Home spun .44 cal. belly gun

[Loosenock]

Before I get into my project I want to say that I investigated this revovler out throughly to be certain it had no real collectors value. Just because a firearm is an Italian reproduction doesn't mean it couldn't have a certain amount of collectors interest. Some do.

I picked this gun F.I.E. .44 cal. perc up last week. The fellow I got it from said it was a kit. I differed from that assessment. From the code I forund out it was made in 1970 and that was all the information I could find out about it. It had never been fired or even disassembled.

Here are couple of before pics.





I cut the tappered barrel off to 3 1/4", squared the muzzle, beveled the edges and recessed the bore about 1/16 of an inch, just a kiss passed the bottom of the grooves. I then filed a dovetail for the new front sight. I then stripped off the blueing using "Naval Jelly".

The high gloss finish on the grips was removed using a paint stripper. Not sanded, or steel wooled. I used a home brew formula to restain it and a very light coat of LSO.

The brass frame, back strap and trigger guard was sand blasted with an air brush to remove the high polished original finish. An artificial home brew patina process was applied to give that 150 year old look.

Here are the after pix.







This homespun belly gun if ever shot will just shoot blanks or light squib loads for informal cowboy action shooting and plinking.

It made a fun afternoon project.

'Loose

 

[Oyeboten]

That's really nice..!

Nice project.


Shoot it 'for real'...it'll hande it..!

 

[Loosenock]

What's this I've heard about shooting full loads in brass framed revolvers?

'Loose

 

[gordy]

That new toy needs a shoulder holster.
A deck of cards and a shot of whiskey
I would shoot it to see were it hits.
Looks like it would be fun.

 

[mykeal]

Don't know. What is it that you've heard?

IF what you heard is that shooting 'full' or 'maximum' loads in brass frame revolvers is not recommended, then you probably heard right. The experience of many people has been that, over the long run, 'full' loads will cause the cylinder to both damage the recoil shield and loosen the arbor. They do not have a reputation for tolerating heavy usage well.

IF, however, you've heard that they'll fall apart, or are dangerous with 'full' loads, then you've not heard right.

But I don't know what you've heard, so it's hard to say what it means.

 

[Loosenock]

Mykeal I heard that shooting full loads would damage the shield and loosen the arbor. I have a Dragoon 2nd that I could shoot full house loads in. I just think this snubbie would be a real hoot with moderate loads and milk jugs filled with water dangling from a tree branch. Or blasting a few cylinders off on the 4th of July would be in order.

Thanks for your comments gents, they're very appreciated.

'Loose

 

[DrLaw]

Let's put it this way. For years, Dixie used to say in their catalog that brass-framed guns would get out of time. Some here have said that full-power loads (whatever that means) in a brass frame will loosen the cylinder pin and other internal workings.

If you do a search on brass frames here, you will find lots of arguments about it.

In the long run, most of us have found that the most accurate (and if a gun is not accurate, it's just not fun) loads are mid-range 15-20 grains of powder. You can stuff more in there and cram it down with the ball just clearing the barrel, but the end result will shoot more powder out the end of your barrel than smokes off, and, your accuracy will suffer.

I have not read yet here or anywhere else, that somebody inherited a brass frame that was shot out. In other words, it should last your lifetime if you take care of it. (even if you are only ten and destined to live to 110! )

The Doc is out now.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I have a steel framed 1851 .44 with an extra barrel that I am going to cut dwn one of these days. If I got a cartridge conversion cylinder for it also think of the number of different setups I could make of it.