i did it. i bought the 1851 Navy.

[TrafficMan]

ordered thru Cabelas today. I should get my pistol by the 20th! I am pretty excited about it! this is my first Percussion firearm...i know that the Remington's are probably a better choice for a "first" cap and ball revolver, just couldn't get over the lines of that '51 Navy!

and yes, they are shipping it to the Los Angeles area!


(fyi i purchased it with the starter kit -- price was $225.00)

 

[Beartracker]

Congrats on a great buy! I sure like mine but I would like to suggest that you also get the replacement parts kit for this gun from Cabelas. It's not that much and it has all the parts you may need to replace over time or if you screw up while tuning it.
Make sure you take it completely apart a few times so that you will be able to do it when cleaning or you lose a cap in the works. You will also want to do that to clean it rally good before you shoot it.It's also a good idea to stone the parts while you have it tore down. Get rid of any high or rough edges on all the parts and polish so that they are smooth working. DO NOT remove any metal that will shorten anything unless you know what your doing. Just smooth up the parts for now.
Make sure you use plenty of lube on this gun inside and out before you shoot it.Would also like to suggest using 22g of Pyrodex"P" and a .375 or .380 ball with grease on top of the ball. #11 CCI or #10 Remington caps work great also.
If you do a search on this site or any of the others you will find a lot of great info to help you get started and to help you tune it just right.
If we can help in any way let us know, Mike

 

[Beartracker]

Here is just a small one that may give you an idea as to what the 51 Navy can do.
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199065

 

[dawgtraxx]

congrats,you will like it, i love mine,lotsa fun to shoot,everyone at the range will want to try it,ya might just get the chance to shoot some exotics in return,i use crisco to keep from chain firing,get it wound up ...smells like yer makin cookies, enjoy

 

[gmatov]

Trafficman,

Nah, you made a good choice, the .36 Navy is darned nice, cheaper to shoot, if you SHOULD, as the others say, get a "chain fire", less damage could be expected. None, in fact, just dig any impacted balls from where they shouldn't be.

If you have a caliper, measure the chambers and see if it is too large in diameter for the .375 ball, you might have to buy .380. If you are .372 or .373, you should do well with .375, which I think is in the starter kit

You might have to use Kentucky windage and elevation, too, to get on paper. The cone is usually too short to hit paper at 25 yards. Shoot way high.

Have fun, pal, they are just that, just allow yourself a full afternoon for a shoot. Takes a while to load.

Cheers,

George

 

[mec]

Pietta chambers are a bit tighter than Uberti and probably like .375 balls just fine. Some of the hornady .375s are kind of a loose-marginal fit in my ubert 61 chambers. It seems also that the balls are not perfectly round and the fit varies with the direction the ball is turned. I found that If I seat them over a charge of 22 grains or so-with a good bit of pressure, the ramming action swages them into contact with the chamber walls.

This sounds a little less than optimum for good sealing,compression and accuracy but the results over the chronograph and on target don't reveal any inconsistancies.