Most popular cap n ball replica

[GregLaROCHE]

What is the most popular cap n ball revolver replica today. Taking into account cost to buy new and overall satisfaction of owners. In other words, what should I buy for a first time cap n ball pistol?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

You'd need a survey and sales statistics to determine which is the most popular. I think it would show the 1851 Navy by either Pietta or Uberti to be at the top of the list. I have several cap and ball revolvers, but that's my favorite.

[one-eyed fat man]

In my opinion, the least fussy would be an Uberti replica of the Remington New Army. It won't go as many shots with some attention as a Colt, but pulling the cylinder pin and wiping it down is not as onerous as dropping the wedge on a Colt clone. Also the Remington is less prone to having cap fragments drop in between the hammer and the frame. If you ever wondered why the Army taught troopers to cock cap and ball Colts with the muzzle pointed up, it will soon become apparent where the old sergeants got that from.

[Mr Peabody]

In my opinion the 1851 Navy is the way to go. I tried out a few and ended up with a 5 inch .44.

[mooman76]

I'd also say the 1851 Navy. I have 2. Mostly I think because it is the cheapest. I should have read the whole thing. I'd get something with a steel frame so it lasts longer if you plan on shooting heavy loads or allot. The Walker is wanted allot but it is heavy and the load lever drops when fired. I'd go with the Colt dragoon over the Walker if I was to do it over. I don't think you would go wrong with any of them though.

[GregLaROCHE]

What caliber would be recommend, .44?

[FLINTNFIRE]

I would say the 1860 is one of the most popular , have owned the 58 rem. and the 51 navy , if buying a 51 navy it should be in .36 caliber , have one and it is a joy , but like the 60 army better , the rem. 58 is a stronger design , though I have never shot a colt to pieces , cylinder pin does get hard to remove on some I have owned , lube plays a big part in shooting these .

Have owned a Dragoon 3rd model was heavy , but it is built stout , you really will not be wrong in whatever one you get , my first one was as a 15 year old it was a rem. 58 in .44 kit I assembled finished and shot it a lot , wore out several parts that I replaced over the years then gave to a older brother , Bought a 58 in .36 as it looked so lonesome in the gun store used and missing 2 small patch of blue , a shame as it looks unfired , I have not even fired it .

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The original 1851 Navy was a .36. For fun the .36 is a pleasure to shoot and takes less powder and lead. The 1851 Navy in .44 is a modern creation, an 1860 Colt Army cylinder on the 1851 grip frame, though they shoot just fine. A step-up and very enjoyable would be the 1861 Navy in .36. Just a bit 'prettier' than the 1861. I find the 1858 Remington's just don't feel as good as the Colt style grip in MY hands and the hammer is farther forward and harder to reach with the firing hand, of course it doesn't matter with two hands. The Uberti's seem to be slightly better fit and finished than the Pietta's, but recent Pietta's are very well done. I have 1860 Army's, an 1858 Remington, a couple 1851's in .36 and .44, an 1861 Navy .36 and other bigger and smaller cap'n'ball revolvers. I play with the the 1851 and 1861 navies in .36 the most.

[carbine]

The most popular is the 1851 Colt . The best shooting are any of the Top strap versions. Remington, Rogers and Spencer. The Colt is a problem in competition as the hammer creeps forward as you squeeze. The rear notch is in the hammer. My two cents

[joatmon]

If I were buying it would be 1851 in .36cal, soo much fun?
Aaron

[arcticap]

What is the most popular cap n ball revolver replica today. Taking into account cost to buy new and overall satisfaction of owners. In other words, what should I buy for a first time cap n ball pistol?

A Pietta Remington is the best bang for your buck and IMHO it's also the most popular model.
I hung around a black powder revolver forum for a long time before I decided to buy a Pietta Remington first.
I didn't want to get involved with home gunsmithing to fix cap jams or a short arbor if at all possible.
I didn't even buy a revolver until I first bought a loading press to load extra cylinders off the gun which are much easier to swap for reloading with the 1858.
Why Pietta?
Because they sell the great majority of them including a less expensive blued Target Model which Uberti only offers in stainless, and because the spare Pietta cylinders are also much more affordable.
Whether it's buying the gun, parts or cylinders, the lower Pietta prices results from their volume production of a good quality gun with high customer satisfaction. It's their bread & butter.

