Well, I done did it. Almost. . . .

LongWalker · August 17, 2018, 08:34:37 PM

Went and looked at a Colt New Frontier yesterday. I had the requisite trade goods in my car, the pistol was mine if I wanted it. I just couldn't see paying that much for a handgun that needed to spend about six months waiting to be repaired before I could use it! So, no new Colt followed me home.

Is anyone making a decent copy of the New Frontier, 44 special with a 5 1/2" barrel?

Coffinmaker · August 18, 2018, 10:17:12 AM

As far as I know of current production, nobody who turns out a Colt Replicant, is making something like the New Frontier. As close as your going to get will be a Ruger Blackhawk or Super Blackhawk. Finding one of those in .44 Special will be a real challenge.

Abilene · August 18, 2018, 10:57:57 AM

It's 8" and octagon barrel in 44 mag, but it has a flat top

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/products/revolvers/single-actions/model-p-sa/model-p-2/bad-boy-44-mag-8-in.html

Coffinmaker · August 19, 2018, 11:19:29 AM

Oh ... Wow!! Chew on my own foot .... Thanks Abilene

Sorry folks, I was complete unaware Cimarron was peddling the "Bad-Boy" as I don't peruse the Cimarron site often enough. Cap Guns ya know. It's not a .44 Special but it will certainly digest .44 Special without indigestion.

LonesomePigeon · August 19, 2018, 11:50:26 AM

There's the Uberti Flattop Target. The sights are a bit more primitive but they are adjustable and it's a replica of a gun that Colt really made in the 1880's. I'm not sure if Uberti made a .44 Special. I have one in .44-40, maybe they could be fitted with a .44 Special cylinder?

Coffinmaker · August 19, 2018, 06:35:38 PM

L. Pigeon,

Actually, Yes. It would be a simple matter. Order up a Uberti .44 Special cylinder (VTI Gunparts may actually have one on hand). Clean up the Base Pin Bushing, then fit it to the frame with correct head space and end shake. It'd be a One Cup job. Cup and a half at most.

Unless I are mistaken, the "Bad-Boy" 44 Mag is a Pietta. Could be wrong but that is my WAG (Military acronym for Wild Ass Guess).

Abilene · August 19, 2018, 06:52:17 PM

Actually, the Bad Boy is an Uberti. But heck, if you can find a 44-40 flat top then changing a cylinder on that would sure be the way to go.

Coffinmaker · August 19, 2018, 07:22:20 PM

Well, Catch me with my Knickers down around my Ankles. I are some surprised. An Octagonal barrel from Uberti on their SA frame is a surprise. Pietta are normally much more .... wiling to jump at the unexpected. Well Humpff and all that. I would then have to think the Uberti "Bad-Boy" is probably built on a slightly larger frame and would not be compatible with their more standard offerings.

I'd still go with a Uberti 44-40 Flat Top and do the add-a-cylinder thing. After shelling out the folding money for the Flat Top the cost of a cylinder would be considered quite reasonable to put together a "convertible." Certainly much more fiscally feasible than the cost of an R&D or Kirst to convert a Cap Gun to Suppositories.

Galloway · August 20, 2018, 12:18:18 AM

Why all the 44wcf disdain? You can load it up with 240s at game killin speeds if necessary?

Coffinmaker · August 20, 2018, 09:44:16 AM

There is no Disdain for the 44-40. The OP wants a 44 Special. Nothing bad about that. We're just figuring out the most economical way for the OP to get his 44 Special. Which will probably result in a convertible 44-40/44 Special. Gotta pay attention.

LonesomePigeon · August 20, 2018, 10:57:58 AM

No disdain from me either. I am keeping my Flattop in .44-40 as I like Old West calibers. I like the idea of a "historically correct" SAA replica with adjustable sights. I think Dixie is out of stock now but my original plan was to get a pair of Flattop's so I could adjust the sights and have them both hit to the exact same POI.

Abilene · August 23, 2018, 09:49:16 PM

Quote from: LongWalker on August 17, 2018, 08:34:37 PM
Went and looked at a Colt New Frontier yesterday. I had the requisite trade goods in my car, the pistol was mine if I wanted it. I just couldn't see paying that much for a handgun that needed to spend about six months waiting to be repaired before I could use it! So, no new Colt followed me home.

Is anyone making a decent copy of the New Frontier, 44 special with a 5 1/2" barrel?

I will correct my earlier comment that the Cimarron 44mag Bad Boy was 8" barrel, as I just noticed it is also available in 6"

But I want to ask LongWalker about his comment about the Colt NF needing a 6 month wait for repairs before use. What was wrong with it?

