Most popular cap n ball replica

[derek45]

My 1860 Army ( Pietta)

....I want a Remington new army to go with it

[Drydock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiJ8...jHHMw&index=71

[Good Cheer]

Hmm, nobody has voted for the slightly lighter .44, the Pietta "Dance & Bros".

[Hellgate]

Yeah, Good Cheer has a point: The flat sided lighter frame of the J H Dance also lets you check 4 nipples at once since it has no recoil shield. Easier capping too. I took the Navy grips and traded them for Pietta Army grips so I could pair it up with my 1860 Army (both guns are 44s).

[sharps4590]

Locally I would say it's a toss up between the '51 Navy and the '60 Army, in their correct calibers. Uberti appears to be the most popular make. Remington's are relatively uncommon.

My favorite is the elegant 1860 Army. I do have a '51 Navy and do like it though I think the '61 is much sleeker and attractive. I also have a '49 Baby and have had a Walker. The Remington? I don't believe its strength and potential for accuracy can be argued, were it not so all fired unsightly and ungainly.

[charlie b]

I liked the 1860 Army just because it looks much better to me. Sleeker lines. I also had the little Sherriff model in .32. Cute little thing and it shot well. Wish I still had it.

The Navy models are nice and work well. Father-in-law had two.

I had a Remington. Stout gun and accurate. But, I didn't like the grips at all. I gave it to a gunsmith friend and he did a birds head grip and shortened the barrel on it for his cowboy action shooting (second gun). It became a nicely balanced gin at that point.

The Dragoon and Walker replicas are nice, but, I wouldn't want to carry one for any length of time The magnums of the black powder world. Even full bore the weight makes them fun to shoot.

So, pick your poison and have fun!

[arcticap]

What is meant by a top strap version?

The top strap guns have a fixed barrel that's threaded into the frame.
The cylinder is removed by sliding the captive cylinder pin forward.

The barrel of the open top guns is attached to the frame by a removable barrel wedge that is inserted into a slot in the arbor.
The arbor is like a thick cylinder pin that is threaded into the back of the frame and extends beyond the front of the frame.
Removing the wedge allows the barrel and the cylinder to be removed in that order.

[Bent Ramrod]

I don’t know which is the most “popular,” but the most user-friendly one is the 1860 Army. Easy to cap with your fingers; the leverage for squishing the balls into the chambers is superior to any other model, and the cylinder arbor holds enough lube to fire about 10 cylinderfuls before things start getting sticky.

I never had the problem of busted caps falling into the mechanism. Mine was an early Navy Arms, by Uberti. A more current Navy Arms Pietta 51 Navy of my acquaintance had that problem a lot. It was very accurate, though, and shot closer to point-of-aim than most of the others I’ve shot. I gave it to a friend (I’m a 44 guy, with these revolvers) and he did better work with it than he was doing with his .40 Browning High-Power.

I do have to say that a good 51 Navy, with the square-back trigger guard and octagonal barrel, is the coolest-looking of them all. It was more effort seating the balls in the cylinders, even though they were .36 caliber, than it was seating the .44s in the Army, with that geared loading lever.

The Remington grips don’t fit my hand as well, and a friend’s was doing well to get 3 cylinderfuls fired before getting sticky. Just not enough lube space on the cylinder pin. Any increase in accuracy over the open-top Colt design was too subtle for us to notice; all of our shooting was plinking at “stuff,” rather than paper targets.

[Harter66]

Having had several 1860s , a 1873' cap an ball , a pair of 1858s and a Colts Dragoon 2nd model by ASM , and Uberti .
ASM is gone now so buy 3 and shoot 1 . Armi San Marco . I have kept that 1860 as the gold plate on the cylinder is probably worth almost what I paid for it .

Uberti has good support and last I knew was part of the Beretta family .
I have an older brass 58' Army 44 and a later 58' Navy 36 . Also the 2nd Model Dragoon .

Shooting .
The 60s and other open top Colts are just poetry , fluid lines , easy pointing , good recoil management ........ The wedges aren't really as big a deal as they are made out and barrel shims aren't that big of a deal pretty much once and done . The cap jams and fragments in the action ......... Good grief , and the sight V in the hammer ..... It's the original design but it was lame and unsuited to the application and was later improved on so it is what it is . The super sized Dragoon is an example of those improvements as is the Walker . Loads for the 60 are 25-30 gr vs 40&50 in the Dragoon and Walker w/141 gr RB or 200 gr Pickets (conicals) . They were called horse pistols for good reason 4-5# isn't really a belt gun .

