Over the last few months I have had a hankering to buy another .36 Open Top replica.
I already have a Uberti London replica which I really like! A very high quality top Grade replica. The Uberti's are among the best fitted and finished of the replicas and necessarilary the most expensive of the breed. Piettias are good quality, nicely finished and dependablely functionsl replicas. Honestly they are a "grade" lower than the Uberti's with just a little less finely finished bluing and grip textures. Mechanically they are about 80% as well made as an Uberti with actions a little rougher functioning. Interior parts are well fitted and finished. Uberti's feel "Tuned" right out of the box but Piettias need to wear-in to function as amoothly. This takes around 150 shots.
This time I think I am going to try a Piettia .36.
There are several Piettias out there but most (Brass Framed mostly) are of the .44 caliber which is not exactllly historically correct nor is it what I am looking for. I have a Brass Piettia .44 which has been a good gun with good accuracy. Being a Brass Frame I load the Pieitta light at 20 gr of BP or Pyrodex followed with sometimes a patch and then a round lead ball. Sometimes I use Crisco for chainfire suppresion aand sometimes I use a lubed patch (over the powder). The revolver seems to like a Cornmeal filler putting the ball closest to the forcing cone for best accuracy. It's spot-on and centered at 21 ft and cuts the center out of a target easilly even with the rudimentary sights.
The GOOD preformance of this revolver has led me to want a .36 from this manufacturer!
The .36 caliber is very plesant to shoot with a 22 gr load and seems to have adequate veloocity for 25 yard targeting. My Uberti shoots spot-on at 15 yards. Recoil is nil with the .36's and muzzle blast is about 60% as loud as a .44 Cqaliber loading. The .36 has it's own sound and the speed of the ball is quite fast!
I understand that the gunfighters of old prefered the speedy small ball as it penetrated very well and easilly passed through heavy clothing,and still had enough deadly velocity to complete the balls task of finding vitals of the opponent. From what I have read these .36 caliber had a reputation for clean clear through shots in gunfights! that is suprising because of the deceptive mild manners of the .36. Wild Bill Hickock wassaid to prefer the .36 as his primary fighting gun and if it was good enough for an expert like him, it is good enough for a target shooter and plinker such as myself!
My only complaint about the Colt design is the damnable condition which causes spent caps to fall between the Hammer and the frame. Evidently the Caps don't follow the trough cut into the frame and pieces hang-up on the corner of the hammer notch and fall into the action and jam the hammer from firing. This all happens so fast that you don't notice and the gun fails to fire the next cap.
I have read articles that suggest "The Gunfighters Flip"( a quick shake of the gun to the right) to eject spent cap debris from the frame. I have also been advised to cock the revolver with the barrel pointed downward to clear cap debris. Of the two methods, I have found the downward barrel upon cocking to be the most dependable. The lowered cylinder seems to carry the fragments around the cap channel dependably with this method.You may have also seen the method where the muzzle is raised to near vertical upon cocking as in the old "B" Movies. This method actually works but looks very animated and may get detrimental safety comments and warnings at the range.
The material which make-up the caps themselves might make a difference on Colt Hammer Jamming as each manufacturer uses different thicknesses and materials to form their caps. For instasnce, RWS Caps are thin Copper and almost completely fragment whereas CCI are thick and hard material and hold together. I have found Remington Caqaps to be the most dependable comprimise as they hold together and stay in place as the cylinder rotates past the hammer notch and on to the clean-out cut. This plus a concentrated effort to help the gun clear the fragments keeps the gun running.
Rapid fire with the Colt design is not recommended without one of these cap clearing methods applied. I think that once you find a method make it a habit and your gun will function reliably.
The Colt design requires a wipe down about every 3 cylinder fulls. I just use a dampened (with Windex) towel and give the cylinder and arbor a quick wipe off. I usually apply some crisco or "Traditions" Wonder Lube to the cylinder arbor and reassemble the gun. This keeps the gun functioning reliably. Without such maintance, the cylinder soon loads up with fouling and operation suffers badly.
Reguardless of the minor hassles of Cap fragments, the Open Top colt has a flavor of nostalga that draws the gun to you! The fine balance of the Navy Frame and the super inherant accuracy thet the .36 has makes it a good canadate for your Black Powder Battery. Shooting cost is very low due to the low powder volume required and .375 balls are amongst the cheapest to buy. Wads cost the same across the board as do Caps. overall assembled loads in .36 cost about 60% compared to a .44. Punching paper or tin cans is a lot cheaper with this caliber! It's about the most inexpensive fun you can have using a "real" gun!
Black Powder revolver shooting is a relaxing and fun hobby it's slow procedures allow you to slowly appreciate all the procedures applied in reloading and preping a revolver to fire and you dont just "POUR" cartriges through your gun as you do with a modern semi-auto! It's easy to dump $50 worth of ammo through a semi-auto in 20 minutes. With Black Powder you actualy get to enjoy the processes and to handle your gun more. Handling your gun is alomst as much fun as actually firing it. I think this is a point that getsis never sponen of and skipped with todays Wonder 9's and such... Actual gun handling is fun!
Ok as you see, I am ready for a new revolver, and the little .36 will surely fill the bill! I enjoy shooting but the processes applied to BP revolvers add to the "fun" with the gun. It's fun to slow down and not concentrate on the biggest "BOOM" or the fastest fire rates. This caliber makes sense for several reasons but it's economy stands out the most.
Hopelessly Hooked...
