"pocket" black powder revolvers

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Daves-got-guns

New member
hello, i was wondering what people somebody might carry for a pocket bp revolver. I don't mind the light .32 or .31 spectrum of things, and if anybody has ever chronod one of these i am curious to know. Thanx
 
Dave, a member here and also over on THR, mec, has several posts with chronograph results on various BP guns. He also authored a book, PERCUSSION PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS which I recommend. This link to a thread on THR has some of his figures on a .31 but there are more in others, I just didn't look any further. http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=232776

Steve
 
The belt revolvers rival modern handguns in practical accuracy and with the pocket revolvers, we have to refine our expectations downward. That done, they can be very enjoyable. Here lately, I've been trying to increase my education about the reliablility of caplock revolvers left loaded for extended periods. My pocket model had been loaded for about a month when I took it to the range and rapped of five quick shots into a B27 target. The rounds landed in the 9, 10 and x rings in a very lethal looking cluster.

I suspect that is about the level of performance expected by 19th century users. You can make reasonable center hits every time out to about 60 feet and often 25 yards but I find that I am sometimes able to miss the target entirely at that range.

The pocket colt replicas are frequently more glitchy in performance than the larger revolvers. Inserting the wedge overly tight can eliminate the barrel/cylinder gap and throw timing seriously out of whack. The closer tollerances of the small revolvers encourages tie-ups from spent caps. I made mine reliable by deepening the grove in the frame between the hammer and capping notch and relieving the same area to increase distance from the rear of the cylinder.
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after the above modifications and enough shooting to smooth it up further, it is pretty reliable. If I cock it with it pointed downward, caps are unlikely to fall into the hammer slot or action and tie things up. The expectation is completely reliability. The reality is that it isn't as reliable as a cartridge revolver and stuff can always happen.
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Apparently, Sir Richard Francis Burton was a bit handier with his pocket model."....: the pocket pistol became the Malunah or Accursed, and the distance to which it carried ball made every man wonder."
 
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nice stuff mec. Thanx for all the info. Does that gun ride well in the pocket? or does it even fit. I would consider it a joggers companion if anything, and i mostly jog on a backroad behind myhouse and i was looking for something that work upclose and personal. Sounds like this will hit about like a .32 acp. Those groups you posted on the other one were just impressive enough where i might talk myself into one.
 
pocket pistol is a relative term. Apparrently in the 19th century, only overcoats had pockets and they were about the size of back packs. Some of the leverless pocket models like my replica had shorter barrels like two to three inches. Some of the originals and the replicas of the Pocket navy and police actually had five to six inch barrels. This one with a four inch barrel is about the same length as a 4 inch model ten and is not particularly small. I have a suitable belt holster for it but don't carry it around all that much.
 
For a really small pocket model, you might look at the remington. A bit harder to hit with but well made and functional
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It is truely puny in the velocity department:
31 Pocket Remington .320" Buffalo Round Ball
..............................velocity......spread
12.5 Grains Goex FFFg 502 125
12.5 Grains 90 Year old FFFg509 66
12.5 Grains Swiss FFFg 680 79
12.5 Gr/Vol. Pyrodex P 609 125
 
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hey thanx again mec im really gettin into this. What type of holster did you get for that "pocket" navy, and does it ride well? thanx again, this is very helpfull
 
Its a custom made by A friend and lined with fake fleece. Basic slim jim design with nice stamping. It's a smaller version of this one. Cimarron Arms has similar ones but I don't know if they have a pocket model holster or not:
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Pocket Rem?

Is that a steel frame pocket Remington? I thought I had only seen them with brass frames. I got an unfired brass framed one off some guy for a hondo at a recent show. Think it is from Cabelas so therefore is not as good as say an Uberti build, but not too terrible. Still needs a going over to smooth it up for first firing, though. Is a bit more compact than a pocket Colt, I guess, with the spur trigger system. Bit lighter with the brass bits.
 
When I went looking, the only place I could find a steel framed one was Cabelas. There are common in brass and nickle plated brass at some of the other sites. This one is perfectly timed and has a smooth action. It has proven reliable. People have been saying Pietta has improved quality control and this is one of the examples that I have handled that seem to support that. The only objectionalbe part is that Pietta has engraved their name prominently on the barrel. People are giving thumbs up to the brass framed ones too and some of the originals were made in brass.
 
THis brass framed is a Pietta also. Too bad they go nuts with the giant proofmarks and etc. I think they should get some smaller stamps and even put as much as possible on the bottom of the barrel under the lever. The mainspring on this one is vastly too heavy for the job, I think. And the notches between the nipples will not accomodate the hammer nose but I am sure it will be a fun plinker. Have balls for it. Thought I had some conicals for 32 around somewhere. Have them for my 44. Used to have a Colt mold for balls and conicals in 32, but sold it along with an original 49 model years ago.
 
Mine works fine on the safety notches. Individual thing I guess. I shot the uberti/colt this afternoon. It had been loaded for two weeks or more with ball and pyrodex p. All rounds discharged at full strength with no hang fires.
I left it loaded for a month with ffg and same thing- perfect ignition.

This seems to work as long as there is no slight hint of oil or water in the chambers or nipples.
 
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