I have 3-400 rounds through the brass Rem with no suggestions of imprint on the recoil shield . Steel is of course the better option . Yes I've gotten a fragment in the Rem action , ONCE vs every time I shot them . The grip is very like the Colts but less pointible . If DA S&W and Rugers are to your taste you will likely not notice differences to such a degree beyond normal aiming vs pointing your finger with the Colts . I prefer the Remington loading rams . If I were to have/make/fit a cartridge conversion I'd spring for the 1875 Rem . I prefer the 44 over the 36 .

The 73' Colts was a long was a longtime resident of my wish list and the C&B came along .......let down was an understatement , but for personal reasons .

If it's possible for you shoot black . I've shot a little T7 and Pyro is better suited , black is far easier to manage and clean up .

[Hellgate]

It is hard to generalize on the Remington 44s. I have owned Pietta, Uberti, and Euroarms Remingtons. I owned 7 of them but got rid of the 3 SS Piettas. They were poorly made; the chambers did not line up with the bore. This was before they upgraded. The Piettas were beefy and unwieldy whereas the finer built, lighter Euroarms were about as different in feel as the Colt Navy is to the Army. The Euroarms guns have much smaller grips and lighter frame. The Uberti is in between: lighter than the Pietta. As to the farther reach to the hammer to cock the Remingtons: if you shoot stouter loads 27-30+grs FFFg the recoil will bring the hammer back for an easy thumbing. I was able to shoot faster with heavier loads in my Ubertis and zero cap jams. Also you can easily load the 200gr LEE conicals. With 30gr powder it is a nice "thumper". I have never owned an ASM Remington so I can't comment on them.

[tinsmith]

A couple of years ago, I purchased a used but like-new Uberti 1858 Remington in .36. I was disappointed in the caliber, but the price was too good to pass up. After shooting it, my opinion changed. It is fun and accurate. A little less recoil and muzzle blast makes for a better target revolver IMHO. An added bonus is the Lee 375-130-1R conical bullets that are easier to load than those tiny balls. The barrel is about 1" shorter than the .44 version, but the balance is about the same due to the smaller bore. I have since purchased a Pietta .44 Target Model. But, actually I shoot the .36 more frequently. They are both well made.

[Mr. Crumbly]

I've been shooting cap&ball since the 80's, and have owned just about every model and brand that has come on the market, except for Piettas, which I will not spend money on. If I were to buy a new one today, and I may very well within a month or so, I'd go with a Uberti London model 51'. Since it may be your first, go easy with it to start, and learn the ins and outs and how you prefer to load, etc.

[indian joe]

My Favourite is the gun that never was
An Armi San Marco 51 navy in 44 cal - stepped cylinder, octagon barrel, squareback trigger guard
Then I was lucky enough to find the son of a gun - cool little Uberti pocket navy in 36 cal, stepped cylinder, octagon barrel, one day it will get the square back trigger guard as well and I will have the perfect matching pair - one full size and one pint size.

Son has a 1860 army well used - the gear notches for the loading lever stripped out under the barrel - I did not have the equipment (milling machine) or the expertise at the time to repair those so we fitted it with a Remington type linkage loading lever shaped to suit the colt lines - it works fine and you need to be closer than ten feet to pick it.
He also has a walker - if you really want to get peoples attention get a walker colt and shoot it under a low tin roof - preferably at night - awesome piece of gear absolutely awesome... we dont use filler in any of these guns - full charge or nothing!!!!!!!!

[falmike]

Watch how long one of these lasts when they are posted for sale:

[crandall crank]

I'll second or third it....Ruger Old Army. Most robust and dependable (imo). They are getting harder to find.

[Nobade]

Watch how long one of these lasts when they are posted for sale:

Yep, wish I had bought one of those back when they were plentiful and cheap.

[30calflash]

1858 Remington here. Didn't want the Colt's without a topstrap. Unsure of the manufacturer right now, got it from Navy Arms 15+ years back in Winchester Va.

[Fly]

During the Civil war the 1858 Remington was the most sought after pistol. Colts were more plentiful because the North had a contract with Colt.
The south took every Reminton they could find on the battle feild. I have both & love each. The Colts feel better & go to point of aim better. I also
like the looks of a colt better. But if I had to chose which I would take into battle, the Remington hands down. More dependable, & more accurate.

Fly

[FLINTNFIRE]

I see way more 1860 colt replicas around here then 1851 , though the 1851 in 44 seems popular enough , Have had the rem. and colts both and they are all fun to shoot , nothing wrong with any of them for fun .

[Good Cheer]

The 1858 could use a more robust loading lever. Otherwise they're pretty good.