To line the barrel or not! That is the ?

[Andrew Quigley]

Well I've got the gun bought, 51 Pietta with 7 1/2" barrel, and can't decide which way to go.
R&D is my choice of gated conversion cylinder but what to do about the barrel. Line it and make a dedicated cartridge gun out of it. Guess accuracy will be better and more choices on bullets.
But don't line and I can swap cylinders from c&b and conversion at will. How accurate are they with hollow base wadcutters and is that my only choice of bullets besides long colts?
Decisions, decisions!! What can ya'll tell me from experience? Thanks as always.


Andrew Quigley

[Black River Smith]

Just as a comment.  I exclusively shoot normal 38 cal bullet in my two conversions.  Both .375 barrels.  At SASS/NCOWS distances I have observed no real lose of accuracy.  Guns still shoots high.

Could just be my ability or lack there of.

[Andrew Quigley]

Like one of those gated 1860's for myself!

Saw a website this afternoon to Gads custom bullets, think that was the name, and they had the heeled type bullts in 120gr and 150gr. Not bad prices either.

[Wild Ben Raymond]

Howdy! I myself having an original 1860 Richards,1st model conversion,relining was not an option. I tried using heeled bullets but found them difficult to get a good crimp so I went with a deep hollow based bullet with generious greese grove. These bullets were sent to me unsized & unlubed. They casted out at about .430 & I used my own mix of lube using bees wax & crisco to fill the greese groove. They worked great & I could shoot about 30 rounds before swabbing the bore. Having talked to OCB he tells me to use a greese cookie w/card wad & that will extend the shooting time between cleaning & the bullet will still expand even with the card wad. I think next time I load for it, I will try that. Good Luck! Wild Ben Raymond.   

[Wild Ben Raymond]

Howdy! Seth Hawkens, Yes I do shoot it but not regularly. To date I maybe have put 150 rounds or less through it. Sorry, I don't know how to post pictures but what's worse is I don't own a camera either. If you know someone that goes to the NTR shoots & wants to take pictures or film it. They can let me know ahead of time & I'll bring it. After the shoot I'll shoot a few rounds for the camera & they can post them. Wild Ben Raymond

[Black River Smith]

I saw slp's Colt Richards first hand at the 2005 NCOWS Convention.  It is in very nice condition.

Also thanks for letting me handle it too.

[TIZWIN]

I'm considering a conversion on my Uberti 1851, and the thought I had was to buy an extra barrel from VTI and send that off to R&D for their barrel package, while I do the frame conversion at home on my own.  That way, I can have a lined barrel in .357, and keep the original barrel with loading lever, etc,, it I ever want to go back to cap 'n' ball.  Anyone else considered this option?

[TIZWIN]

VTI has a .358 barrel of the 1851 pattern?  Wow!  is this something you have, Kid?  Does it have a dovetail under the barrel for the loading lever latch peg, or is it "clean?"

[TIZWIN]

Yeah baby!  Now that's exciting!  So it seems that I can do all the conversion work myself, once I get the cylinder, breech, and jig, etc., from R&D.  I can put the barrel and ejector together with the parts from VTI.  I would need R&D to case-harden the frame after I cut the loading port, and install the dove-tailed front sight in the barrel.  How does that little peg, the original Navy style front sight, attach to the barrel?  Anyone know?  Does it screw in?

[Lone Gunman]

TIZWIN - keep in mind that what you are planning is probably not going to be as simple as buying the barrel from VTI and stickin' it on the C&B revolver

I had that same 'great idea' a couple years ago...the only drawback is that it won't work. The center axis of the bore on the conversion barrels are slightly higher than the C&B barrels so the chamber mouths won't vertically line up with the bore. This is because the factory conversion cylinders are slightly larger than the C&B cylinders.

[TIZWIN]

So okay--back to square one--if indeed I wanted to presever the option of going back to cap 'n' ball, could I buy an Uberti '51 percussion barrel from VTI and have R&D do the barrel work on it, that is, add the ejector, the liner, the dovetailed front sight, the re-blue, etc.  In a perfect world, I'd like to have two front ends for my '51, one for cap 'n' ball, the other for cartridge conversion, and they both work.


Or should I just give up and buy a Cimmaron '51 RM Conversion complete?

[44caliberkid]

I have deleted my postings regarding using the conversion barrel.  I was not aware of the bore center line problem.  I guess there was more engineering involved than I was giving Uberti credit for.  Please accept my apologies.  Sorry

[Fox Creek Kid]

...so the chamber mouths won't vertically line up with the bore

Won't that just make it shoot like an over & under: part of the bullet over the barrel & part under? 

[TIZWIN]

I heard from R&D the other day.  They're currently not offering any barrel work due to their huge backlog.  I'm now considering going the Kirst route.  Anyone here had experience with his conversion for the '51 Navy?  Supposedly he makes an ejector assembly, as depicted on his website, but I haven't heard back from a vendor that might carry it.  R&D will sell the barrel lining material--perhaps I could find a gunsmith that would do the barrel work for me. 

[Pony Racer]

Tizwin - My friend Lincoln County regulator is a gunsmith and does do conversion work.

He made mine.

Give him a call at 18668694867 (ask for Nate) - tomorrow during 10-5 eastern standard.

He'll give you the skinny on how much and how long it takes.

Mine were done in about 2 months and I have not shot my RM 51 Cimmaron Conversions since.

PR