1851 Navy in .36

[tallwalker]

After spending so much time on here and reading about all the fun you guys have been having with smoke pistols, I guess I got infected. I shoot rifles mostly and love to shoot my Sharps repro, but haven't messed with BP pistols much. Been looking at the Pietta 1851 Navy .36 steel frame (probably from Dixie since it looks like the best deal) with an extra cylinder. My question is other than getting better nipples (Anyone have the numbers for the Track of the Wolf ones to get?) and taking it completely apart and smoothing/polishing the parts good, is there anything else I should do before shooting the living hell out of it? I read about coating all the parts with olive oil and baking it in the oven to season like a skillet. Looking forward to casting some balls and belching smoke. I am lucky enough to shoot off my back porch, so the varmints have quite a shock coming.

[Avery Arms]

I can see no reason to order a spare cylinder for a colt or replace the brand new factory nipples. You may want to clean up the moving parts it just depends how well yours shoots out of the box.

The main problem with these guns is bad springs Colt used some pretty marginal designs (probably cutting edge at the time) to begin with an Italians copied them and added their own poor metallurgy and workmanship to the mix. Hand springs and sear/bolt springs tend to fail pretty regularly, mainsprings don't break that much but some are a lot harder than others and need considerable grinding and polishing to reduce their tension. A heavy mainspring makes the hammer stiff to cock and it hits the nipples too which can damage both hammer and nipples.

.36's actually fire .375 caliber balls and need constant lubrication I melt beeswax and crisco together to make a general purpose muzzleloading lube which is smeared over the balls after they are seated. You can also soak a .45 felt patch in the grease and load it under the balls which is less messy.

[Omnivore]

First, clean it thoroughly and lube the action with as much natural lube as it'll take. Olive oil is fine, as are lots of mixtures of waxes and animals fats. Second, don't be tempted to mess with it until you've had it out at least several times. You may be surprised at how well it can smooth out all on its own.

I DO see a reason to replace factory nipples, especially on a Colt, with nipples having smaller flash holes, but that's not messing with anything as it's only replacing easily replaced parts. The reason would be to reduce the incidence of caps being dragged back by the hammer into the frame channel, thus either tying up the gun or creating a misfire as the hammer falls on the spent cap in the frame channel. Smaller flash hole = less blowback pressure = less form fitting of the cap into the hammer safety notch. It CAN make a big difference. Just call Track and ask them about nipples for your gun with small flash holes. Tresos are good, but Track reportedly sells a stainless nipples with the same holes as Treso.

As for springs; after shooting these guns for thousands of rounds and about fifteen years, I can recall two springs failing. One hand spring and one trigger/bolt spring. Keep extra parts on hand for the RARE event of a failure, but I see no reason to go replacing a brand new spring.

I'm with Avery Arms on the spare cylinder issue. That is a trend I just do not get. If you want to swap cylinders in the field get a Remington. Colts aren't made for it. Frankly I find it over rated even on a Remington unless you really NEED a quick reload, 'cause otherwise you're spending more money so you can clean more chambers later. I like to keep it simple both during and after my day of shooting. Makes it easier to get out the next time. That's my OPINION, so take for what it's worth to you.

Good on the casting. Having the ability to make your own projectiles is a good thing.

Almost for certain you'll have to adjust the sights if you want the piece shooting anywhere close to point of aim. Many a thread has been written on that subject and there are a few videos as well, so I won't repeat it all here, but in short; you'll probably need a taller front sight and you'll probably need to file the rear for windage, and for a clearer sight picture. If you want a real nice system, dovetail in a new front, and there you'll have some windage adjustment along with it. It isn't difficult, and again there are tons of instructions for do it yourself dovetailing. Just search the web. If you're worried about "period correct" don't worry. People were doing the same things back in the day.

[tallwalker]

Thanks guys. Makes perfect sense. Right, I'll skip the extra cylinder. Clint Eastwood was probably the only one that needed it anyway! The issue with caps being dragged around was my main concern with the nipples. I replaced the ones on my Pedersoli SxS because they fit so loosely and it made a difference, so guess that will be a good thing to do. I have only just started casting for my 45-70 Sharps so round balls will be fun to add to the mix. Looking forward to shooting it and seeing if it is as addictive as I think it is. Another thing!

