Colt 1860 conversion cylinders

[Caucasian Wingnut]

Howdy all

I have a question for you folks, but first a little back round on me would help. The very first firearm I bought way back when I was 18 (1971) was a black powder Colt cap and ball from Italy. I still have it and I have always like the feel and look of that type of pistol.
Jump ahead to today and I am starting to get the bug to get involved with Cowboy shooting. Over the years I have become a big fan of the 44 Special and am aiming my search in that direction. I still want to have a Colt 1860 Army and have checked out Cimarron OT's, but have 2 problems with them. I believe that their stuff is overpriced and the look is not right, yeah I know I'm gun snob

So here is my question, does anyone have any first hand experience with the products of Taylor Firearms? More specifically the conversion cylinder that allows you to change their BP. 44 Colt 1860 to a carriage 45LC. I really like this idea. Old cylinder I can shoot cap and ball BP and new one I can shoot carriage rounds. Any input on their quality and track record would be helpful. I really wish that they would offer this in 44 Sp., but the barrel is bored out in .450 or so.

Again thanks for any help

Sweep Yankee

[Cheyenne]

The 45 Colt cylinders are a 5 shot cinfiguration, with safety settings to allow you to load five and 'lock' the cylinder between chambers.  These are being made by R&D.....now, later this year R&D and yours truely will be marketing a 'conversion kit' which will be based on the Richards Type II conversion, which was basically a R-M Army conversion with the standard '60 barrel. These will be 6 shot 44 Colt, and you can either use a hollow based or heeled bullet, or for about 50.00 have the bore lined to .429 and use conventional bullets.  These kits will require no special modification to the frame and hammer, as the firing pins will be mounted in the ring.  We are working on an ejector which will 'look' right, and also require minimum modification to mount.  The only frame mod will be you'll have to cut a loading port in the recoil shield. This will be a more perminant modification than the drop in type cylinder.

The 44 Spl. is out because of the rim diameter....in a properly sized cylinder, the rims stack up.

The Cimarron guns have an oversized cylinder which allow the 44 Spl.  They are Ok, but as you've noted, there are some problems with contours and overall appearance.

R&D was the only source for proper, correct Richards and R-M conversions, and the full blown conversions are museum quality....what we're striving for is a simple kit which will retain the proper look.

The cylinders offerd by Taylors, made by R&D are top quality.....they will serve you well.

Using the 45 Colt in the drop in allows the use of a standard round so you don't have to line the barrel or fool with odd bullets types.

[Caucasian Wingnut]

I know that the 44 1860 Army conversion cylinder only has room for 5 rounds of 45LC.

It would seem to reason that if there is room for 5 rounds of 45LC, there should be room for the cylinder to be built for 5 rounds of 44 Sp. (smaller round).  If the barrel was initially bored for .428 to .430 and there was a cylinder that held 5 rounds of 44 Sp., I would die a happy man and have a lot fun before hand.

Not only could you use 44Sp., but you could also use 44Rus.and I believe 44Colt in one gun. This arrangement would really open up the market place for shooters who like to reenact the Civil War and the early Western shooting. You could also go one step further and produce a Colt 1860 for 38 Sp., not the 38LC as in the smaller 1851-61. The 38Sp is a much more popular and prolific round. You may even be able to set up the larger diameter of the 1860 cylinder to hold 6 rounds of 38Sp. Rifles and pistols can match rounds with these combos.

With the present set up that Taylor uses with a back plate to the cylinder that holds the fire pins and no alteration of the gun's frame for a loading gate, you do not upset the perfect proportions and look of the 1860 Colt.

As it stands now, I will most likely settle for one of Taylor's 5 ½" Cattleman in 44Sp and wait to see what happens in the future.
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