Is there a source of cap and ball revolver that work right out of the box perfectly?

[omgb]

I bought a Remington 1858 from Dixie and had no issues whatsoever. I also bought a Uberti-made Colt 1860 replica and it worked just fine.

It's just luck of the draw - people who don't have problems probably don't put up Youtube videos.

I have purchased 2 Remington revolvers from Dixie. One was a Matt finish model. Both have excellent triggers and both go bang and hit what you are aiming at every time. I also have 2 Rugers. Those are in a much better class of gun, and you pay for it😁. I’m not sure of who made my Dixie guns; Pieta or Uberti. They are worth what I paid for them in that they are fun to shoot.

Guys who post on YouTube do it for the money. Bad news sells better than good news so I wouldn’t take their negative portrayal as gospel. If you buy a Remington copy you should have no problems

[Thundermaker]

IMHO, if you're getting a colt style open top, and you don't want to shoot conicals, get a pietta. They don't have the short arbor problem, but they have too slow a twist rate for conicals.

Otherwise, uberti remington.

[Jackrabbit1957]

That's strange, I have a Pietta 1860 Navy, just went out yesterday for a range session, shot a dozen cast conical bullets very accurately. It's definitely minute of golf ball at 30 yards. This pistol has been tuned with music wire springs, an action shield, bolt guide and a Ruger type hand spring and plunger. These modifications make the pistol much more reliable than one straight out of the box. I am very pleased with it's performance with the conical bullets. I offer tuning services for those interested having their pistols set up properly.

[Battis]

Not to take away from those that offer tune-ups for the old cap and ball guns, but I shoot the old timers with one foot in the 1860s. I don't want my cap and ball guns to be as reliable as a modern gun - I don't rely on them for anything but an historical experience. I expect problems, and I deal with them as they come up. I like working on them as much as shooting them. When I want a trouble-free shooting day, I take the Ruger Old Army. I have several antiques and repros, and hands down, the smoothest cap and ball revolver that I have is a Pietta 1860 .44.

[Thundermaker]

That's strange, I have a Pietta 1860 Navy, just went out yesterday for a range session, shot a dozen cast conical bullets very accurately. It's definitely minute of golf ball at 30 yards. This pistol has been tuned with music wire springs, an action shield, bolt guide and a Ruger type hand spring and plunger. These modifications make the pistol much more reliable than one straight out of the box. I am very pleased with it's performance with the conical bullets. I offer tuning services for those interested having their pistols set up properly.

Maybe they've changed things. I haven't bought one in a while.

[Jackrabbit1957]

Both Pietta and Uberti have stepped up their games, Pietta went to CNC machines about 10 years ago and fixed the short arbor on the Colt replicas, Uberti has never acknowledged the arbor issue but fit and finish is generally better than Pietta, tho not by much. Both makers pistols can use tuning to get them right as far as timing and lock up are concerned.

[HamGunner]

I have three Pietta 1851 Navies. I have a 1974, 1981, and a 1999, with the 1999 having a 7 groove bore with a bit deeper rifling than the other two which had 6 groove bores. The 7 groove bore seemed to be a bit more accurate for me using ball, but I have not shot enough conicals to be able to tell much about their accuracy.

Edit: I had to do a good bit of tuning on all three revolvers. The 1981 had been used a bit, but the other two were safe Queens and were basically like new. All three needed the cylinder locks trued up to actually fit all the way down into the cylinder lock grooves for good cylinder/bore alignment. Some needed the lock relieved a bit on one side or the other or maybe even on both sides to give correct alignment.

I had an assortment of extra internal parts and of course I think I remember swapping parts back and forth between them to make them all work better. Mostly to help the timing, but I know I did increase the cylinder throat diameters a bit on all of them. The throats were all way too small for the bores.

[Swineherd]

Is there a thread specifically for hawking services?