LongWalker · August 24, 2018, 12:35:03 AM

Quote from: Abilene on August 23, 2018, 09:49:16 PM
But I want to ask LongWalker about his comment about the Colt NF needing a 6 month wait for repairs before use. What was wrong with it?

It was real pretty, and even came with the factory box. It had the added cachet of having belonged, years ago, to an old friend of mine. Didn't look like it had ever been fired either. But it had issues.

Make a long story short, I'm pretty sure (meaning, I didn't even look at the serial number) that it was made in the early '80s. Every one of those I've seen had problems.

Long story. . . well, the front sight wasn't vertical. Now, I guess a fella could fix that when he set the barrel back to reduce the barrel-cylinder gap to something reasonable, rather than the current loose fit on my driver's license stacked with a business card--well, at least on one side of the cylinder. On the other side, I couldn't quite fit the business card in with my driver's license. (And that was a cylinder issue: I measured on the same side of the barrel.) But a guy could face off the cylinder when he reamed out the cylinder throats so they all matched. . . course, then he'd have to get a set of dies and a mould and a sizing die so's he could load .436" bullets. And fix the timing, which came up late on 5 chambers, and a hair early on the sixth.

I figure it was probably a Monday-morning gun, made after a three day free-beer-holiday weekend. I'm a shooter, looking for a pistole that I'm going to carry and shoot. This wasn't it, so I sadly passed.

I thought about a flat-top, but that front sight base looks like a hangup waiting to happen. I suppose it could be replaced with a ramp, and I might go that route.

Nothing wrong with a 44wcf. I've just not had much luck with bottleneck cartridges in revolvers, so now I avoid 'em.

Cholla Hill Tirador · August 24, 2018, 03:46:31 AM

Quote from: LonesomePigeon on August 19, 2018, 11:50:26 AM
There's the Uberti Flattop Target. The sights are a bit more primitive but they are adjustable and it's a replica of a gun that Colt really made in the 1880's. I'm not sure if Uberti made a .44 Special. I have one in .44-40, maybe they could be fitted with a .44 Special cylinder?

I bought a 7 1/2" Flat Top in 44-40 from Dixie Gun Works a few weeks ago.
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/page/product/product_id/8765/category_id/319/category_chain/312,318,319/product_name/CR0731+UBERTI+CATTLEMAN+REV+FLATTOP+4440+7.

Other than the ridiculous retracting firing pin, I love it. I took the .44 Special cylinder out of my Cimarron Model P and it dropped right in. Better yet it shoots very well with the Special cylinder!

VTI does indeed have .44 Special cylinders and mine will be here today and a new standard hammer will arrive Monday.

I also have a 5 1/2" Flat Top I bought off Gunbroker awhile back, but it's an older version and I'm having trouble getting the ,44 Special cylinder to work and am in the process of fitting a new hand. Theses shorter barrel versions show up from time to time.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/776678710

CHT

LonesomePigeon · August 24, 2018, 09:13:53 PM

Oh no, the bp frame Flattops have a retractable firing pin now? I bought my Uberti Flattop .44-40 with 7 1/2" barrel from Dixie Gun Works a few months ago and it did not have the retractable firing pin. It had the hammer block safety which I am also not thrilled with but at least it has the sound of 4 clicks.

Cholla, nice groups. Did you try it with the .44-40 cylinder or just the .44 Special? I shoot mine with the .44-40 and I am having some difficulty getting good groups. I am used to cap n' ball guns and I don't have a lot of experience with cartridge guns so it could be me and not the gun. I am reserving judgement until I learn more about shooting SAA's and reloading for them.

Cholla Hill Tirador · August 24, 2018, 09:35:18 PM

Quote from: LonesomePigeon on August 24, 2018, 09:13:53 PM
Oh no, the bp frame Flattops have a retractable firing pin now? I bought my Uberti Flattop .44-40 with 7 1/2" barrel from Dixie Gun Works a few months ago and it did not have the retractable firing pin. It had the hammer block safety which I am also not thrilled with but at least it has the sound of 4 clicks.

Cholla, nice groups. Did you try it with the .44-40 cylinder or just the .44 Special? I shoot mine with the .44-40 and I am having some difficulty getting good groups. I am used to cap n' ball guns and I don't have a lot of experience with cartridge guns so it could be me and not the gun. I am reserving judgement until I learn more about shooting SAA's and reloading for them.

I did try the 44-40 some and it did OK at 25 yds but past that range I didn't have any luck.

CHT