Richards 1st Model Navy Conversion Project

[Crow Scout]

I'm still working on my "never existed" conversion project.  I just thought I'd posted a pic of where I'm at on it. 



I'm not a machinist nor a gunsmith but I'm learning so please don't flame me if I've done something incorrectly. 

I have quite a few pictures of nearly the entire process if anyone is interested in seeing them.

[W.T.]

Bring on the pix!

[gw]

Looks fine so far CS, will this be a gated conversion ring? There were so called "mystery conversion " 1860's that did not have a loading gate. These are in McDowell's book on page 399. If you don't have this book, it's a great read and packed full of info. Good luck on your project.

[Crow Scout]

Yeah it will be gated.  I just haven't gotten that far yet.  I hope that will be the next step.

McDowell's book is the only way I could have built this pistol.  Almost every dimension came from it.  It's simply an amazing reference. 

I'll get to work posting some of the build pics.

[Deadeye Don]

Nobody flames anybody on here.  Now as for the other website...well thats a different story.   Your conversion project looks pretty darn sharp to me.  Hard to tell about that ejector.  Looks a tad off, but it could be just the picture angle.  Please do post more pictures!!    Deadeye.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

Anyone that FLAMES someone that can do that kind of work is just an A** and extremely Jealous......
I collect and work on original conversions and I think yours is great.
I'm workin up the intestinal fortitude to do my first Armory style Remy Conversion on an Euroarms 58 Remy. Complete with recoil shield and the drilled thru cylinder with the doughnut added to the back.

[W.T.]

Excellent work, Crow Scout.  I too would like to see pics of the whole process - keep 'em coming

[Crow Scout]

Sorry for the lack of response on here........ and more importantly the lack of photos.  I had a family death and then got stuck in a blizzard in Wyoming.  Apparently internet service at motels in Rawlings Wyoming isn't a big priority.   

I should be back home in a few days so I'll get to work on this when I get back.  Thanks for the kind words guys.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

I'd think that in the middle of a blizzard in Rawlings Wy., I'd be more interested in COVERS instead of an internet connection!
Been there and done that, Frose My Bejeebers off. Also did Rock Springs on a Sat. night. YEEE HAAAAWWWWW!

[The Avocado Kid]

 Some years ago when I did Civil War reenacting guys started adding correct markings to the replica guns(now the gun makers do it) and now I see guys doing this kind of great work and not just one or two people but a bunch of people,I see this day-in day-out on this forum. My question is this: What do you think people will say 100 years from now? Will these people be put in books about conversions of replica firearms or mods of Uberti,Pietta etc.? Maybe I should not think about these kind of things but I do.

[Crow Scout]

Ok here are some of the pics I promised earlier.  Keep in mind that this is my first attempt at pistolsmithing and this may or may not be the correct way to do things.  So far everything worked well and we haven't run into any major problems........ yet    I guess I've learned more about how not to do things or how I could have done them better rather than how to do them.  Anyway here you go

We started off with cutting back the recoil shield.





Seeing how they look.....

[Crow Scout]

The old ratchets needed to be removed as well as having the cylinder turned back quite a bit.

[Crow Scout]

We started out by just drilling through the cylinders.  We weren't taking anything off of the cylinder walls, just the back side.



I didn't get pics of us reaming the cylinders but basicly we started with a reamer that we knew was too small and moved up .001 each time until we had the correct fit.  I had planned to use a caliber specific reamer but since these will be 38 Long Colt with hollow or heel based bullets I could just ream them straight through the cylinder.

We still need to cut a relief for the cartridge rim (I'm not a machinist so I hope I'm using the correct terminology).  Here's what we started with.



We used an end mill that was just a bit larger than the actual rim.



Comparing the finished cylinder with the uncut cylinder

[Crow Scout]

I don't have pictures of the ejector being built but here are some crappy pics of it finished.

[Crow Scout]

Again I'm missing the pics for the next couple of steps.  We cut new ratchets to correspond with new hands and timed them.  We also cut the dovetail for the loading lever latch on the shortened barrel of the '51.



We used the CNC mill to make new conversion rings.  Here we are cutting the back side.





Here we are cutting the rear sight radius on the front side of the ring.

[Crow Scout]

This is the ring before test fitting.



and the new hammer



That's as far as we've gotten.

[gw]

Crow Scout, for somebody that's not a machinist, it sure looks like some mighty fine widdlin' goin' on there! Seriously, it looks like you're well on the way to gettin a close copy of a '60 Richards done. Couple of questions, have you thought about lining the barrel to use .358 bullets? And, might it be easier to make a new cylinder than remachine the old one? If you did machine a new cylinder, you could make the relief cut in it and the frame to make it a little closer to original. Please don't take this as a criticism, just something to consider for the 'next' one! Keep up the fine work and thanks for all the photos. That ejector assembly looks like a real pain to make. Keep us updated please.

[Crow Scout]

GW, 

A couple of things I should mention.  I keep using the term "we".  That shop belongs to my father and he's the machinist.  For me this was a way to kill 2 birds with one stone.  I get to learn how to do some machining and own something that I can't buy but always wanted.  It probably sounded a bit silly for me to say I wasn't a machinist but own a milling machine, lathe, CNC mill, and CNC lathe.  Hopefully that makes more sense 

We briefly talked about lining the barrels but decided against it.  I planned on hand loading for these from the get go so the heeled or hollow base bullets would work just fine.  Also by using the barrel as is I could save some money by not having to buy a caliber specific reamer.  We already had an ungodly amount of standard reamers so that pretty much made up my mind for me. 

When we started converting these pistols we never really considered making new cylinders.  We assumed it would be easier to just convert these.  After having done the work we now know that we were mistaken.  If I were to do it again I most definately would have made new cylinders for many reasons.  I never thought about a rebated cylinder but now that you mention it I guess that would have been pretty neat.  Thanks for mentioning that. 

The ejector was a bit of a PITA but it turned out 10x better than I thought it would.  I'm very happy with it and it should look and work just fine.

I encourage constructive criticism as long as it's not rude (which yours certainly wasn't).  So far all of the feedback that I've had here and on another site has been very positive.  That's not to say that someone hasn't look it over and thought they could or have done better.  That's to be expected. 

Thanks for the kind words and I'll keep you all posted as things progess. 

[Major 2]

You mention '' ... For me this was a way to kill 2 birds with one stone.  I get to learn how to do some machining and own something that I can't buy but always wanted."

there is one other " bird in that flock "  as I see it

Get to have a project with your Dad that in it's self is priceless ...

very nice work....

[Crow Scout]

I got some more work done on the pistolas.  I got the loading gates cut.





At this rate I'll be done in the next couple of years