Need info on new Uberti/Cimarron/ opentops

[thelastfrontier]

Hello Gents new to this forum am interested in seeking info on the new Cimarron/Uberti Repos
1# i am not looking for being historically correct for the caliber of pistol to actual model 2# i am not looking to put thousands of rounds through one per year .50 to hundred rnds max per yr .With that said i am looking at a few different models the 1860 army open top,the 1872 open top late ,the type 2 Richards conversion.All in 45lc I have read quite a few blogs about not shooting factory ammo through these.Only for cowboy action loads BP or smokeless .I Have also read others say they have put thousands of rounds through theirs without a hitch?So any info on the topic would be appreciated i would like to just use off the shelve factory ammo within reason not magnum +p or any other hopped up loads. What is the deal with these guns and what will they reasonably shoot? without falling apart or being in danger?are they BP and smokeless ammo only?

Thanks

[Flint]

You can't be historically correct with a 71/72 Opentop, as they were chambered in 44 rimfire.

I shoot 2, a 44 colt and a 44 Special using 44 Russian ammo.  I shoot smokeless, and occasionally black. The 45 Schofield would also be good.  Been my main match pistols for over 10 years.  Both 45 Schofield and 44 Russian are close to the original loads in power and performance.

[Deadeye Don]

Wow.  That was hard to read.  

Answers to your questions are YES.  

[Abilene]

The guns will run fine on smokeless or BP.  As you mentioned, no +P or grizzly bear loads.   With the amount of shooting you intend to do, standard factory fodder is okay.  Were you to call Cimarron and ask, they would tell you that any SAAMI-spec ammo is okay.  If you were going to shoot it a bunch then I'd suggest cowboy loads just to keep the wear factor down.  These guns are lots of fun and full of style.  Enjoy!

[Seth Hawkins]

I know you mentioned shooting .45 Colt, but if you're worried at all about shooting one of these open top-style guns "loose", I'd choose one in .38-cal..  They use the same parts for the .38s that they use for the large calibres.  So shooting the smaller, lighter recoiling .38 cartridges will put much less stress on the gun.   Factory .38 Special rounds are much less powerful/recoiling than factory .45 Colt rounds are.  The same holds true with "factory Cowboy" loads.

If you bought an 1851 Navy Richards-Mason conversion in .38-cal you'd have the added bonus of having a gun that is more or less correct in calibre.

[Charlie Bowdre]

Hi
I have a pair chambered in 45 Schofield and I love em. Shoot some smokeless but mainly they are my Black Powder guns. Lots of good looks , well made and easy to clean.
dutchy

[thelastfrontier]

Thanks for the info guys much appreciated

[RattlesnakeJack]

I hate to admit this, but since getting my open tops (a Richards-Mason and a Model 1872, both .45 Colt) I had the rather startling experience of firing an accidentally double-charged smokeless hand load in one of them! 


   
It held together without any detectable signs of damage ....

My regular charge is 6.0gr of Win231 .... you do the math .....    

Believe me, however ..... after that happened, I got right on the blower and ordered a low/over powder charge sensor for my Dillon!

[PJ Hardtack]

I've never done that with my Dillons, but I have gotten out of sequence and loaded a round with NO powder, which can also be unhealthy.
I've no disciplined myself to see into the case before I rotate it to seat a bullet. I can do this even with large capacity cases like the .45 Colt.
I'm not interested in volume reloading and find that I appreciate the break after the 100 primer tube runs dry. That's time for a break.
Longer runs than that find my brain wandering, and that's when things can get risky.

[Niederlander]

Jack, I'm curious.  Was the felt recoil a lot more significant, or was it mostly the noise?  I had the opposite problem once.  I was shooting a replica SAA and the bullet ALMOST made it out of the end of the 7 1/2" barrel.  It was stuck by the last driving band.  I pulled it out with a pliers, but I wish I'd have had a camera to show people what it looked like!  (By the way, it just goes to show that modern guns tend to have a lot of extra strength built in.!

[RattlesnakeJack]

Reloading is definitely an activity in which to avoid carelessness!

Dale, greater recoil, noise and .... particularly noticeable in an open-top .... more visible flash!  

The "sheet of flame" radiating upward and sideways from the cylinder/barrel gap was something to behold.  The experience certainly left an impression on me, I must say!

[Niederlander]

I'll bet that WAS something to see!  Glad you, and the pistol, came out okay!

[Flint]

I "repaired" an ASM 38 cal opentop a few years ago that the owner had shot three bullets into the bore...  They were jammed so tightly I had to tap the bullets for a 1/4 inch bolt to jack them out, a rod would not move them.  No barrel bulge, no looseness in the arbor, apparently no harm done.  I could not understand how the shooter could be so unconscious of what was going on, and I'm surprised the gun stayed together.  Perhaps all the cartridges lacked powder..  but to be so unaware is scary.

[Seth Hawkins]

..  but to be so unaware is scary.

I got you beat -

We used to have a shooter in our club (pay particular attention to the words used to) who was one of those guys who always made everyone nervous when he had a gun in his hands.  He frequently came within a few degrees of sweeping the crowd with a gun.  You really had to watch this guy constantly.  A number of people brought up their concerns over this guy, but he never actually did anything wrong, so other than reminding him of the safety rules, there was nothing that could be done.  There was certainly no reason to ask him to leave.  Until...

Until he started reloading his own rounds.  We're not sure who taught him how to reload, or if he read about it in a book.  But match 1, stage 1 round 1 went like this -

He drew a 7.5" barreled Colt SAA, cocked the hammer, aimed, pulled the trigger, and BOOM!  It sounded like a friggin grenade had gone off!  He had removed the top strap from the gun, along with the top half of the cylinder!  Now, most normal folk would have turned whiter than a sheet and after doing a quick inventory of their digits, would have offered up a quick prayer to the deity of their choosing.  Not this imbecile.  He stood there trying to cock the gun so he could continue the stage!

This, finally, was enough for our club president and safety officer to have a private conversation with the gentleman and politely invite him not to return.

We figure he completely filled a .45 Colt case with smokeless powder before setting a 250 gr bullet on it.

We were soooo lucky that no one was hurt.  He was so very lucky to walk away uninjured.

"To be so unaware is scary...."  Yeah, it is.  There are some people who just shouldn't have a gun in their hands.

[PJ Hardtack]

This goes on with more frequency than I'm comfortable with .....

I've been present when a guy shooting Ruger Super Blackhawks in CAS had a horrendous "Boom!" which rattled him, but he carried on. Next round blew the cylinder and top strap. Mercifully, we never saw him again. Anyone who can blow up a Ruger is too stupid to have a gun.

I had a now deceased friend who blew up his original '86 45-70 in a Team event. With all the noise around him, he failed to note that he had three consecutive 'squib' loads. On the next round, the barrel blew.
Turned out that the lube had melted in the heat (Cody, Wyoming) and contaminated the powder. He had the ammo commercially reloaded and specified a hard lube. The reloader used SPG. He sued and won for damages.

Mercifully again, no one got hurt - except the rifle. We don't do Team events any more.

[Coffinmaker]

Had a customer once bring me a SS '92 he couldn't sight in at 25 yards.  No holes inna paper.  Six, yep, SIX .38 bullets stuck inna bore..

Total air head

Coffinmaker