Uberti Stainless (w/.45 Colt Conversion Cylinder)

[flangster]

After I had been shooting for a couple of years, I kind of stumbled into the world of Black Powder. Honestly, I think the novelty of having a non-firearm shipped right the home was part of the appeal. But also, probably moreso than any other shooting discipline, BP guns let you pretty much take control of the entire supply chain in terms of shooting. This is assuming you are willing to cast your own bullets and grind your own black powder after carefully reviewing all the relevant rules and laws regarding it. I am not. At least not yet. But I do get a kick out of understanding the process for loading and shooting one of the old-time revolvers. But admit it: the availability of a conversion cylinder has its appeal. So I did my Internet stalking of Taylor & Co's .45 Colt conversion. There's nothing to it, really, other than paying out your hard earned cash.

Here's the Uberti (with a jawbone my dog dug up out of the back yard (!)):





And here are some pix of Taylor & Co.'s conversion cylinder. As you can see, each chamber has its own firing pin, and for myself, I will never be loading all six chambers unless I am at the range and going to discharge them right then and there as the Ubterti 1858 doesn't have a transfer bar.





The really pleasing thing about this set up was how accurate it was with the first load I tried. I am using the "light loads" section of the reloading manual for .45 Colt and the following target was with the minimum published load for Tite Group pushing a 255 grain lead flat-nosed bullet from Hornady:



I have to say I am very pleased. At that light load, the recoil is easy to manage, and the Uberti is a ton of fun to shoot. Now I know the BP cognoscenti will scoff at the use of a conversion cylinder on this revolver. But it was fun! And it didn't take very long to load 50 cartridges and set off for a morning of fun at the range.

[toomanyguns]

Interesting post.

I have a couple of .36 BP revolvers and have considered getting a conversion cylinder until I read that, because of bullet fit, the .36's don't work as well as the .45's.

['ol shooter]

Liking that Remington a lot.

[RimfireFun]

Nice looking revolver. It's my opinion that your model Remington is the most elegant handgun ever designed. Probably why I like my Ruger old Army so much, for which I have a Taylor's cylinder. I was glad when they became available, because I was sick of the whole black powder thing. I'm debating right now of which Uberti 1985 Remington repro cartridge revolver to buy. I'm thinking 38/357, so as to use the cheapest ammo. Hey, those targets look good!

[NHcollector2]

Yesterday I bought a Traditions/Pietta version of an 1858, also stainless, no conversion cylinder but target sights. Wasn't looking for one as I already have an Uberti, but it was one of the few firearms the small shop had in stock. It is as-new-in-the -box, was very nicely priced. It has about the tightest cylinder lockup I've found in a revolver, almost no detectable fore/aft or side to side play. I may be looking for a conversion cylinder soon.

In these times BP may be our refuge.

[rep1954]

Originally Posted by toomanyguns

Interesting post.

I have a couple of .36 BP revolvers and have considered getting a conversion cylinder until I read that, because of bullet fit, the .36's don't work as well as the .45's.

If you shoot 38 SPL. hollow base wad cutters the bullet skirt will expand out into the rifling and you can obtain quite acceptable accuracy.

[Vee3]

One thing to be aware of with a cartridge conversion cylinder is that when you insert it into a black powder revolver, you've manufactured a modern firearm.