colt 1851 navy

[georgeduz]

i just picked up this colt 1851 navy,made by colt in the late 70s.it is much different that the ruger old army,i have not had a chance to shoot it yet.i was planning on shooting the ball that seems to work the best for the ruger,whats the max load it can hold with fff . the ball dia. .375 just wanted to know what other loads 1851 shooter r using.

 

[mec]

The navy flasks that get sold alot will usually throw about 22 grains of fffg. This is a pretty full chamber under a ball and can get velocities ranging from the high 900s into the 1,000 fps range. Some shooters load 25 grains under a ball and one experienced shooter says 27 is about absolute maximum.

On the other hand, you see a lot of recommendations for 18 and even 15 grain charges. I find 20-22 to be just about right whether with black powder or one of the substitutes.

Those colt re-issue are Pretty!

 

[armoredman]

1851 rocks. I had an 1851 Sheriff by CVA, shot like a dream.

 

[Across The Pond]

Hi - good looking guns... had a stainless ROA myself, but had to sell

I use 15gn/vol of 777, with a .380 round ball in my '51 Navy. The load is reduced to 15 because 777 is reported to produce about 10% more pressure per volume than Pyrodex or blackpowder. If you use 777 don't go too hard on compressing it, as this seems to produce wide variations in pressure/velocity.

I found that .380 is required to ensure a tight fit in the chambers (shaves off a good ring of lead when rammed) and that .375 wasn't so tight. Varies from gun-gun though.

I'm going to try increasing the load of 777 to 18gn/vol to see if accuracy improves - when I do, I'll report back!

Season's greetings,

ATP

 

[georgeduz]

thanks for the input,i am sticking with bf fff,i would have been nice if i hade the mold that came with it,i did order one it takes time to get here this merry time of year.

 

[Jim K]

I guess I must have missed something, but I thought the Ruger Old Army was .45 caliber and the Colt 1851 Navy was .36. How do they use the same bullet?

Jim

 

[Beartracker]

LOL, Jim, I thought the same thing , then I figured out that what he really was saying is that round balls work great in his Ruger so he was going to use round balls in his 51 navy too. Mike

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

1851 "Cooper" double action copy

It is interesting seeing an 1851 navy from me having a copy for 50 years.

a Cooper double action that is .31 caliber 5 shot back pocket or ladies muff gun while riding in a sleigh. For young folks a muff is a furry bag open at each side for a lady to put her hands in to keep them warm.

My pistol is identical except for the trigger guard being rounded and the trigger being curved. When the trigger is pulled the hammer rises and a notch in the tip of the hammer front becomes a rear sight.

The last time I checked in the 80's it was worth about $1,200. If it was a Colt it would be worth much much more.

As the Original Saeco Co distributor I made a line of match winning bullet molds that put the H&G company out of business and I still have a few 4 cavity with handles roundball molds remaining .320, .350, .360, .375, .424, .440, .445, .451 and .45TC Maxiball. the smallest three molds are buckshot single, double and triple ought buckshot The .320 fits my pistol.

California Saeco Distributor retired 1979

 

[mec]

The Cooper is interesting. I ran across this one a couple of weeks ago. First I'd heard of it:

Made in Philadelphia

 

[Across The Pond]

The Cooper is interesting. I ran across this one a couple of weeks ago. First I'd heard of it:

Is that really DA? I guess that there's no replicas made.....

A few people here tried the Starr, but the DA on that isn't so good. I tried one at a gunshow (yes, we have them here!!) and the action was poor. A true double action percussion revo would be very, very popular here in Blair's 'banned it' country....



ATP

 

[MCgunner]

My first cap and ball was a 51 navy, but in .44. I shot that thing so much its brass frame stretched to the point it wouldn't fire anymore. It was a cheap gun, not very accurate.

I see your's is steel framed, a good thing. I'd like to try a quality Navy and in original .36 caliber.

A DA Navy? That's a new one on me, for sure!

 

[mec]

Yeh, I'ts kind of a neat double action design. No replicas of double actions I've heard of but the Starrs and some company in Europe was making a super expensive Adams. I'd love to be able to mess around with an Adams but, from what I read, the replicas were costing almost $3,000.

The Starrs came out a few years ago but apparently they shipped them without doing any quality assurance. People were blaiming the mainspring for failures to fire double action but they seem to have learned that Pietta had made the nipples too short/deep for good hammer contact.