C&B Revolvers. . .Which One?

[Good Cheer]

Always preferred the best pointing of the lot, the .36 caliber 1851, until John Taylor rebored one to .40.

[Fly]

I have them all from the .36 s to the Dragoon. IMOHOP the 58 remy is what I would carry in battle if I could
only choose one. They are the most reliable. The colts fit your hand best & point of aim is best. But Colts have
cap jams much more often but can be modified to help that. Design of having to pull the front of the pistol off
to remove cylinder not good. Nothing holding it on but a wedge sucks. Remey is a one peace frame the only
sliding the cylinder rod forward removes the cylinder. I love them both but Remy would be my first choice. You
will buy another anyway sooner or later(wink).

Fly

[RogerDat]

Another for the Remington. 1858 Remington "New Army" in .44 caliber can be had in shorter barrel style, longer 14.5 inch or target model with adjustable sights. Swapping cylinders and stronger full frame are attractive.

After that I would consider something smaller in .36 caliber. Or the Walker for the larger charge capacity.

In the end I do think feel in hand may be the best deciding factor as it is doubtful the C & B is going to commonly be a SD weapon where rapid (somewhat) reloads will matter. If hunting is a goal it could be the higher velocity of the Walker might be attractive. Again reload speed doesn't matter. Myself I liked the full framing and engineering of the Remington, besides Eastwood made them look really cool in Pale Rider. Of course he also made the Walker look good in Jose Wales so there is that to consider.

[bob208]

my first was a 1858 Remington .44. along the way I have had most of the others. a 1858 Remington will be the last I will sell. I would say if just getting started a Remington would be the easiest to learn to shoot and care for.

[Walks]

I shot a 1851 .44 replica & a 1860 Army for my first year in SASS. Replaced the 1851 .44 with a 1860 Army.
Switched to Colt .44spl Smokeless.

Later on I bought a pair of 1858 Remington .44's for Sidematches.

For shooting in Competition, I'd go with the Remingtons.
For fun and balance the Colt 1860 Clone is FUN. Easy to handle Cap problems when not shooting in Competition.

[arcticap]

There's a lot of good info. posted in this thread.
It probably took me a couple of years of reading threads by experienced C&B shooters before I was able to become more
familiar with all of the different models and their quirks.
A couple of things that I decided before purchasing one was:

1. I did not want to deal with cap jams if possible.
2. I did not want to deal with gun smithing if possible.
3. I did not want to load on the frame if possible because it's slow and can get tedious.
I wanted to maximize having fun firing the gun and then be able to get on with cleaning it.

But before I even went and bought a Remington, I bought a nice loading press first.
So I never even loaded a cylinder on the frame.
And then made sure to obtain some extra cylinders.

Since the cylinder is getting removed for loading off the frame anyway, then that provides easy opportunity to lube the
cylinder pin which is the major drawback of the Remington.

I measure the powder charges at home and put them into vials, load 3 cylinders, go to the range and fire them off,
reload 3 more cylinders, lube the pin and then fire 3 more.

Even doing it as efficiently as possible, if I fire 50 - 60 shots and it takes 2-3 hours, I still need to go home
and clean the gun.

So I'd rather not waste a lot of time measuring out powder and ramming balls while at the range.
With the loading press, I can probably load 3 cylinders as fast off the frame as someone else can load one cylinder on the frame without a press.
A loading press can be home made or cost anywhere from $35 - $100 or so.

And that's without needing to deal with any gun smithing problems, cap jams, wedges and stuff like that.
The choices are all a trade off as far as which model and how much shooting a person wants to do.

It's a whole different scenario if a person is able to shoot in their own back yard and take their time loading and dealing with issues that can crop up.
For me, the range is only a 15 - 20 minute drive.
But if someone has to drive farther to go shooting, and deal with a slow loading & shooting process, then that all needs to be considered,
how many shots that you can fit into your schedule including range & driving & cleaning time.

The way I looked at it, the choice of which gun to buy was pretty much already made up for me.
It was either the Remington, Ruger or Rogers & Spencer.
I started off with the Remington target model and haven't looked back.
Some guys love their Dragoon, the Walker, '60 or '51, it doesn't matter.
Because they enjoy what suits them, their hand size, their needs, their lifestyle, their range situation and knowledge base.

If this post can help someone else down the road then it's time well spent.
If I had to decide overnight and didn't know one model from the other, then it would still take me a couple of years to decide.

[rfd]

IMHO, the best value in a quality percussion revolver is the .36 pietta '51 navy IRON frame.

[pietro]

.

Oh, YEAH ! !

Stay away from brass framed C&B revolvers !

.

[Gtek]

I probably have a couple of each and I still can't make up my mind! Good advise on steel frame, then you will figure out how undersized the cylinders usually are and how even a brand new one is never perfect in spec or timing. Then you start buying spare parts and learning how to time and fit, then you see cheap ones and know you can save them, and then------------------haven't got there yet.

[TheOutlawKid]

1861 navy or any .36 cal...u can shoot roundball or a 140 grain kaido conical if u want more punch thats similar to shooting a .44 cal, im a huge fan of the navy caliber..i feel its very underrated. I shoot a custom conical thats got large lube grooves...weighs 130 grains and shoots as accurate as a roundball.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Army 44 vs Navy 36 - somewhere I saw/read/remember that the Army had 44's because they had the need to slow down/stop horses, cavalry and such. The Navy revolvers were .36 because 'only men' were normally encountered for ship boarding and ship defense. The 1861 Navy kinda combines the grace of the 1860 Army with the handiness of the 1851 Navy. Shooting them is the only true way to figure the best for your hands, one of each is a good start.

[Buzzard II]

I prefer Uberti guns, but that is my preference. My FIRST would be the 1851 Navy. After that, well, a little is good, a lot is better and too many is just enough. I would also stay away from brass frame guns, far away.

