Rookie Needs Help w/ 1849 Uberti Pocket

[LonesomePigeon]

Before sending the gun back I would try putting up two targets, one above the other. Aim at the bottom middle of the lower target and see if it hits somewhere on the upper target. If there's no hits, aim at the bottom right, no hits again aim at the bottom left. Use a rest and aim at the same spot for one whole cylinder for each point of aim. This is what I do for Walker's and Dragoons which frequently hit between 1 and 2 feet high at 25 yards. 

[Major 2]

....if'n I was in the league of super hero's ,  I'd be Contrary Man....  

Ok , so to the contrary....  I have both 36 & 44 cap guns...but if it was NOT made in 44 (I:E 1851 Navy ) then contrary to others its not in my inventory ....if it was never made with a brass frame or Birds head grip .
same outcome , "...don't go around here " (plagiarizing a quote from Tombstone)

I too like the Snubby's ,  drooled all over the Schaeffer when it was first intro'ed  sent my money and got on the waiting list....
would not have bother had it been in 44     (note original Schaeffer & my version )

Now for something completely different contrary ( Monty Python reference )

Brass frame (check) original in 36 Cal. (check) fun to shoot ?  oh yeah ! (check)
here is tuned a Spiller & Burr ( for everybody ? no... for Contrary Man ? yes )

it's about 7/8 in scale to a 7 1/2" 51 Navy  ( both short frame 3/16" shorter   & barrel 6 1/2" VS 7 1/2 " ) not quite pocket size  
but smaller tucked in the belt (with a cool little holster like Schaeffer's ).... and way smaller than a Remington.

A little harder to find for sale, but your rewarded with a nifty little plinker  that's dead nuts on R to L and about 3" high at 20 yards.
the little button sight could be a tad higher ( one day perhaps I'll do that )

That all said, I shoot NCOWS with Conversion 7 1/2" Richards ....contrary    

takes your pick and enjoy the ride....bet you can't own just one ( design )( Lay's Potato Chip reference )

[Rebel Dave]

My recently aqqiured 49 pocket model (Uberti) came with a terrible action. It also had no forcing cone at all, the main spring was too long, and the arbor fit was terrible, something like .060 deep. Their were also very bad ridges (burrs) in the hand slot, and it over rotated. I spent a good amount of time fixing all the discrepancies. I even bought the forcing cone parts for my  FC kit to do the .32 cal forcing cone. I also put Tresso nipples in it.
Havn't shot it yet tho, so that will tell if it has been worth all the trouble. Got to do some work on my Plymouth  Barracuda  first.

Rebel Dave

[dimner]

well I got to the range recently.

started working with loads again... basically treating the pistol as if it was the first time i had shot it. It does pretty well with #00 buck(.330) . this was cheap buckshot that came out of mil  surp 12ga loads so I doubt it was hardened at all. In fact it was easier to seat than the .323 round balls I bought from dixie.

Pistol shoots well with around 12grs of FFFFg. Does ok with 3f too, but I have this 4f and nothing to use it for. I use 3f to prime my flintlock. I shot somewhere around 8 cylinders. I cleaned the barrel after 5 cylinders because the groups got wonky. All shooting was done at 35 feet.

Next I need to work on the sights. As always the elevation is off. It's shooting 12 to 13 inches high

here's a pic of my last shots. maybe I will have a chance to bag a squirrel in the woods this fall.

[Coffinmaker]

KOOL!!  Of course the first step is to find out where it shoots.  Then start the improvements.  Patiently.  One change at a time.  Start with correcting the Arbor.

Coffinmaker

[Kent Shootwell]

My project is completed to my low standards. This pistol is the one I picked up for $60 a few years ago. It has no brand or importers name on it and works if you cycle it slowly. I did fix the arbor and few things before refinishing it. Seemed I couldn't hurt it so down to the "Den of Iniquities" we go. Removing the barrel for inspection I first found that it had no forcing cone but pretty smooth rifling and good crown. A slight forcing cone was cut and the bore was cleaned then coated with the Cabelas lube. The nipples are tiny and treaded 12/24 tpi with a generous hole size. The chambers looked OK but appeared to be smaller then the groove size of the barrel. Slugging the bore came out to .318" and the chambers were .309" so basic revolver lore says that won't shoot! I made the piloted reamer in the photo and recut them to .320" before testing. Point of aim was a six o'clock hold on the black from the bench. Shooting was with OO buck at 25 yards and the first five is the ones with the line in them. That was with 10 grains of 3fg lubed over with the same Cabelas lube. Next five was with 14 grains and they opened up a lot and would raise the hammer so the caps fell back in the action. 12 buck shot is all the shot shell held so the days shoot is over. So were did this get me? If better nipples and higher rear sight with a bit of windage could be added with proper size chambers I believe there's a good chance that a better shooter could expect to do well with a 31 calibre pistol at 25 yards. 

[dusty texian]

Kent i all ways enjoy your reports . You are a very talented fellow. Good looking pistol Amigo! ,,,DT

[Kent Shootwell]

Thanks Dusty, I live to serve.
Update: apone cleaning I found the barrel to be badly leaded! Is this why the group opened up? Maybe I'll have to get some more ball and do some work on the sights. Different lube will be used!

[dimner]

Kent,

That group with the lines from 25 yards... That is an excellent group. My groups were about that size at 15yards. I think your going to have a really good shooter.

