Just Rceived My Pietta 1851 Navy

A

AKexpat

New member
Ordered it from Cabela's on 12-26-14. Order expected o/a end of February as it was supposed to be back ordered.

UPS driver delivered it TODAY, 5 days out. What a surprise!

Revolver came swimming in oil. I have yet to disassemble it.

Found that the last cock notch was hard to acquire at first but after full cocking the hammer with the left hand and releasing it with the right hand trigger repeatedly, the action is breaking in well.

It is very nice with these exceptions:

The blued parts (barrel and cylinder) are good. The barrel flats are straight and the cylinder shows just a glimpse of the roll-marked Texas/Mexican Naval scene.

The fit between the barrel lug and the frame is off by a couple thousands and tilted, but that may change when I disassemble it.

The grips are fitted well all along the grip frame but have an excess of wood where they meet the revolver frame. Easily corrected.

The wedge, as I received it, it positioned well to the left side of the frame and not in usual position. Guess I'll have to persuade it a bit while learning about this gun. I know about the wedge screw.

All brass parts are polished and fitted well. The only exception is the inside of the trigger guard behind the trigger. The brass trigger guard shows a few very small gas bubbles on the exterior, but I can live with that.

All in all, this is a nice $200 replica 1851 Colt Navy. Don't plan on shooting it much. I think I'll just massage it a lot while watching NHL games.

In the next few days I will disassemble the gun, clean, and go from there.
 
On a new gun the wedge should be sticking out a lot on the left side and just past flush on the right side.



 
Last edited:
I have the same cocking issue on mine. Assume it will break in. The Pietta is not as nice as my gen 2 Colt, but close enough for $200. You should shoot it! Those Navies are a hoot and pretty accurate. They point naturally and don't have much recoil. I plan to hunt some small game with mine. Elmer did.
 
Congrats on your new Navy!

There is one thing you should know though . a '51 Navy sitting "idle" is sort of "sacrilegious" . . . you really need to "put it to work"! :)

Good luck with it and enjoy!
 
@ bedbugbilly

Congrats on your new Navy!
There is one thing you should know though . a '51 Navy sitting "idle" is sort of "sacrilegious" . . . you really need to "put it to work"!
Click to expand...

Chuckle! With this gun my wife has no worries about someone accidently (or purposely) shooting someone. She has watched many YouTube vids (over my shoulder) insofar as the loading of this pistol and other BP revolvers. Her comment was in the vein of "why would someone want one of those?" As opposed to leaving any cartridge gun lying around or on my hip, she views the 1851 a just a chunk of metal and has no problems with it.

Funny how that works, eh?
 
@Hawg

On a new gun the wedge should be sticking out a lot on the left side and just past flush on the right side.
Click to expand...

I have been working the wedge w/spring with beaucoup oil in and out until my fingers are very sore. The wedge (and spring) barely clears the frame on the right side. I have seen YouTube vids wherein the wedge sticks out on the RH side by about 1/16" or more. While doing that I notice that the wear is on the bottom of the wedge. Is that interference with the arbor or the frame?

What am I doing wrong? I don't want to sand it. I am hopefully figuring it will work itself out with manual labor, but when? Do I have a supertight gun or what?

Any info would be immensely appreciated.
 
As long as the bump on the end of the spring is through, don't worry about it. As it wears, it will go in further and further. Of course, you can tap it in enough to bind the cylinder with the barrel which is another problem all together (the too short arbor thing which is why you can bind the cylinder by taping the wedge in ).

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
Yap, the Ubertis are the worst but, I've only had one Pietta that didn't need some shimming and it was actually too long!! (Who'd ah thunk?!!) Pietta does a much better job at getting close but . . . . (i may tap harder than most lol!!)

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
In my opnion, the most intresting revolver!
There's just something about the .36 caliber Navy that HOOKS you, in fact there are many points that hook different people differently.
Don't get me wrong, I love my big caliber Remingtons also, for their power and elagance, their refusal to hang-up between shots and overall quality! However, the Navy has an aura of it's own, not to be spoiled by brass frames and .44 caliber balls. Yet those even have a place with the Navy Belt Model!
Oh yea you'll get hooked by the Navy they are unique to say the least.
ZVP
 
Yap, the Ubertis are the worst but, I've only had one Pietta that didn't need some shimming and it was actually too long!! (Who'd ah thunk?!!) Pietta does a much better job at getting close but . . . . (i may tap harder than most lol!!)
Click to expand...

