Help with some identification

[RickB]

I checked my gun this morning and it does have the gas spacer/ring. This gun is so clean I wonder if it's even been fired.

[Texas John Ringo]

You're not going to hurt the gun with .38 spl's, even a few +P's wont hurt. Just get some .38 spl's and shoot it.
I have 2 of these Revolvers, except mine have 7 1/2" barrels and i have shot all kinds of .38's that I have reloaded along with some factory stuff. Just shoot it.

[Pony Racer]

Before I rleoaded 38spl - I bought a lot of Magtech 158 grain 38spl and my guns handled those well.

My oal for my 158 & 140 grain BP handloads are still based off the Magtechs.

PR

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[RickB]

Following your gents advice I did some looking around on line. I found a place called America's gun Store and they had some Ultramax 38 Special cowboy loads that were pretty much the same bullet weight and FPS as the 38 long colt and less cost. The 38 LC was listed as 650 FPS and the 38 Special is listed as 700 FPS. The 38 special is a basic Round Nose Lead bullet and should work out great for my NCOWS shoots.

Thanks for all the advice.

If this round works out like I hope it will then I am sure I'll be buying more of it. The 38 LC was going for $289.00 a case (10 boxes @ 50 rounds per box = 500 rounds).

The Ultramax 38 Special I bought was $139.00 a case (same total as the 38 colt above 500 rounds).

The specs of the round should not be too powerful for my ASM 1851 conversion. if I find they don't work out I have an old 38 special revolver I can use them in. So I've got a plan B. 

I really don't doubt they will fit my ASM and do a great job. Now they have been ordered and are on their way. I might not have them in time for our first shoot (this Sunday) but I will have them in time for our next one. And I can't wait to show off my pistol and hear it go bang.

Now I think I'll buy a cartridge pouch for my belt to hold them in while my .45 loops are kept filled with my Schofield ammo. I figure that way I can have my cake and shoot it too. 

[RickB]

You're not going to hurt the gun with .38 spl's, even a few +P's wont hurt. Just get some .38 spl's and shoot it.
I have 2 of these Revolvers, except mine have 7 1/2" barrels and i have shot all kinds of .38's that I have reloaded along with some factory stuff. Just shoot it.

Post some pictures. I'd love to see them. A good gun picture is almost as good as a picture of a pretty girl. 

[RickB]

If you're needing blanks and you can't load your own, I'd strongly suggest giving Robb at Atlantic Wall Blanks a call. His loads are top quality and half the price of Collector's Armory. He's a major player in the reenacting blank ammo community. Real nice fellow to talk to too.    http://www.atlanticwallblanks.com/

Tell him 'panzerbear' from the WW2 forum sent ya.

I've checked out your link and those prices are great. I'm sure I'll be giving them my business when I find out our schedule this year and if we are going to do any reenactment. We've been talking about doing some and I think it would be fun. Hope we do.

Thanks for the direction.

[Texas John Ringo]

Post some pictures. I'd love to see them. A good gun picture is almost as good as a picture of a pretty girl. 

Not very good pix, but here they are mixed in w/cap & ball revolvers
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,37776.0.html

[RickB]

Great pinwheel of pistols.   

[RickB]

I assume this is a gun that mine might be modeled after. I bet this was quite a looker when it was new. Too bad it can't talk.  I would love to hear the stories it could tell.

 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=282221872

[RickB]

OK. Got my ammo for my new gun. Bought some Ultramax .38 Special cowboy loads. I ordered them on the 17th and got them on the 20th. From Ohio to Des Moines Iowa in 3 days. Bought 500 rounds of it.

Just loaded up the gun and they fit like a glove. Can't wait to shoot it now. Our first shoot is this Sunday. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it since I am primary on call for work. They want us to be 20 minutes from our company when we are on call. So I might not get to the shoot this weekend. It's killin me.  

Oh well. Now I'm ready at least. And for fast service you can't beat this place. I'm going to do more business with them for sure.

http://www.cowboyneeds.com/Ammo.html

They appear to have a lot of obscure ammo so check them out and see if they have something you're looking for. I'm a happy customer.  

On another note. I was digging through a pile of books I have and came across a Navy Arms Company catalog from 2000. While looking through it I found my ASM 1851 conversion. It sold new for $568.00 and came in 5.5" or 7.5" barrels. Also came in either 38 special or 38 LC like mine.

Looking though that catalog I am just wishing they were still around as the same place they were back in 2000. They had some really nice guns in that catalog. I tried to contact the new Navy Arms and ask them about my gun but they sent me an email saying that the new owership has no info on what the old company sold. So no chance on getting the manual or info on my gun. I wondered why for the last couple of years their web page changed from showing a lot of their products to being nothing more than a few documents and some guns. Now I know why. Sad when we lose such a great resource for our game.

Thanks to all you for your help with my latest purchase.

[Coffinmaker]

Rick B - you can shoot any ans all 38 Spl ammunition thru an ASM conversion.  +P is not recommended due to the stresses on the Cylinder Arbor and the wedge.  The cylinder itself is not at issue.  A. Diet of +P will batter the wedge and the threads that retain the arbor in the frame.  You wind up with the gun shooting itself loose.  It took me several "parts" guns to get the best of my ASMs reliable.  They are in fact the most accurate .38s I've ever owned.

LJW - well ........ It depends on definition. I can't really call it a gas ring as it is open at the top to fit around the rear barrel cone.  With BP and Subs, it's design collects fouling rather well.  Not a problem with smokeless unless you use Trailboss with a petroleum lube (gets gummy). So I call it a spacer.  It establishes the Head Space and End Shake for a cartridge gun

Coffinmaker

[RickB]

Thanks Coffinmaker. I appreciate your help with this. My concern was that since the gun was marked as 38 colt I figured it might not be able to handle the 38 special, but after you and others said it could I looked around and got some good deals on 38 special cowboy loads from Ultramax. It has the same stats as the 38 colt I was looking at but it cost around $100 less than the 38 colt. Now I've got 500 rounds I can use and I'm going to buy a Lee Pro 1000 press to reload it using the same specs so I can keep the loads good for this gun.

Since you talk about your ASMs and I know it's hard to find parts for them, I figured that I would share this link to a web site that has replacement parts for ASM, Uberti, and a bunch of other makes. I hope you and everyone can get some good replacement parts off this site or at least get some good info from it. I hope it helps someone.

http://www.vtigunparts.com/store/

Just in case nobody has posted it before. I figured it was a good find and could help the group.