ZVP
I already have a Uberti London replica which I really like! A very high quality top Grade replica. The Uberti's are among the best fitted and finished of the replicas and necessarilary the most expensive of the breed. Piettias are good quality, nicely finished and dependablely functionsl replicas. Honestly they are a "grade" lower than the Uberti's with just a little less finely finished bluing and grip textures. Mechanically they are about 80% as well made as an Uberti with actions a little rougher functioning. Interior parts are well fitted and finished. Uberti's feel "Tuned" right out of the box but Piettias need to wear-in to function as amoothly. This takes around 150 shots.
This time I think I am going to try a Piettia .36.
There are several Piettias out there but most (Brass Framed mostly) are of the .44 caliber which is not exactllly historically correct nor is it what I am looking for. I have a Brass Piettia .44 which has been a good gun with good accuracy. Being a Brass Frame I load the Pieitta light at 20 gr of BP or Pyrodex followed with sometimes a patch and then a round lead ball. Sometimes I use Crisco for chainfire suppresion aand sometimes I use a lubed patch (over the powder). The revolver seems to like a Cornmeal filler putting the ball closest to the forcing cone for best accuracy. It's spot-on and centered at 21 ft and cuts the center out of a target easilly even with the rudimentary sights.
The GOOD preformance of this revolver has led me to want a .36 from this manufacturer!
The .36 caliber is very plesant to shoot with a 22 gr load and seems to have adequate veloocity for 25 yard targeting. My Uberti shoots spot-on at 15 yards. Recoil is nil with the .36's and muzzle blast is about 60% as loud as a .44 Cqaliber loading. The .36 has it's own sound and the speed of the ball is quite fast!
I understand that the gunfighters of old prefered the speedy small ball as it penetrated very well and easilly passed through heavy clothing,and still had enough deadly velocity to complete the balls task of finding vitals of the opponent. From what I have read these .36 caliber had a reputation for clean clear through shots in gunfights! that is suprising because of the deceptive mild manners of the .36. Wild Bill Hickock wassaid to prefer the .36 as his primary fighting gun and if it was good enough for an expert like him, it is good enough for a target shooter and plinker such as myself!
My only complaint about the Colt design is the damnable condition which causes spent caps to fall between the Hammer and the frame. Evidently the Caps don't follow the trough cut into the frame and pieces hang-up on the corner of the hammer notch and fall into the action and jam the hammer from firing. This all happens so fast that you don't notice and the gun fails to fire the next cap.
I have read articles that suggest "The Gunfighters Flip"( a quick shake of the gun to the right) to eject spent cap debris from the frame. I have also been advised to cock the revolver with the barrel pointed downward to clear cap debris. Of the two methods, I have found the downward barrel upon cocking to be the most dependable. The lowered cylinder seems to carry the fragments around the cap channel dependably with this method.You may have also seen the method where the muzzle is raised to near vertical upon cocking as in the old "B" Movies. This method actually works but looks very animated and may get detrimental safety comments and warnings at the range.
The material which make-up the caps themselves might make a difference on Colt Hammer Jamming as each manufacturer uses different thicknesses and materials to form their caps. For instasnce, RWS Caps are thin Copper and almost completely fragment whereas CCI are thick and hard material and hold together. I have found Remington Caqaps to be the most dependable comprimise as they hold together and stay in place as the cylinder rotates past the hammer notch and on to the clean-out cut. This plus a concentrated effort to help the gun clear the fragments keeps the gun running.
Rapid fire with the Colt design is not recommended without one of these cap clearing methods applied. I think that once you find a method make it a habit and your gun will function reliably.
The Colt design requires a wipe down about every 3 cylinder fulls. I just use a dampened (with Windex) towel and give the cylinder and arbor a quick wipe off. I usually apply some crisco or "Traditions" Wonder Lube to the cylinder arbor and reassemble the gun. This keeps the gun functioning reliably. Without such maintance, the cylinder soon loads up with fouling and operation suffers badly.
Reguardless of the minor hassles of Cap fragments, the Open Top colt has a flavor of nostalga that draws the gun to you! The fine balance of the Navy Frame and the super inherant accuracy thet the .36 has makes it a good canadate for your Black Powder Battery. Shooting cost is very low due to the low powder volume required and .375 balls are amongst the cheapest to buy. Wads cost the same across the board as do Caps. overall assembled loads in .36 cost about 60% compared to a .44. Punching paper or tin cans is a lot cheaper with this caliber! It's about the most inexpensive fun you can have using a "real" gun!
Black Powder revolver shooting is a relaxing and fun hobby it's slow procedures allow you to slowly appreciate all the procedures applied in reloading and preping a revolver to fire and you dont just "POUR" cartriges through your gun as you do with a modern semi-auto! It's easy to dump $50 worth of ammo through a semi-auto in 20 minutes. With Black Powder you actualy get to enjoy the processes and to handle your gun more. Handling your gun is alomst as much fun as actually firing it. I think this is a point that getsis never sponen of and skipped with todays Wonder 9's and such... Actual gun handling is fun!
Ok as you see, I am ready for a new revolver, and the little .36 will surely fill the bill! I enjoy shooting but the processes applied to BP revolvers add to the "fun" with the gun. It's fun to slow down and not concentrate on the biggest "BOOM" or the fastest fire rates. This caliber makes sense for several reasons but it's economy stands out the most.
Hopelessly Hooked...
ZVP
. It's nice to see others get bit by the BP bug.