oil soap

Melt the beeswax and stir in the neatsfoot oil until the lumps are gone. Then stir in the M.O.S. until the consistency is even.
Pour into a small Tupperware tub with a lid and let cool.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the recipe mr.old stumpy. Im not one for over ball lube but with a bit more beeswax im sure it can be made stiff enough to use between powder and ball/bullet. Mr. Desmobob...you should try the gatofeo lube #1, you used the exact ingredients but ive found that following the recipe and using the exact weights it calls for really makes for an amazing lube...the most ill stray from the recipe is stiffening the lube by adding equal parts beeswax by weight. Maybe that will give u a great lube that doesnt leave wax residue. I think emmerts lube would do great for you in your colder weather too. Today we got a "cold front" here in south texas...its 72 degrees...the locals will be wearing parkas hehe
 
Tracks nipples are great. I prefer slix but tracks nipples are high quality all around. What new softer lube mix did you settle on?
 
Tracks nipples are great. I prefer slix but tracks nipples are high quality all around. What new softer lube mix did you settle on?

I had a bunch of my too hard/too waxy first attempt at lube and I simply added some Crisco and a little lanolin and re-melted it. I made some felt wads and lube cookies with it. My next batch of lube will be a carefully-measured mix following one of the popular recipes like Gatafeo's or Emmert's.
 
Both those lubes are great. Civil war and indian war era lube works great too....its the 1:8 tallow to wax ratio and its a very stiff lube...i make mine a little softer at 1:6 (sometimes 1:5) and make the thin lube discs. The thinness assures that the stiff wax melts entirely. The stiffness helps with not contaminating powder or the grease seeping into the paper that i use for paper cartridges. Ive made these thin discs from both gato feo #1 lube and Emmerts and it worked amazing...kept the guns way smooth and well lubed...problem was that in my area the hot weather makes the lube seep into the paper of the paper cartridges...kinda like a grease stain on paper. So if im making and shooting cartridges i use my stiff 1:6 tallow to wax discs...if im just shooting from a flask then i use the gato feo #1 and emmerts lube discs.
 
Folks can be in dismay at my statement ... but here goes,

Been shooting Cap n Ball revolvers since the 70's [1970's] and even tho I love my paper cartridges, I can say with certainty that by a large margin ... my round ball loads over 22 grains 2Fg OE powder and sparked with CCI cap's ... then a lube filling the cylinder mouth ... has hands down ... been the absolute best and most accurate loads I have ever shot in any 36 cal revolver. I use SPG lube and my 60/40 bee wax/Vasoline mix. Both do great but gotta say ... ( better brace yourselves) ... plain ol crisco as an over ball lube. This do require a towel or two tho so as to wipe down hands and revolver time to time.

Ted
 
Mr.big ted a lot of people have had your very same results. So you are definitely onto something. I personally dont use straight crisco but when i do i place only a small dot on top of two balls on the entire chamber. The first and third shot. Its too hot down here for crisco so it gets way too messy. You should try kaidos .36 conicals. My results reflected what mr. Mike (duelist1954) did....ill post pics of his results comparing round ball vs. Kaido conical vs. Pointed conical paper cartridges. Each picture shows 5 shots comparing each one out of a pietta 1861 navy. My results are pretty much the same with kaidos conicals beating roundball accuracy. Although my custom REAL type .36 does just the same as kaidos and are just as accurate as well...so now i rarely shoot roundball...and i prefer conicals as i prefer shooting paper cartridges...or my paper cartridges that have no bullet and are just powder, lube, and card and add the bullet of my choice. Heres the pics of the comparisons between projectiles. U should check out kaidos conicals...theyre great bullets. They are the last pic thats unlabled
Screenshot_2019-09-20-16-49-42.png
Screenshot_2019-09-20-16-46-12.png Screenshot_2019-09-20-16-48-17.png
 
What would you recommend I do to remedy or reduce the cap jam issue? I will probably do a cap rake pin installation eventually. I was wondering if there's something simple I should try before that. Slixshot nipples? I don't know if I can find any Remington #10 caps. I'll spend the money on HazMat fees and order a bunch if that would be a big help...

Thanks for any guidance,
Bob

I'll second prior suggestions to use #10 caps... some like Remington better than CCI and probably vice versa. There's no shortage of choices to start an arguement. If you shop around the net, you can get Remington #10's for $50/1k (10 cans of 100 caps) including hazmat, before whatever the shipping and sales tax comes to.

I suggest you go to YouTube and look up Blackie at Shaman's Forge as he offers fine historical explanation of how and why Colt's revolvers function, both properly and otherwise.

Sure, you can pay $36+ for a set of Slixshot cones... and I hear they work... but you could vent the cones you have. Blackie explains that trick as well.
 
Along with my adjusted, softer lube and Remington #10 caps, I have a new set of Track of the Wolf's stainless steel nipples.

I hope I can get back out to the range soon!

I'll second prior suggestions to use #10 caps... some like Remington better than CCI and probably vice versa. There's no shortage of choices to start an arguement. If you shop around the net, you can get Remington #10's for $50/1k (10 cans of 100 caps) including hazmat, before whatever the shipping and sales tax comes to.

I suggest you go to YouTube and look up Blackie at Shaman's Forge as he offers fine historical explanation of how and why Colt's revolvers function, both properly and otherwise.

Sure, you can pay $36+ for a set of Slixshot cones... and I hear they work... but you could vent the cones you have. Blackie explains that trick as well.

I installed the Track of the Wolf SS nipples and used Remington #10 caps during my latest range session. Cap jams were less frequent. I had already defanged and smoothed the hammer as soon as the revolver came out of the box. I'll be adding a cap rake or pin in the future. I think I have watched every cap and ball revolver video on YouTube!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top