[rodwha]

One fix I've seen for Colts is to have a cap rake installed. It's a little post installed to fit inside the safety pin recess in the hammer nose and keeps caps the spent caps from being able to pulled off of the nipples so that they'd fall into the works.

Oh, and I second Track of The Wolf nipples. The cost savings over TRESSO's (spl?) pays for the shipping. I have them on my Ruger.

[Avery Arms]

Eastwood was using a Remington, on those you drop the loading lever pull the pin and replace the cylinder, no parts to lose other than your cylinders. On a colt you have to remove the wedge and pull the entire barrel assembly off, replace the cylinder, put the barrel back and re-seat the wedge. Don't drop the barrel, wedge, frame or cylinder off the back of your horse

Colts aren't practical at all to reload with a cylinder swap and far as I know it was not done. Remingtons are reasonably practical to load with a cylinder swap and some people did carry loaded cylinders for that purpose. A major problem however was people would cap their cylinders in advance for a faster reload and that made them extremely dangerous to carry.

Best bet for a fast reload has always been a spare pistol

[tallwalker]

Now you're talking. Extra guns is always more better. I have a sickness, and it seems to only get worse as I get older too!

[Grump]

Now you're talking. Extra guns is always more better. I have a sickness, and it seems to only get worse as I get older too!

Ain't that a fever? I've heard that more cowbell might help.

Maybe. It's cheaper than more guns...

[tallwalker]

It really is! I have a hard time understanding owning just one gun. I don't know how they do it. Heck With just spare parts I could build a few more. Maybe I should consider more cowbell!

[doc1876]

pinch your caps before putting them on the nipples, that helps them to stay on. NEVER USE OIL ON THE ARBOR. Always use a good grease. I use #2 Axle grease, and others on here have their favorites. This will allow the cylinder to continue to rotate for a longer shooting time. there are a great many posts on here about pistols, check them out.

[Texantothecore]

I started to use lithium grease on the arbor and runs smoother.

[Omnivore]

NEVER USE OIL ON THE ARBOR. Always use a good grease.

That's a pretty tall statement there, especially with all those capital letters and with having no explanation to back it up. There have been a number of people extolling the benefits of using Ballistol, which is an oil, on the cylinder arbor. I've tried it and it works pretty well. I've also used olive oil with decent results. So what's with all this ZOMG NEVER!!! business? Have you known the use of oil on a black powder revolver cylinder arbor to result in a thermo-nuclear explosion, or what? If so, you'd better tell us all about it, and explain the physics of it, etc., before we start losing whole cities to this tragic misuse of lubricants!

[tallwalker]

Well, UPS dropped my gun at the doorstep Friday while I was out. Feels very strange for that to happen with a gun but I was more than glad to see it! The action feels very good and I love the click when the cylinder turns. The hammer clicks are just a bit mushy so I see what you guys mean about springs. Took it completely down and cleaned everything, put it back together and went outside. I had .375, .376, .378 and .380 balls. Got a nice concentric lead ring with the .376 so that is what I'll use for a while. Dumped 18gr GoexFFFg, an ok yoke wad, Crisco and fired off 6 rounds without a hitch. The caps fit snug and no problem with them hanging up anywhere. Group was about 2.5" at 25yds. Loaded it up a few more times just to get it really good and grungy. This is really fun to shoot as the sun goes down! Great belches of orange flame!

Broke it down and cleaned with very hot water and Dawn soap. Pulled all the nipples and put the parts in a saute' pan with vegetable oil covering everything and cooked it hot for a couple hours. Wiped everything off, put some never sieze on the nipple threads and put it back together. Using Bag Balm on the arbor BTW. This is going to be a fun gun, and I bet a great bunny buster!

[Omnivore]

Wow! 2.5" at 25 yards is excellent. From what I've gathered, it seems that 3 to 5 inches is more common with these pistols. If you can repeat that, regularly, you're doing much better than most. My Army models run around three to four, with 2.5" being about the best I've ever done and only with my 36 Navy and Police models.