[GregLaROCHE]

What is meant by a top strap version?

[Outpost75]

What is meant by a top strap version?

The 1858 Remington New Army and the Rodger's & Spencer were solid-frame guns having a top-strap frame, whereas the Colts featured open-top frames.

268071

[mrbigsteel]

My guess is the Colt 1851 Navy replica. Usually less $ than the the others. (I say this, although my first one was an 1858 Remington.)

[sourdough]

I own several Pietta 1851 Navy .36 "type" revolvers. Pietta 1851 Navies (since ~2001) are CNC-machined (as are the Ubertis) but Pietta has a few more different barrel/cylinder combinations available as parts. I am a "parts-changer" because I like various Confederate type revolvers (Griswold & Gunnison, Leech & Rigdon, Rigdon & Ansley, Augusta Machine Works, et al) and have been able to use Pietta parts to create these. I won't go into that here.

As a first-timer, I would stay away from brass-framed revolvers if you are going to shoot heavier loads. Yes, they are less expensive than the steel-framed guns (not by much), but such loads tend to drive the steel cylinder back into the brass recoil shield, imprinting it with the cylinder ratchet teeth, which eventually will cause excessive cylinder end-shake on the arbor/cylinder pin and increased barrel/cylinder gap. I would stay away from the Colt/Remington Pocket revolvers (.31) as they are very small in the hand. The Walker and the Dragoon models are very large (the Walker is 4 lbs. 9 oz., the Dragoon is 4 lbs. 2 oz.) I would urge you to obtain what is considered a "belt" revolver: 1851/1861 Navy .36, 1860 Army .44, or the 1858 Remington .36 or .44. If you have large hands, the 1860 Army grip is longer than the 1851 Navy grip.

Here is a size comparison photo of some of my revolvers:

Armi San Marco 1860 Army Full-fluted Cylinder .44
Uberti Whitneyville Hartford Dragoon .44
Pietta 1851 Navy Second Model Belt Dragoon .36 . (Purely a fantasy revolver as Pietta never marketed it. It started out as a Pietta 1851 Navy with a round trigger guard, octagon barrel, and engraved cylinder. I added a part round/part octagon barrel and smooth cylinder, a squareback trigger guard, and nicer replacement wood.)

https://i.ibb.co/vVYM7zP/Uberti-Whitneyville-003.jpg (https://ibb.co/1764D2q)

This may be somewhat above your knowledge level at this time, but I assure you that it will not be for long once you get into this hobby. Like 99% of us who like/love C&B revolvers, the more you learn, the more addictive it gets, especially if you become a member of the many BP forums out there. Then you will see how many addictions there really are!

In closing, I would just say buy whatever suits your fancy because if you like this stuff, it will only be the first of many you will acquire. All it takes is $$$.

Regards,

Jim

[Outpost75]

While it may be sacriledge to the purists, if you are looking for the most accurate, sturdy, reliable and durable cap & ball revolver for serious target and field work, there is none better than the Ruger Old Army. Not traditional, but highly practical.

[Driver man]

I think the 1860 colt is just plain ugly. I have 3 1858 Remington ,2 stainless and 1 blued all by Uberti. I shoot .457 balls and find the accuracy superb. Cleaning and maintenance is easy and with the sleek lines has to be one of the most beautiful cap and ball revolvers ever made.

[Battis]

Colt 1861 .36
Art that goes bang

[No_1]

While it may be sacriledge to the purists, if you are looking for the most accurate, sturdy, reliable and durable cap & ball revolver for serious target and field work, there is none better than the Ruger Old Army. Not traditional, but highly practical.

I would have to agree.

[LAGS]

I had a Colt second Generation 1851 Navy with the square back trigger guard that I bought 36 years ago .
I never fired it because it didn't fit my hand.
My fat fingers wouldn't fit in the trigger guard and the grip was kind of small for me.
But I think it was one of the nicest and best built cap and balls made.
I just sold it to my step daughters father in law in the unfired condition a month ago.

[derek45]

My 1860 Army ( Pietta)

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

https://i.imgur.com/4G75W0i.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kGvpoq8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OCanHpp.jpg

[Drydock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiJ8GkTWQxw&list=PLHljRs6NHyZlhvgzIWQYFCu2KqN9jHHMw&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:

268297

[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:

268297Yep, 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.