1862 Cimarron .380?

[nativeshootist]

Maybe because I'm younger or not as stubborn. But getting riled up over a chambering is kinda redundant.  Cimarron went through the troubles on getting uberti to make this conversion, choosing the .380 acp is a choice that makes the most sense. The only place in my area that sells .38 short colt is a local gun store, sure they sell other uberti firearms but they're all mostly in 45 colt or 38spl. (Common calibers), sure  there's two in 32-20 and they've been there awhile. But having the new pistol in a readily available caliber is logical choice. Having to either; A. Buy the special ammo online and have it shipped to you, but you'll mostly have lots of surplus since buying bulk is cheaper online andI doubt you'll shoot it a ton. Or B. Having it .380 acp and buying the ammo locally since it's a common cartridge and not having to worry about surplus ammo. Now I dont shoot in sass or ncows, however, I can see this not being used as much for that. Also .380 could be made into a accept cartridge for ncows since .357 mag and other non old west cartridge  seem to be used.Just because you're head stamp doesn't say ".38 short colt.", shouldn't be that much of a problem. I'm glad that theres a new replica made, sure its technically another open top but its different, would be nice if it had an ejector but oh well. So I'd say enjoy the firearm, they went through the trouble too bring it here.

[OklaTom]

I tend to agree with nativeshootist - the 380 ACP chambering makes sense for ammo availability. The ammo is easy to find. Being a handloader for the last 50 years, custom loading cartridges is no big deal to me, either - be it lead projectile 380 ACP or the special turned down 38 Short Colt. That is why I chose not to modify the revolver at all - aside from a general stoning of the inner parts to make it smoother operating.

I suppose someone could propose to NCOWS that the 380 caliber be accepted by NCOWS. But I doubt it would get far. I suspect 357 Mag became allowed as it is a ?child? of 38 Special which is a 19th century caliber - barely. Same with 44 Spl and 44 Mag. Children of the 44 Russian. I realize some concession on firearm/calibers are made because of the availability of replicas. For instance, none of the 1866 rifles are produced in the original 44 RF caliber, and no one produces that ammo. And there isthe fact that Winchester did not produce their rifles in straight wall calibers like 45 Colt and 357 Mag. But that?s a discussion for a different thread. Point here is that the 20th century 380 ACP is unlikely to be approved (by NCOWS) for the sake of a single fun revolver. We can just enjoy this new offering in whatever other way pleases the owner of the revolver.

I field tested mine found that it definitely prefers .356 bullets. The chamber mouths are .356 on mine, so shooting a .358 95 gr round nose suffered in accuracy, with swaging the bullet down upon firing. With .358 bullets, grouping at 15 yards was on average 3 inches. Using .356 bullets, grouping averaged under 1 inch. Shooting both black powder and smokeless loads, in either modified 38 Short Colt or 380 brass, the little revolver shot consistently 6-7 inches high. Replacing the tiny ?62 front cone with a taller ?51 cone brought that back down.

[nativeshootist]

Well oklatom, your tests with the new revolver is very welcomed indeed! How was the revolver with black powder?

[OklaTom]

Well oklatom, your tests with the new revolver is very welcomed indeed! How was the revolver with black powder?

It was hard to get much black powder in such a diminutive case. It was like loading 32 S&W black powder cartridges. But it did give a nice pop and smoke. It shot the same 6-7? high as the smokeless 380 ACP and ?38 Short Colt Short?.  It is pretty well dialed in now.

[nativeshootist]

Looks like cimarron has the 62 conversion available on their website now. 570$ seems like a lot

[OklaTom]

Looks like cimarron has the 62 conversion available on their website now. 570$ seems like a lot

I have been a Cimarron dealer for a lot of years. I have never sold one at MSRP. The one I sold was $490.

[nativeshootist]

Hopefully my new job starts soon, I'll see I cant find one.