best place to buy an 1851 navy in .36 caliber?

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Busyhands94

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hello everybody, i have been looking for a .36 caliber colt navy preferably a kit with a brass frame. the reason i want it in .36 caliber is so i can bag some rabbits with it using low powered loads, i also want to get my mother and younger brother into handgun shooting so .36 caliber would be best because the recoil would not be too bad and the noise would be less than a .44 does anybody know where i can find one that is in kit form? i am looking for one less than the kit they have at Dixie Gun Works if possible. however if the .44 is a really good price i will take it. thanks in advance ~Levi
 
All of the ones on Amazon.com appear to be non-firing replicas.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing when I went to the Amazon website. Dixie Gun Works has a good selectioin and their prices seem to be fair.

Jason
 
Cabelas and Dixie gunworks both have a .36 revolver for less than $200.

Don
 
well cool! i am thinking about one of these gun kits http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_162_194&products_id=877
i think i might get one of the brass framed .44s though. it seems like .44 would not be too bad with the recoil. anybody here own a .44 cap and ball? i am just worried that i will spend the money on a gun that is too large for me. if i do get a .44 i will get the Remington 1858 Texas https://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_162_194&products_id=14234
 
If you are going to spend the money, get a steel framed revolver. It will hold up better than the brass framed model. Think about buying an 1851 Colt .36 cal Navy by Uberti. They make a very nice revolver and they don't mark them up with a lot of stampings like Pietta does. My two cents.
 
Actually, that '51 looks pretty nice in the white like that, I may have to put one of those on my "things to do" list.

Everybody has an opinion on the brass frames and very few of those opinions are "middle of the road" either. I own one and I shoot it more often than any of my other guns. It doesn't eat much powder and it will knock the center out of a target in short order if you hold it still.

My opinion on brass frames is: Don't be afraid of them, treat them like they are not made out of steel and they will last for thousands of rounds. If you get one of these, make sure to take before and after pics/video.
 
Don't be afraid of them, treat them like they are not made out of steel and they will last for thousands of rounds.

So, what special care do the brass-frame guns require?
 
To answer the basic questuion of best place to buy; Cabelas is the hands down winner IMNSHO, if your're looking for cheap and serviceable C&Bs.

For a Brass framed .36 Cal, go with this one from Cabelas:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...nknown;cat104792580;cat104701680;cat104503680

If you want tor gravitate to a Colt style .44 cal, this is probably your best bet:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...nknown;cat104792580;cat104701680;cat104503680

Otherwise, this is probably the best brass framed .44 starter gun:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...nknown;cat104792580;cat104701680;cat104503680
 
So, what special care do the brass-frame guns require?
Click to expand...

The only difference in using a Brass framed C&B vs a Steel framed one is using lighter loads in the brass framed guns. Constant use of heavy loads in a brass framed revolver will batter the frame and cause them to loosen up. .36s should be limited to 15-18 grains of powder, and .44s limited to 20-22 grains. That's using real BP, Pyrodex, and APP. T7 should be 15% less and loaded with a wad and not compressing the load.
 
well thank you Fingers McGee, i like the .36 and i did not know they sold em' at such a modest price! however i am sure that nowadays they make cap n' ball guns out of artillery brass, that last not thousands of rounds with proper care, but can last a lifetime if you really take care of the gun. i am starting to gravitate towards guns with a top strap, i think that will at least add some more rigidity to the gun. however i can deal with light loads just fine!
 
Hey there BusyHands, whichever you choose I'm sure you won't regret it. Brassers are just fine, don't let anybody scare you away from them. I have both brass and steel frame Colts (replicas of course) and love them equally. .44 cal. is probably the most common and easiest to get accessories locally (here anyway). You could always cast your own balls though. Good Luck with the family, they will probably love it too.
 
well thank you sir :) i see .44 navy kits for pretty good prices all over the web and i am starting to gravitate towards brass framed revolvers. i just love how brass looks! i think i could probably find a mold for round balls for a decent price too! i am a little worried about scaring my mother away from the shooting sports because the recoil might be a bit too much for her to handle. yesterday we went to the gun club and fired shotguns for a while, and after 1 box (25) of 12 gauge she got really sore and had a big bruise on her shoulder. (she broke 8 though and had fun) :) i fired 75 rounds from the same shotgun and my shoulder is fine, however i think that she should have fun shooting too without the problem of recoil. i am thinking about finding her a woman's size shooter's vest with some pads for the shoulder. so do you think the recoil from the .44 cap n' ball will be too much for a beginner? thanks in advance ~Levi
 
As Fingers McGee said, light loads are the key to longevity. But I think that I also mentioned before, heavy loads don't necessarily get you the best accuracy. I've settled on 16gr 3f Goex in my Brass 44 and they're great. Of course the recoil is low, but you get all the smoke you need and if anybody thinks these things aren't accurate, I can alter their way of thinking usually with one shot.

