1849/1851/1860 Colt models - question

[azredhawk44]

Some variants of the Colt open-top design do not have a loading lever attached to the barrel. It seems most prevalent with the .31 caliber smaller guns.

Is the cylinder pin always the correct diameter to be used as a loading lever, if the gun is disassembled? The 1851's have approximate .30 diameter pins, the 1860's have 0.40 or larger pins, the 1849's have .25 or so pins?

Or... do you have to buy/make/improvise a loading mechanism for guns that have no loading lever attached to the barrel?

 

[Fingers McGee]

The Baby Dragoon/Wells Fargo '49 Pocket models in .31; .36 cal Trapper models, Patersons, and the replica .36 and .44 snubbies are the only ones that I am aware of without loading levers. The Patersons, Trappers, and snubbies have a loading tool. The arbor on the '49s the appropriate size for loading the cylinders.