Dixie Pietta 1851 Navy Brass Frame Revolver Kit

[hp246]

Thinking of picking up one of these kits. Wonder if anyone has any has any experience with them? What is the quality? How much hand fitting is required? If you did finish one, what did you use for finish and how happy are you with the outcome?

[waarp8nt]

I have never assembled a kit, but have owned a Pietta and the quality was decent enough. I know that's not exactly the answer your looking for, however at least you know your computer works and someone read what you wrote.

[johnson1942]

i cant but help thinking that a steel framed revolver in kit form would last a lot longer and have more use that a brass framed one. do they make a steel framed kit. if you love the looks of brass, when done send it to someone to get brass plated the parts you like in brass. i like the grip strap and trigger guard in brass on my 1851 uberti colt. the rest needs to be in steel for strength.

[John Taylor]

Get a steel frame if you plan on doing a lot of shooting. I have seen several brass frames that did not hold up with standard loads. You can see the set back in the frame from the cylinder.

162217

[dromia]

I have never had problem with brass framed revolvers in .36, .44 is different matter they can beat up a brass frame if fed a pokey diet.

Never been able to load a .36 enough to affect the frame.

[sixshootertexan]

I don't know about the Pietta's. The A.S.M. my wife gave me a many a moon ago had the brass still as casted and the grips needed sanding to make it flush with the the grip frame and finished. That was all that was needed on mine.

[hp246]

Just looking at it as a plinker. Was more interested to know about the amount of fitting.

[John Boy]

Cylinder is not engraved. Kit is left in white. The kit is not engraved. Skill level 1.Are you a Skill Level 1 and know how to blue metal?

[hp246]

guess that depends if you're asking my wife or my girlfriend ;)

[Omnivore]

Mechanically, the revolver kits are considered ready to go. All you're supposed to need to do is the finish work. That being said; any of the supossedly finished Italian repros I've gotten (Pietta and Uberti) have needed mechanical work in order to be considered "right" at all.

So for me, all of my supposedly finished guns have been project guns anyway. I've had to learn how to set the cylinder gap for a Colt, build a new barrel wedge, replace a hammer cam in both Colts and Remingtons, adjust and/or replace sights (no Colt sights are ever even close), do trigger work, adjust bolt timing, fit a bolt to a cylinder, remove sharp edges, fit grips, adjust Colt grip frames for better fit to the gun, open up the loading window to accept conical bullets, and much more besides, and I've NEVER bought a "kit gun" as such. They're all kit guns anyway.

Other projects I have yet to do are; true and smooth the forcing cones and crown barrels, fit new loading plungers in Remingtons (they all flop around and thus pose a danger to the chamber mouths), replace a loose-fitting cylinder arbor with a larger one, ream chambers to at least match the barrel groove diameter (pratically all Italian guns have under-sized chambers), and more besides. Each gun is an on-going program of discovery and correction, and so there's no need to get a kit gun unless you want a whole bunch more work besides.

Keep in mind that these guns are the very cheapest of guns, so don't expect a lot out of them. If you're lucky you'll get a decent shooter though, even if it has multiple issues.

Personally, I wouldn't go for a brasser at all unless it were to fill out a Confederate arms collection, and in that case it would have to be a gun that the Confederacy actually used.

[hp246]

Thanks Omnivore. The info I was looking for.

[Texantothecore]

Pietta's quality has improved dramatically. I shoot a 36 Navy of recent manufacture and it is my most accurate pistol. And a real pleasure to shoot.

[Texantothecore]

I would also replace the factory nipples with Treso #11 nipples, use cci 11 caps and get a Ted Cash spiral capper. It squeezes the nipples on very tightly.

[hp246]

great thoughts guy. I' m going to be shopping for a steel frame 1851 navy in 36 caliber (no kits) based on what you guys are telling me. any thoughts on uberti vs pietta? uberti seems to be running 50-100 bucks more. usually you pay for what you get, but not seeing that from the reviews i've seen.

[Texantothecore]

Pietta is as good as or better than the Uberti and I would go with that.


The information I posted above eliminates the need for any of the adjustments that you see on the internet. They were for older guns.

[hp246]

thanks

[Texantothecore]

Some more tips:
1. The revolver is sighted in at 50 yards with a full load.
15 yards poa is 7.6 grns 3fg
25 yards - 8.1 grns 3fg

I store mine disassembled in a 7 dollar plano case along with enough stuff to shoot for a while. Pistol cases have become so small that I couldn't find a cheap one that would hold a 13.5" pistol.
I am a big believer in heavy oil. I lost one gun to oil which was too thin. So I put a lot of Remoil on all of my bp guns. It works.
I use a dry patch to clean out the bottom of the cylinders before beginning or you can fire caps.
Windex with ammonia D is the best cleaner that I have found. Just make sure you rinse the pieces which you windexed.
Push a spit patch down the barrel between cylinder loadings and you will be good to go.
When you assemble the revolver just before you start tap the wedge smartly twice with the handle of the cleaning rod. It seems to make a difference in accuracy.

I will post weights on filler tonight as I haven't weighed them yet.

[hp246]

Just ordered a steel frame .36 caliber Pietta from Dixie Gun Works. Looking forward to trying out all the tips you guys have given me.