You will find that you can eliminate the soap and get as good, if not better, results with the cleaning. Now that you know you have the nipple threads well and truly lubricated, you can go at least several shooting sessions and cleanings without removing the nipples. As you get more into this, you'll find that the more efficient you can make the cleaning process, the more enjoyable it is to go out shooting, i.e. without dreading the cleaning process that comes after.

[tallwalker]

I forgot to mention that the group was two handed and wrists on a sandbag, but It was still better than I expected. I felt kinda lucky that I had a small assortment of balls too because .375 is a pretty lousy fit. I think I can fine tune a little and find a sweet spot. I was really amazed at how well it did right off. It has already produced a nice rabbit dinner too!

Cleaning isn't bad. I always find it a bit weird hosing guns down, but have gotten used to it now since I have been shooting my Sharps and SxS more. My demand for #11 caps is going to go up though. Darn things are as hard to find as primers. I'll post some pics from down here in the swamp when I get some time.

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice!

[destrux]

I use synthetic fishing reel grease on all of my guns, which works out especially well on the BP models because the grease is waterproof and windex proof and it won't take on salt.

If your Pietta is anything like the ones I've bought, you'd do well to disassemble the internals and clean it right away, as mine always come filled with metal shavings from manufacturing. On the brass frame models I deburr and smooth the back of the cylinder where it contacts the ring on the frame, but that should wear in on it's own on your steel frame model.

[bigted]

my cleaning program is simplistic extraordinaire ...

I Beat the wedge out and remove the barrel ... half cock and remove the cylinder ... now I spray down inside and out of every spot I can spray into or onto ... with 7 or 8 parts good ol H2-O to 1 part ballistol ... while they all set there and suck up the moisture I remove my nipples which I put in a small tray of window cleaner [Windex with vinegar]... respray the works again and then clean the inside of the barrel with patch's sprayed with my ballistol mix ... scrub with a tooth brush [the wife's of coarse] and then wipe it down and then spray rem oil in and around thoroughly till dripping and set aside ... pluck the cylinder and clean the chambers as with the barrel in the same way ... spray till dripping with rem oil ... I then wipe the threads out with an ear cotton swab and dab some never seize on the threads [little goes a long way here] ... I then wire brush the nipples and use a pipe cleaner to wipe the insides out and replace in the cylinder ... now I take my frame and respray it with the ballistol inside all nooks and cranny's till she drips good ... take my [er her] toothbrush and go after it like a red headed step child ... respray with ballistol and wipe her down good ... now spray it thoroughly with the rem oil till it drips from every orifice.

now I just wipe everything down good with a clean towel ... [again the wife's] and if any fouling is found I respray with ballistol and set about recleaning that portion of the Colt revolver. after all is nice and shiny and clean and wiped down ... I spray it fully assembled ... with outers gun oil. re-wipe and put away till the next time I can go play.

takes much longer to explain then to do ... I bet it only takes me maybe 10 minutes to do and that is just because I love handling and fooling with it.

when it is time to go play again I re-wipe every detail with a dry clean rag and patch the bore and chambers with clean patch's and she is good to go.

[Coconino]

I have been shooting capguns (love the 1851) for quite a while and like some folks I used to pull the nipples. If you shoot the pistol on a regular basis I found that this is not needed. A good cleaning in the cylinder works. Since I don't always have hot water handy I use a good cleaner like MPRO 7 for getting the crud loose and flushed out of the cylinder. Scrub the nipple area with cleaner and a brush. Clear the nipples with compressed air or some such. I use a rubber bulb that fits over the nipple. They are not shiny clean but it is not needed with the stainless or alloy nipples. I clean the rest of the pistol with moose milk. No rust even when in the safe for months.

You might use the Ballistol instead of a regular gun oil. BP fouling and petroleum based oil can cause problems like gumming up. Just what I have observed. If you use substitutes it is not an issue.

[johnson1942]

if you can find a mold for a deep cupped based bullet of the diam you need for that gun it would shoot very very good. also you could take .40 roundballs and resize them to the diam that you need and they add a little extra weight to the bullet and shoot very very good.

[Texantothecore]

I bought my first Navy in March. I just received my second one last week. Man they are fun.