My daughter was setting up old cans out in the desert last week at about 25 yards. She was trying to hit 'em with my S&W Model 39 which would take more practice with it than she has. I'd give her two shots with the 9mm then smack the target with the brass Navy in one. The deal was, who ever knocked the targets down didn't have to go reset them, I'm lazy too.
 
Recoil? Busy, that is one of the advantages of BP shooting. You can load the thing very light and even the smallest shooters can take it. To add to what foto joe said (which I strongly agree with) the 51 Navy has a very smallish grip so it is also good for little brothers and Moms. ;-)
 
recoil

The recoil from a .44 is about as bad as a .38 Special, at least in my opinion. It will not be much if you get a Brass .44 and load it down.

I don't think you will be overgunning yourself with the .44 as the grip is the same as a Navy, except slightly longer, and you should hold a gun high on the grip anyway. Personally, I like the .44 grip frame.

The .36 Navy grip is very similar to the Colt Peacemaker, so if you have ever handled a peacemaker clone, you have held what you can expect with the Navy models.

The Doc is out now. :cool:
 
Busy,

Lee Precision is the manufacturer of low cost bullet molds, case, cartridge, and bullet sizing dies, sizing presses, and the famous "Lee Loader" cartridge reloading kits. They have a wide variety of bullet molds for BP guns, round ball, conical and mini-ball, many of the conical bullet molds for standard caliber smokeless pistols and rifles can be matched up to BP calibers, since they generally offer a variety of precision diameters for each mold offered. Their molds, with handles, generally sell for around $21.00 to $26.00 each, most are double molds, some are offered as a 6 cavity mold, for a bit more, around $62.00 for the 6 cavities. Both Dixie and cabella's offers a variety, but not all of, the molds offered by Lee Precision. The website for Lee Precision is,

http://www.leeprecision.com

The following pic, is one of their specialty molds, it's a buck-shot mold that casts 18, 00 sized, approximately 30 Cal, round balls from a single mold, and costs $62.00. It does not come standard with the handles, but the LEE standard handles are only $3.00 or $4.00 each, so that's no biggie. (The smaller 2 cavity molds all come WITH the handles.) I know you have shown alot of interest in shot loads, well, no shot loader is complete without a buckshot mold !!! LOL !!!

LeeBuckshotMold-90486-6200-18-00.jpg

Have FUN with it !!!

Sincerely,

ElvinWarrior... aka... David, "EW"
 
Re; Brass Frames

If you remember not to overload a brass framed gun it'll last forever! One advantage to brass is that it is a natural bearing and steel parts rubbing against brass function very smoothly! I have a brass Piettia .44 Colt replica that is as smooth as glass! I normally load the chambers to no more than 20 grams or the by-volume equivilent. This gives fine accuracy and plenty of velocity for paper punching and plinking.
Brass is also lighter and the weight of a brass frame often goes 2 oz lighter!
Modetn casting techniques and alloys are top notch and the strength of modern brass is the best it ever was.
JMHO,
ZVP
 
I would not buy a brass-framed revolver. Not only are they inherently weaker, but most of the time you'll find that they are not as finely finished.
There's a reason why brass-framed revolvers, on the whole, are cheaper: they are not as well finished or fitted. They're made to sell cheaply.
Now, before all you brassphiliacs become ired -- yes, there are some very well made brass revolvers out there. But they are the exception.
On the other hand, most steel-framed revolvers are fitted and finished better than the vast majority of brass-framed revolvers.

Another reason to avoid brass frames: Hodgon does not suggest the use of its 777 powder in brass-framed revolvers. Its 777 powder creates higher pressures than black powder.
Hodgdon 777 is not designed as a straight-across substitute for black powder, like Pyrodex is. It is its own propellant.

Go with a steel frame. Spend the few extra bucks. You'll almost certainly get a better-finished and fitted revolver than a brass version, and you will get a revolver that resists wear and tear much longer.
The Confederates made brass-framed revolvers, only because they lacked the technology and resources to make steel or iron-framed revolvers. If they'd been able to make steel-framed guns, over brass, they would have.
 
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