I probably should take a look at cylinder and chamber sizes as well. I think I'm going to take your lead and reduce my charge as well to see if I can tighten things up.

I have been experiencing some nipple problems too that I think are due to the very large flash hole size. I have been getting caps stuck in the hammer channel thing (don't know what the technical term is). Seems the cap blows off the nipple at ignition, push the hammer back some, and then the hammer lodges the cap back in the channel. Maybe a reduced charge will help, but I think new nipples will probably be needed. Or who knows, maybe a cap change will help. I'm using Rem #11s. CCI #10s are far too tight, perhaps CCI #11s will be the best way to go.

[Jake C]

Kent,

That group with the lines from 25 yards... That is an excellent group. My groups were about that size at 15yards. I think your going to have a really good shooter.

I probably should take a look at cylinder and chamber sizes as well. I think I'm going to take your lead and reduce my charge as well to see if I can tighten things up.

I have been experiencing some nipple problems too that I think are due to the very large flash hole size. I have been getting caps stuck in the hammer channel thing (don't know what the technical term is). Seems the cap blows off the nipple at ignition, push the hammer back some, and then the hammer lodges the cap back in the channel. Maybe a reduced charge will help, but I think new nipples will probably be needed. Or who knows, maybe a cap change will help. I'm using Rem #11s. CCI #10s are far too tight, perhaps CCI #11s will be the best way to go.

Try polishing the hammer nose (I also don't know the technical term). I've done this with my percussion revolvers, and it has seriously reduced cap jams. Youtube Mike Believeau's "A Cure for Cap Jamming" video. I think that's the name, might be something else.

I'd also highly recommend Remington #10 caps. They fit, to quote Goldilocks, "just right," in my experience.

[greyhawk]

Thanks Coffinmaker... that's the kind of info I was looking for... even if the actual content isn't what I was hoping to hear

I know little to nothing about CAS matches. What is the normal distance that those side matches are shot at? I'm guessing that these are ad-hoc matches with rules setup by the users? But is there a normal yardage range?

I probably should have asked specific questions before purchasing. Seems as those who had posted 20-25 yards accuracy had inhaled a little too my fffg!. Duelist1954 seemed to get good accuracy in his videos. That's what I get for relying on youtube   I have my pietta 44cal army that shoots like a dream, just wanted something more portable in a blackpowder revolver. I probably should just give up on blackpowder and stick with the ruger bearcat.

If I were to stick with blackpowder, how do the shorter barreled 44 cal revolvers do at 25 yards? Taylor & co has a 1860 Army Police Sheriff Fluted Cylinder that I was very interested in. 5.5" barrel. Or is there another short barreled C&B revolver you would suggest? I'm okay with 36 cal. My woods walking revolver isnt for self defense or bear defense or anything like that.

Really appreciate you giving me the straight dope with no filters.

Hi Dimner
Id like to throw in something from the side
I have been working on two older pistols trying to get some accuracy - both of them shot about dinnerplate groups at 25yards no matter what we did or who tried to did it - we could keep all our shots on the paper offhand but crappy scores - a navy arms Walker and a 1860army - both were way out of spec and worn to boot - Coffin maker and Mike (Goons guns) both told me I was nuts wanting to fix them and they were probably right except they dont know how stubborn I am and I was doing the work myself (If I charged my hours you could have bought several new guns with the money) However - I learnt a lot of stuff - I got them both shooting good and my machining skills took a leap upwards as well - so - I call it a success. - The info these boys gave me has been really helpful and extremely appreciated even tho they thought I was mad -- Both guns were worn where the cylinder inpacts the recoil shield at the back so in the process of correcting arbor fit I machined a little off the front joint where it engages the two pins - replaced those pins - then fit the arbor with a stub on the end of it and set cylinder clearance at 8 thou for the army and 12 thou for the walker (still lookin at that, Coffinmaker says too much Im undecided whether to tinker more or not - means I get to make another new wedge) had to make new wedges for both and fit the wedge slots - ok that was just the start - when I slugged the bores I needed a .464 ball to get full engagement of the rifling and guess the cylinder size ?? way much littler - we were using .454 ball - so I bit the bullet big time - I ordered a pedersoli .464 ball mold and made a reamer and I took both cylinders out to .463 - the Walker came on line straight away -sh ooting off a rest I got groups about 2 and a half inch wide by three to four high - the vertical just my old eyes and the hammer notch sight (set fire to the padded rest several times) --
so heres the bit I was gettin to - could not get that Army to off a rest shoot no matter what I did and the harder I tried the worse it got - I got cranky one morning and put a cylinder full into a target on a tree offhand and did better than resting it - that made me think so I went back to testing - could not get that thing to shoot off a rest - BUT - when I took a position sitting with my elbows rested and the gun held two hands I shot some nice groups (Coffinmaker probably sitting there grinning "coulda told ya that ifnya asked") I am not an experienced pistolero - Ausies just dont get the opportunity to own and shoot handguns like in the USA - maybe that little gun of yours is suffering from some of the same - if you are resting any part of the gun on anything at all with your test firing quit that and try shooting it out of two hands - it made all the difference for me .                                                     

[greyhawk]

Apologies to all and sundry -- I shoulda read the rest of this thread before I jumped in both feet!!