Taylors 1872 OP and BP

[Lewie Girardeau]

       HIYA EVERYONE...


            Well I made it home from deployment safe and sound and wanted to ask before I buy.........

        Will I be able to shoot a pair of Taylors 1872's with biglube boolets and peril lube with BP or is the cyl/barrel gap going to cause problems with the BP??


                                                                LEWIE...

[Mako]

      HIYA EVERYONE...


           Well I made it home from deployment safe and sound and wanted to ask before I buy.........

       Will I be able to shoot a pair of Taylors 1872's with biglube boolets and peril lube with BP or is the cyl/barrel gap going to cause problems with the BP??


                                                               LEWIE...

Welcome home soldier...

That's all I ever loaded for my two pairs.  I load the Mav Dutchman .44 caliber 200 grain Big Lube in either a .44 Russian, .44 Colt or .44 Special case or a .38 caliber 160 grain Snake Bite Grease Wagon when I had the pair in .38 special.  Those bullets work well with either BP or smokeless loads.  I still use them for my daughter's .38 USFAs and Marlins and they use smokeless loads.

You can shoot the revolvers without actually "fixing" the arbor length.  You just use the wedge to set the gap.  The '72s use a wedge with an interference "blocking" wedge screw (it doesn't have the retaining spring like the percussion wedge).  I would suggest you push it in, turn the screw to engage the slot and then tap it back so the screw is actually blocking it from moving further and that will very consistently set your depth.  That will give you plenty of clearance and trouble free shooting.  All four of mine would set at about .007 to .010" of clearance using that method.

The Uberti '72s have a gas ring on the front of the cylinder which limits the fore and aft movement more than the originals or a percussion revolver.  That fore and aft motion is called "end shake" with modern revolvers (including the Uberti '72).  This means unlike a percussion revolver the cylinder gap will usually not close to zero clearance with the hammer forward.  That is assuming the gas ring is as long as it was designed to be, it is supposed to be a few thousandths longer than the barrel extension as it extends out from the surface at the face of the barrel lug where the arbor enters the barrel.  The gas ring actually allows them to run longer without fouling out than a revolver without a gas ring.  Some people even add gas rings to percussion revolvers to make them more reliable for competition.

Regards,
Mako

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

Lewie, I just got a new 1872 Colt's 44 Spl. Open Top (Uberti) from Cimarron myself.  I've fired 200 round through it.  Like Mako, I use the BigLube (tm) 200(ish) grain MAV Dutchman and Goex 3f powder, so far only in 44 Russian cases.  I'm getting some 44 Colt cases to give them a trial.  (The 44 Colt load, not a trial of the excellent Starline brass itself!  )

I must have NOT gotten to guns that so many talk about "fixing" because mine has been a jewel from Day 1.  The ONLY thing I did - and it wasn't much needed - was to open it up and smooth the internals.  I actually did only about 1/2 hour of work because it didn't need much 'tweaking."  From the factory, it had a 2.75 lb. trigger pull.  There were NO burrs internally, the arbor is perfect in length, the wedge tightens down to rock-solid, and the cylinder/barrel gap is .003" to .004" - which is less than what I expected, and has caused ZERO "BP Fouling" issues.  The first day  I was firing, I sprayed a spritz of Moosemilk on the face of the cylinder after 35 rounds, but it would easily have lasted for the entire shooting session which was 60 rounds.  The main work that was needed (and I did) before I took it out shooting was a good lubrication.  That, and what little smoothing I did has made this gun operate like it was made from oiled glass, ('tho not that fragile!) and has a trigger-pull of less than 2 lbs.!  Less than I would have done myself, but still acceptable for my use.  I still have to get used to the sights - or what passes for sights, that is.  The front sight is fine (I wish my 1860 had the same small blade) but the sight at the rear of the barrel is hard for my old eyes.  I actually have opened the rear sight with my small round Swiss file, but I can actually use the hammer notch "rear sight" on my 1860 easier than the barrel sight on my O/T!  I don't know why 3" makes so much of a difference!  Perhaps because I've been shooting my 1860 since I got it in 1975!  And I think the hammer notch is actually a little bigger.

But I do love my new O/T and it has now become my main-match, go-to revolver!

[Springfield Slim]

I've been shooting my 45 Schofield chambered '72 Opentops for 5 years now without any problem at all. They are my favorite pistol, haven't shot any of my 1873's for a couple of years now. I usually use the 45Schofield BL bullet  but they work fine with the lighter 45Slim bullet also. I shot them with the 45 PRS bullet a couple of times but there was noticeably more recoil.

[Pony Racer]

I shoot my two sets of 44 1872 OTs (one set is stamped 44 special and other is stamped 44 colt) with BP and 44 Big Lube bullets that I procur from Slim.

I shoot 44 Russian out of them exclusively.

I also shoot a pair of 1872 OT in 38 spl - that I load with BP and shoot the Big lube snakebite 158 grain bullet that i procur from Slim as well.

I load both loads with 1CC of powder with a good crimp - and them guns roar all match long.  I do wipe down the cylinder face every two stages out of habit but probably could go whole match or close to it without doing that.

I have not met a Star or knockdown target that either load does not put a whallop on as long as i do my part!

PR