Confederate Repros

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deerslayer303

New member
So I've been watching Hell on Wheels. And of course I want a Griswold and Gunnison. Historically was the Griswold brass framed? And what are the other "Confederate" made firearms? I'm looking around on the web, but you guys are the best "search engine" when it comes to this stuff. :D
 
Yes, a Griswold and Gunnison revolver was a brass framed, round barreled .36 caliber copy of a 1851 Colt navy. Not the .44 cal brass frame octogon barrel "navys" everyone sells. Cabela's sells a G&G. Other confederate revolvers that are reproduced are, the Dance and bros. revolver, a .44 cal copy of a dragoon, with a flat frame and a Spiller & Burr, anothe brass framed .36, but it is a copy of a Whitney revolver. Kinda looks like a small frame Remington. Cabela's sells all of these revolvers. Also, there is a Uberti made copy of a confederate Leech & Rigdon, another 1851 navy copy with a round barrel and a steel frame. Unfortunatly, the current L&R copies have the ingraved cylinder of a 1851 navy which isn't correct, so the gun is just a round barreled 1851.
 
Pretty much what MJN77 said.

The Uberti L&Rs can be found with the correct blank cylinder. They seem to alternate making roll engraved and blank cylinder models. My newest one - from 2007 - has a blank cylinder. Pietta also made a Leech and Rigdon for Navy Arms with blank cylinder. The Uberti & Pietta blank cylinder models turn up on GA, GB, and AA from time to time.

Then there is the illusive Schneider and Glassick. It was brass framed .36 with octagonal barrel & blank cylinder. A number of replica makers have sold these over the years. EMF and Dixie still list the Pietta version with the roll engraved cylinder.

Jim Watson said:
I noted in the HoW finale that Cullen was brandishing a brass framed revolver otherwise like an 1860 Colt. Total bogus.
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He's been toting it the entire series. There is a plethora of non-historically correct weaponry used in HOW.
 
Guys

I don't know how acceptable this is, but I refer to the round barrel associated with the G&G and L&R as a "dragoon barrel" because of it's appearance.
 
Seems like I've noticed an awful lot of brass-framed revolvers in that show - other than Bohannan's . I'm not complaining - it's a very good series. They just catch my eye is all. I'm almost positive that I saw a brass Remington in one episode. Maybe it was a Spiller and Burr, but given the paltry number of them made, I dunno...
 
He's been toting it the entire series. There is a plethora of non-historically correct weaponry used in HOW.
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I am pretty sure he started out with a close copy of the G&G and Elam had the fako '60 for the big gunfight. Prop man just did not give them their usual guns for the last episode.

Seems like I've noticed an awful lot of brass-framed revolvers in that show
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Yes, there was brass everything in the hanging scene where everybody had a gun drawn.


But WHY?
Prop department on a budget and using the less expensive brass repros?
Thought the non-enthusiast audience would like the bling? (Note the total absence of any long gun except '66s.)
 
Doc Hoy said:
I don't know how acceptable this is, but I refer to the round barrel associated with the G&G and L&R as a "dragoon barrel" because of it's appearance.
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Perfectly acceptable to me Doc. I refer to them that way myself.

Seems like I've noticed an awful lot of brass-framed revolvers in that show - other than Bohannan's . I'm not complaining - it's a very good series. They just catch my eye is all. I'm almost positive that I saw a brass Remington in one episode. Maybe it was a Spiller and Burr, but given the paltry number of them made, I dunno...
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You are correct. It was a brass framed Remington clone

Jim Watson said:
I am pretty sure he started out with a close copy of the G&G and Elam had the fako '60 for the big gunfight. Prop man just did not give them their usual guns for the last episode.
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He's been using the same brass framed 1860 since episode 1 - except in the church scene - that was a L&R non-gun. In the background videos on the website, the propmaster calls the brass framed 1860 a Griswold (not Griswold & Gunnison) and said there were 100,000 of them made before they blew up the plant. Wrong on all counts.

There have been some rather interesting, and lengthy threads over on CAS City about not only the guns; but, the whole lack of accuracy of the series.
 
Will a brass frame revolver hold up as well as a steel framed, I mean the Colt types?

All you have is this base pin in a chunck of brass.

I don’t know if the Confederates were able to make steel. They made cast iron. Might have had wrought iron. They were so hard up for materials that they used brass and lead whenever they could.

This Confederate scabbard, next to an Ames, shows an example of the primitive materials and workmanship used in Confederate weapons. The scabbard throat is missing, lost at some point, looking inside you can see how the scabbard is made of a wrapped metal, and the seams are lead soldered. The scabbard mounts are brass, lead soldered to the body. The Ames is nicely brazed steel.

DSCN1534leadaroundband.jpg


DSCN1531insidethroat.jpg


DSCN1519bottomband.jpg


DSCN1522Scabbarddrag.jpg


DSCN1542AmesBrazing.jpg
 
Repro Confederate Brass Frame Revolvers

You can buy them, but any brass frame revolver will "loosen up" after several hundred rounds. Brass has a tendency to stretch.

My recommendation, get them for Wall Hangers and then get steel frame revolvers to actually shoot-they will last a lot longer and be more accurate over the long term.
 
southron said:
You can buy them, but any brass frame revolver will "loosen up" after several hundred rounds. Brass has a tendency to stretch.
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As long as moderate charges are used, even a brasser will last thousands of rounds. But, if you load max charges, they won't last even hundreds of rounds.
 
Don't forget....

If you load using the loading lever, you put a lot of stress on the frame during the loading process. On a Colt all of that stress is focused as tension on the arbor/frame union.

AND,

Loosening of the arbor is not the only damage to the frame to be considered. In addition you have the cylinder impressions on the recoil shield.
 
back when we used to purchase stuff that movie actors used instead pf playing them on a video games> all of us got euroarms black powder pistols with brass frames. shot them with full cylinders for several years. no internet so we didnt know that it wouldnt work....bobn


ps also had a hawken, a dark green mustang, etc. lol you get the picture.
 
The 36 like old CVA's are just like the colt 1851 navys except the brass frame. The brand new piettas probably don't have as strong as braSS AS THEY DID IN THE 70'S And of course the originals. I recommend 36c brass revolvers over the 44's for the fact they are more historically correct and they use a lighter and safer load. Did the old factories make navy style 44's back then or is that something that came later? If the cylinder grooved pin shifts -then you have an unfafe brass gun. Alway make sure the hammer goes in 3 cocks and loading plunger drops easy in chamber at six oclock when cocked.
 
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