[Tom W.]

Years ago I had a Remington and my buddy had a '60 Army brass framed. His looked better, but mine shot better, maybe because I was used to it.
One cold rainy day when I was home I got a phone call. My buddy said that he'd shot his foot off.
What had happened was he was in his back yard shooting in the drizzle and somehow brought the revolver past the top of his foot. We called the Hospital and I drove him down there. The bullet left a crescent at the end of his foot, never leaving his foot, and didn't leave his sneaker.
The Sheriff's people came in and asked " Tom, did you shoot him?" I said no and they said ok and that was that.....My buddy got the bullet and made it into a necklace that he wore for years....

[yeahbub]

I second what was said of leaving the brass frame revolvers on the dealer's shelf. The brass is soft and the frames will stretch over time and timing will become a problem, particularly with the open-frame Colt types. Even with the steel frame, the '51, '60, '61, '62 Colts all have the smaller cylinder pin in the frame, and if used hard, some few of them will get loose in the frame. Not so much the .36's, but that pin is the only thing holding the assembly together and is the weak link in the design. The Walker/Dragoon doesn't have this problem as the pin is a good bit larger and I don't recall ever hearing of this happening, but others might chime in on this. That said, I've owned an 1860 Army and an 1861 Navy, full charges with conical boolits were the order of the day and they're both tight. For strength, durability and accuracy, I vote for the Remington 1860 New Model Army, commonly known as the 1858 Remington. The Pietta's version has the most ergonomic grip/trigger guard configuration. The cylinder diameter is also larger than the Colt .44's, generally providing more clearance when turning conicals under the rammer when loading. Any of them will load a round ball, but conicals stick up a bit higher and need more frame clearance to rotate them under the rammer. Many people like to load the cylinder off the gun and you can load any boolit style you want that way, but you'll need a tool box of paraphernalia to do your loading and a place to do it. That's fine at a bulleye match or just paper punching with friends, but for walks through the woods, you'll want to look into consumable/paper cartridges containing the charge/lube wad/boolit and carry a supply in an Altoids box in your pocket along with a capper and you can load anywhere. Once you shoot a few, slip a fresh one in a chamber, ram it in, repeat. They are historically correct and were even commercially produced well into the 20th century. You can go to http://1858remington.com/discuss/ind...html#msg167537 and take a look at how it's done. Berksglh also posted a video with a quick and easy technique to produce them. Omnivore, who posts here, also has put a lot of thought into the details of their production and has been very informative.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thanks for posting that link. Very informative.

[charlie b]

We used to shoot paper cartridges in our CB revolvers a lot when out hunting jack rabbits. But, for bench work the Rem was loaded by removing the cylinder. The colts we loaded on the pistol as removing and replacing the forward end was such a pita. I also rarely used grease over the bullets. We made sure the balls or conicals shaved a good portion of lead to seal the chamber. Never had a multiple firing.

As many have mentioned the Rem was my favorite but the grip was poor. I changed mine into a birds head and it worked much better. The colt grips were really nice. And for looks the 1860 Colt .44 was the best looking.

I do have to admit I have not shot a CB in over 20 years.

[DEVERS454]

The 1860 is nicer to load and has a blade vs bead sight. It's also a 44 which I find to be a bit more accurate. For CAS, 36s just don't knock down the steel like a 44.

Remington's are finicky about the cylinder pin. I have cut really thin grooves in one of mine and smear it with lube and it makes a difference.

I think most colt clones are a bit more fragile than Remington's.

But colts are easier to tune and get working buttery smooth.

[Good Cheer]

Another for honorable mention is the .36 caliber 1858 Remington rebored to load .41 Mag molds, making it a .41 Special shooting caseless ammunition. Not as handy as the 1851 shooting .410 round ball or an attempt at duplication history (Colt prototyped the .40 caliber 1851) but it is a fine caliber.

Need to find time to shoot more. Work can really interfere with fun.

[BlackPowderLove]

Here is my Army... LOVE this hog leg!!! I am rolling paper cartridges for it with RB. I would like to get a Johnston and Dow mold from Eras Gone to try with it.

[bedbugbilly]

It up to you and your personal preference.

I have been shooting '51 Navies for 55 + years and have owned a number them - for the past 15 years or so I've been using an Uberti. Nothing wrong with Pietta though - they both will shoot just fine no matter what model you get.

My preference for the Navy is because that's what I learned on - an original one. I love the balance of it and when I was a kid, took quite a few rabbits and a few tree rats as well . . plus other 4 legged critters on the farm. I have all of them however, from a Walker down to a '49. I have a Remington Navy - don't shoot it as much as the Colt clone but it is a good shooting revolver. The advantage of the Remington is that you can quickly drop the cylinder out if need be. Some like the Remmy for the top strap - but the '51 Navy was in production from the inception until well in to the time when cartridge guns were being made - one of Colt's most popular handguns.

If you're not used to shooting C & B, just be advised that most will shoot high - it's not like shooting a SA/DA with adjustable sights. The '51 Navies that I have changed the front sights on - with a taller sight to top POI - all have been post sights - basically brass rod - and it's a fairly easy job to change one and make a new sight out of a piece of brass uncoated brazing rod. I much prefer shooting SA and you soon "learn" your revolver - how it shoots and where you need to aim - don't get discouraged as the whole process is a lot of fun.

whatever you decide on - enjoy it and have fun.

I have no dog in any of this - but round balls shoot just fine - if you decide to really "get in to it" and want to shoot original style conicals - either .36 or .44 - take a look atet the molds from Eras Gone. I recently bought one of the .36 Colt Cartridge molds and one of the .44 Johnson and Dow style - have some cast up but have to wait until I'm back in MI to see how they shoot.