Topbreak Info

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PhillipP

New member
I have recently become intrested in Top break revolvers because I absolutley love the way these things look. However I don't know one thing about them, and haven't even talked to anyone who owns ones or has even shot one.

I am looking mainly at Navy arms, and Uberti Top break. I would prefer the .45 colt, or the .38 that I see that Navy arms has.

If anyone knows anything about the Top Break revolvers could you please just list some facts that you would want to share with me about them...Thanks
 
Love those Top breaks

I have two but both are in 38 S & W Cal. Those single action you want, would be in rather mild Cartages because the only thing that keeps them togather is the top latch. You will never find a top break in 357 or 44 mag. because I don"t think they would have a top latch good enough to hold them togather.
 
I also am in love with these revolvers. I have a 100+ year old iver johnson .32 S&W. Be careful with what you buy, some aren't safe to shoot any more.
 
If you are talking about Schoefields, do alot of research some of them have a habit of coming open when you shoot.

They were not designed for the ammo that they are chambered for these days
 
Tell me if i'm wrong but Basically what I am hearing is that the .45 would be a little to much of a caliber to shoot in top break guns, because of safety issues or the effect it would have on the gun after an extended amount of time.

But what about the .38 is it mild enough to work properly with this gun, or would that still be to large of a caliber.
 
Yes, but you must be aware that in most top breaks it is 38 S&W not 38 Special. 38 S&W is as just as rare and expensive as 32 S&W.
 
The Armi San Marcos products are POJ. Cimmaron, Navy Arms, EMF-IAR, Traditions and American Western Arms had sold these under their brands. They had bad latches and springs. I had my own knuckles rapped. The Ubertis have given 0 trouble to my personal knowledge. The 45 S&W Schofield or Government was the original chambering. These were shorter than 45 Long Colts and would not interchange in the S&Ws, Colts fired both rounds. Uberti manufactured breaktop Schofields, Russians or their Wells Fargo versions are good quality revolvers. My own choice is a Russian in 44 Russian. The 45 Long Colts are modified in cylinder length in order to chamber 45 Long Colt. They are fine with CAS loads but, I would never put a hot defensive or hunting cartridge in them. The latch will not stand and the frames will stretch. The 38 Specials are nice. I still say 38 Special CAS loads only. These newer revolvers are not able to digest black powder and continue to function. The three things to remember are this, buy Uberti, use CAS loadings and hot rod cartridges are not to be used. Odd thing, S&W produced a Schofield 2000, POJ. S&W dropped it from the line up because they didn't know how to build them. Their own design. Hand fitting and other than robotic assembly caused S&W to discontinue the Schofield 2000. ASMs often show up on gun auctions. They were sold as gunsmith specials, they should be labeled DANGER: UXB!
 
I find the American/Schofield/Russian replicas interesting...>

...and there seems to be a few around. The Uberti models are available in .45LC .44/40, .44Russian and .38spl. I see that Beretta have put out a model also. They call it the 'Laramie', in .45LC or .38spl, possibly made by Uberti as Beretta apprently now own at least part of Uberti, (pic below of Beretta's nickel model, from their website).

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I'd also be interested to hear more about how these pistols are to shoot.

Bullrock: I think you are talking about open-top revolvers, ie: Colt-style blackpowder frames, as opposed to break-top revolvers such as the S&W Amercian design. The black powder frames are more maintenance-heavy due to their design, but I don't think the same applies to top-breaks. They could be right down, or up, your alley :-)
 
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My personal experience is that black powder and most substitutes cause cylinder binding and freeze the action. I have seen butchered black powder modifications by one gunsmith. I felt the modification endangered a shooter and was unsafe.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong Sir William

The old Schoefields were chambered for shorter cartridges, by lengthen ing the cylinder to accept Long Colts the gun's top locking mechanism was compromised ?
 
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The frames and cylinders were lengthened. To my knowledge, the top latches were not compromised in any manner. AFAIK, the better modern steels actually increase the safety factor.
 
Old Model Turn Of The Century S&w And Colts

I Have 1 38 S&w;2 32 S&w And 1 32 S&w By Hr And 2 Colts;1 38 And 1 32 That Are All Shooters!these Guns Were All Made Around To Turn Of The Nineteenth Century When Modern Powder Was Just Beginning To Be Used And There Are Still A Lot Of Good Ones Out There.the Smith And Wessons And The Hr Are All Top Break But If You Load Them To Specs They Are Fun And Safe To Shoot.my Smith Top Break In 38 S&w I Have Shot For 35 Years.just Stick With 2 G. Of Bullseye And A 148 G. Bullet And (if The Gun Is In Good Shape) You Have A Good Load Although It Is Probably At The Top.
__________ USE AT YOUR OWN RISK________________-
 
Be very careful with the old top-breaks in .32 and .38 S&W. Many of them were made for black powder ONLY and aren't safe with smokeless. Even the very mild modern factory stuff may wreck them.

John
Cape Canaveral
 
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