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Thread: Cartridge Conversion $$$$$

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    2,287

    Cartridge Conversion $$$$$

    Has anyone noticed how much Cartridge Conversions have gone up. I have two, one for one of my 1858 remy & one for
    my colt dragon. I bought the cheapest price one at the time Howell. Been very happy with it. I have not abandoned my
    cap & ball, but both are fun to shoot. I was looking last night at some & the price has gone up crazy. I can't remember what
    I paid for the Howell cylinder I think less than $100 but maybe someone can chime in on that. But some of them are $300 are more.
    Even the cheapest Howell is over $250 & some of theres are $300. I would never pay that & hope you won,t ether. Let them sit on
    there shelves & rot. Let,s hear from you guys.

    Fly

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    While I do not know the original prices and when those were introduced, I do believe they are overpriced for the material and time to make them. I think they are jacking up the price to capitalize on a very specific market, if you know what I mean. Heck, for $300 one can buy a used cartridge gun.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2017
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    3,735
    Quote Originally Posted by Fly View Post
    Has anyone noticed how much Cartridge Conversions have gone up. I have two, one for one of my 1858 remy & one for
    my colt dragon. I bought the cheapest price one at the time Howell. Been very happy with it. I have not abandoned my
    cap & ball, but both are fun to shoot. I was looking last night at some & the price has gone up crazy. I can't remember what
    I paid for the Howell cylinder I think less than $100 but maybe someone can chime in on that. But some of them are $300 are more.
    Even the cheapest Howell is over $250 & some of theres are $300. I would never pay that & hope you won,t ether. Let them sit on
    there shelves & rot. Let,s hear from you guys.

    Fly
    Fly
    I bet our hair has turned from black to grey (or fell out) since those conversion cylinders were a hundred bucks - I've been interested in them for ages and I reckon the first price I saw was around 250 - most of the price of a cheap capgun at the time anyway.
    joe

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    the Ark
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tar Heel View Post
    While I do not know the original prices and when those were introduced, I do believe they are overpriced for the material and time to make them. I think they are jacking up the price to capitalize on a very specific market, if you know what I mean. Heck, for $300 one can buy a used cartridge gun.
    Yeah reckon you got something there.
    The prices are enough to give anybody pause and thwart impulse buying.

  5. #5
    In Remembrance
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    I don't think they were ever $100.00; can't remember what the Howell's started out as, but do remember they were expensive. When he started out (IIRC) he was a small business. I bought my cylinders for just over $200.00 each and got one as a bonus when I bought a used C&B revolver.
    NRA Life
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    F&AM

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    Feb 2018
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    AL
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    Taylors & Co. Firearms has some of the lowest prices on conversion cylinders.

  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Mar 2005
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    Bloomfield, Nebraska
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    Depends on what kind of conversion you want. Even the cheapest the Taylors requires cylinders made with a draft to the chambers and this requires a special set up for the milling and reaming the chambers. If you think this is expensive on a basicly novelty item. (No Mass Market) Try buying a quality milling machine and making the tooling to do the job. Even turning down the cylinder on a cap and ball and chambering and making a back plate and a firing pin ect. is a long and costly job.

    Now in 1866 Remington was converting revolvers for $4 each. Surplus revolvers were $6. and this was a factory with a heavy demand. Most folks today will just go t Cimarron or Taylors and buy a modern style conversion revolver rather than spend the extra on a authentic conversion.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy frogleg's Avatar
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    Chimacum, WA.
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    Yep in 1968 I was pumping Gas at a Skelly station gas was 19 cents a gallon (gas war remember those?) and I was getting paid 1.50 an hour, It's all relative I guess.
    A Boy in a Old Man's Body. I Shoulda Been a Cowboy

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Apr 2010
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    Maybe you guys are right, I just do not paying near those prices. But my memory fads me. KCSO I,m a retired tool & die maker & owned my own
    tool shop for many years. I know about machining believe me. But with CNC machines & such we have to day that is still way out of line. Those cylinders
    cost more than a complete pistol. I know the cost goes down the more that made. But that is still way out line. Those cylinders don't cost that much more to
    make than say a Pieta replacement cylinder. But what can I say I bought two myself. I just don,t remember paying that much, but I must have.

    Fly

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    SE MISSOURI
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    I always wanted one my Self. The price always kept me from buying one. I can buy a cartridge gun for not much more.

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