I've never had a Pietta that needed shimming but I haven't had an awful lot of them. I know you have handled many more than I have so know what you're talking about.:cool:
 
Then again, I'm sure I'm a little bit anal about all of it.
I've had a 2nd or 3rd gen Colt with the arbor hole partially through the loading leaver cut. Needless to say, it needed shims!! Lol!!
So, I'd say Pietta does a good job as far as that goes. It is really the most critical fitting in an opentop. All the rest of it can be adjusted pretty easy.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
More Wedge Fitting

OK. I have been massaging this wedge until my fingers are blue, and still no better fit.

Directing this post primarily to Goon as I have visited his site and am truly impressed with his work. Everyone else can chime in also.

My wedge does not seem to fit squarely in the arbor/barrel slot when assembled: the wedge spring BARELY protrudes from the right side of the barrel and seems to be slightly angled to the rear on the right side.

Could the slot in the arbor be a bit short at the front of the arbor?

I have harbored the idea of taking a needle file and lengthening the slot but I need an expert to comment here.

Any comments/advice appreciated.
 
AKexpat,
If you dress anything it should be the wedge (rear or frnt , tell you why in a min). If you can get it almost where it needs to be with just your fingers (sounds like it from your description), go ahead at tap it with the handle of a screw driver. If that gets it on through, I'd say your done. Now, check the barrel/cyl. gap by pulling back on the cylinder in the "fired" position (hammer down, cyl locked). Is the gap wedge shaped (bad) or is the barrel and cyl face parallel with each other (good)? Is there a gap at all or did it lock up the cylinder?
If it is wedge shaped or it locked the cyl. (by pushing the barrel into the cyl.) , the arbor is too short ( they pretty much all are too short). To temporarily fix this situation, dress the wedge appropriately ( so it is positioned right and barrel/cyl gap is parallel front and back.). Do this by sanding it on a flat surface (I use 1\4" thick glass) with some 320 grit sand paper. Sand front or back edge and keep it square. It wont take much to make a good bit of difference, check often.

What the wedge does:
The back of the wedge pushes rearward on the barrel assembly . It should be perpendicular with the barrel assy. The front of the wedge pushes againt the arbors slot and its job is to keep the two assys. together (not to adjust the bbl/cyl gap). The front of the slot in the arbor is usually rounded so that contact with the wedge is somewhat close to the center line. This arrangement is a triangulation between the barrel assy. and the arbor ( a rather nice set up and a very strong one).
So, don't file on the expensive stuff, sand on the cheap / replaceable thing!! As you can see now, if there were an adjustable screw in the end of the arbor ( the front load-bearing part) it wouldn't matter if the wedge was slightly too small, you could "close the wedge keyway" down so that it would be usuable.
Hope this helps some. You can pm me your number and Ill call if you have any questions.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com

PS I mentioned that "fitting" the wedge to the correct position and good barrel/cyl gap is a temporary fix because, as long as the arbor isn't bottoming out in the barrel assy, the wedge is being "jack hammered" with each shot. The reason is, the shock wave has a cushion (arbor not touching barrel) and the two assys don't move as one. The wedge will take the beating. If all is corrected, the wedge will last, specs will be maintained and a reliable revolver will result.
 
Last edited:
@ 45 Dragoon

Thank you so much for the detailed info insofar as the arbor and wedge relationships.

I will proceed judiciously and patiently according to your instructions.

I wish I could send it to you to correct all of the supposed problems but at $200+ for the massage I can buy a new gun and compare parts. Not to dismiss what services you perform. Maybe guys like me just wish upon a star and hope all will be well and rely upon basic knowledge from all of you folks.

As I write I am still massaging this Pietta Colt 1851. It is getting smoother with every trigger release but still have a anal problem with the wedge.
 
I can understand (believe me!!) but, the full service is $120.00 (currently) for opentops, not $200.00 +.
I sent AK this and then figured I should go ahead and put it here.
I only do the full service on opentops because of the arbor. To do a precise tuning on an opentop, you have to have a foundation that will be the same (exactly) every time it's taken apart and re assembled. The arbor is key for this and once it is fitted, it allows for a very close barrel/cylinder gap. A close gap reduces the ammount of forward travel the hand pushes the cylinder as it turns the cylinder. This allows for a very precise tuning of the action (along with an action stop. A very precise END of the cycle as well)! With this set up, you can have and maintain perfect timing.


Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top