Anybody else with a Armi San Marco '72 OpenTop?

[RRio]

Pros? Cons?   

Just made a trade for one, and I am really impressed with it.     

[Hoof Hearted]

I have two but they are both "pre" ASM's built by Dave Anderson.

They are pretty nice but a little Kasenite job on the hammer, trigger and hand would probably be worthwhile for longevity.

HH

[Graveyard Jack]

I thought all ASM made was 1860, 1861 and 1851 conversions, not Open Tops.   

[Hoof Hearted]

I'll take a couple pics

[Hoof Hearted]

OK did no one else notice the OP's (Rawhide Rio) Thread TITLE?

He say's. "Armi San Marco '72 OpenTop"

Here are my THREE ASM's



The one in the center is rollmarked as "Address American Frontier U.S.A."



These were assembled by Dave Anderson with parts he contracted with ASM to manf.



You can see that they had blued steel grip frames and the ASM's had silver plated brass grip frames.
There is also real Color Case on the AFF 72 and much nicer blue!
(ASM grip below)



I want to correct my post above as I only have one AFF 72 Open Top and I have two ASM's
(I got confused in my foggy old memory )


HH

[RickB]

Mine isn't a 72 but is a 51 R/M conversion. I like it. Very solid gun and a real looker. I picked it up at a gun show for $300. I think I got a deal. It's chambered in .38 Colt, but I've been told that it can handle .38 Specials as long as I use the lower powered cowboy loads. That's what I'm doing.

[Flint]

I don't suggest trying this, but.....  A few years ago I was asked to clear an ASM 72 which the owner had fired a sqib in, and the cylinder was frozen to the barrel by a bullet.  When I removed the barrel and cylinder, I found THREE bullets in the bore!

I had to drill and tap and pull the bullets out with a screw.  They were too tight to drive out with a rod and mallet.  The bore was not damaged, the cylinder was fine, the wedge was not damaged, the arbor was still tight.  It went back together and worked fine. 

So don't worry about 38 Specials.  You may need to use full wadcutters if the cylinder isn't long enough, and don't use +P, but I'd say the revolver was pretty strong.

[RickB]

Nope,  won't use +p in it. I know that's a bad idea. The cylinder is long enough to hold a 38 special round comfortably so that's
Not an issue.  I have 500 rounds of ultramax 38 special that is loaded for CAS so it should work just fine.
. I'm getting a Uberti 51 R/M conversion for Christmas so I'll have a nice pair. Just need to find a affordable lever action rifle in 38 special to add to my collection and I'll be ready for next spring.

[Long Johns Wolf]

Hoof Heated: thanks for sharing the pics of the ASM Open Tops M1871-72. I have 2 questions:
1. what is their caliber?
2. are they beefed up like the Uberti OT's or are their dimensions close to the orginals?
Thanks,
Long Johns Wolf

[Hoof Hearted]

Wolf

They are extremely close to their original counterparts!  As I showed in the pics the AFF pistol even has a steel gripframe.
They are chambered in 44 Colt (inside lubed) but I'm pretty sure that 38 LC/Special was an offering also.

RickB

The 38 Special vs. 38 Colt chambering is not an issue as they are proofed for either. Flint's recount of a pards problems would have been (more than likely) a case of reloading for "minimum recoil", probably not following the warnings about reduced loads in the handbook. I have heard these stories many times from RO's over the years....

HH

[Long Johns Wolf]

I dont wish to steal this thread but curiosity takes the better of me.
Hoof Hearted regarding these 2 ASM & the Dave Anderson OTs:
# Since they are dimensionally close to the originals, closer than the Ubertis I take it that they should be desirable from a collector's point of view?
# Do their cylinders feature an integrated (like the originals and the Ubertis) or a separate gasring (like the ASM 1851 Navy and 1860 Army conversions I have seen)?
# If I read the pics correctly the ASMs have a Navy and the Dave Anderson OT has an Army grip?
Long Johns Wolf

[Hoof Hearted]

Wolf

I started another thread here:
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,45953.0.html

Let's do this over there, OK?

HH

[Hoof Hearted]

RR

Still waiting on pics of your new aquistion

HH

[RRio]

I'll do my best to get those up this weekend. I 've had some problems with my camera but I think I have those ironed out now.


Rawhide (what's gone off the deep end for OTs and such now) Rio

[RRio]

Here's the pic of my two:

[Hoof Hearted]

Lookin' good RR