triple 7...

Wow!!!! Old Dragoon, you could lay that next to one of the originals and even an expert would have to take a second or third look. That really came out great and the rig looks perfect for it. Were the grips white when you started or were they already the old ivory look?
I'm sure you have alott of work in that Remy but it really is one of the better "Patina" jobs I've seen. Thanks for the pics!
 
Old West Ammo .44 Cal

I have approx 500 44 Colt, loaded with 25 grn, BP and black Moly lubed .431 Dia bullet I think it is 187 Grn. Anyway they are for the new 44 Colt Open Tops so I can't use them in my '58. I also cut down the rims on 100 Rem. Mag Brass and loaded 37 Grn. BP and a .451 round ball. Now I just recieved my 44 Rem loaded 44 Colt brass. .451 dia. outside lubed, 248 Grn. They are smokeless, Unique (don't know the Grns., but they are advertised at 650FPS.
All three are pictured below. The 44 Remingtons are in the picture above with the '58 also. Just thought y'all like to see a close up of them, I hope to be able to buy the bullets seperately from Old West Moulds, (which is where these came from), so I can load BP in this cartridge.

AmmoComparison-1.jpg


Right to left: 44 Colt .431, 44 Rem Mag, trimmed rim, .451 RD, 44 Rem. CF
 
Filing the groove...

MPP1423
My Nephew is a Capitol Police Officer at Dorthea Dix State Hospital in Ralieh, NC. He used to be a sarg at Chadbourn NC Police Dept.

Thanks
I like it pretty well. This is the first one I have done. and the first refinish in about 30 years. Guess I can still do it. I did find a conversion out on the net that has a newer looking cylinder in it, but I still might rework the cylinder.
It took me about 2-3 hours with a rattail file to get the groove down to depth and widened in the frame where I could polish it out with 600 grit, and about an hour or so to polish it out. The port in the recoil shield was a bear, it's 4140 steel like the cylinder and that took about 4-5 hours with the file, (I do have a couple blisters that are now callouses...)LOL .
I probably have 25-30 hours total in the grooves, draw filing the bbl and frame, stoning and the refinishing. The blue came off very easily.
I know I'm glad to be done, or at least almost. Do we ever get really "Done" with these refinishing jobs??

RK,
Thanks for the flowers(old CB lingo..LOL)
I think it turned out pretty nice and gave me confidence to do it again on the next one coming in this week Now I need one that is new to show the differences. LOL.
It was a piece of work, but well worth it...I'll probably strip off the original BP cylinder and refinish it too. I might offer my services, at least in the refinishing part.

The grips came with the gun that color, I don't know who makes them (no info cast in or on them anywhere) but they are soft to carve or cut and they smell like some kind of petroleum distillate. They don't fit the greatest (due to the previous owner not fitting them correctly), but they do look pretty good. I still have some work to do on them.

I think I met the guy that makes and sells these grips at the Las Vegas Show a couple years ago. He had a table there full of all different makes of Single action grips, I remember them because of the color, They were about $30.-$35.00 a pair, and you had to fit them. I wish I still had his card...it might be the guy that you have been talking about. I think maybe he was in the Los Angeles area, but darned if i can remember his name or where he is.
 
Thanks for the info Dragoon. I know what you mean about the hard work and it will and does seem never ending. Smoothing the action on mine was a constant on going thing for me but now I have it so smooth it feels like it all runs on ball bearings. Little things like the hammer pull and trigger pull take time and if you take to much you have to buy new parts and start over. When I first got mine they felt like there was a little sand in there and it took a real man to cock them back :D
 
MPP1423, Are you going to try an hunt a hog this year? I'de like to see you get one with the Remington. We know you don't normally call for back up but it may be a good idea to take along your buddy "Ruger" just in case you need him :)
I havent been out hunting in a couple of days. I'm having some stomach problems , Old age I guess. Mike
 
Old Dragoon, That is one beauty of a gun and holster rig! If I didn't know better I'd swear the gun was 125 years old. I think you're right about refinishing, we never will really get "done", lol. I'm still polishing various parts on my remington after stripping the blue off and I know I'll be doing that for awhile a little at a time. I like to take time with that kind of thing so I don't take off too much metal and have to buy a part and start again as mike mentioned.
 
Thanks Low Key,
I spent all last week nights and every spare minute polishing, after I stipped all the blue off. I have Sat and Sun. off, so Friday night I started the browning process, was able to get 3 seperate coats on all the parts, Sat morning I began to work on taking off what I wanted to take off. When oi got to where it ia now I stopped. I'm tickled how it came out especially the frame and the bbl where I took the dredded printing and proof marks off. Like I said before, thankfully, it is a tapered bbl. those make removing lettering or dings and such out much easier.

I'm glad all of you like my '58 Rem. I have another on the way, now that I have the first one under my belt, after 30 years, the next will be easier. It is fun to make these look 125 years old. I put the date, make and the letters in the box on the inside of the grip frame so one may not take advantage of someone in the future. I do that with all the guns I made or refinish, perhaps it will keep the next owner honest.
 
Thanks Old Dragoon, They ran a bunch of test on me already and waiting for the results. They want to put me in the hospital next and run a tube down my throat to get pictures of my stomach and then maybe one up the other end. Sure hope they don't use the same tube for both, :D
 
Hey Mike,i Am Wanting To Go For Boar But It Will Most Likely Be Sometime This Next Year.i Wont Have Time To Go Before That.some Things Been Wrong With The Site,its Been Down For A Couple Of Days.mike I Know What You Mean By Stomach Problems! I Have Acid Reflux Problems Myself.it Think Most Of It Is Work And Stress But I Take Med's For It To Keep It Under Control.i Hope All Is Well With You!

Dragoon,like I Said That Gun Is Sweet!! I Just Might Have To Do One Of Mine,of Course I Doubt It Will Look As Good As Yours.
 
Hey Mike,i Am Wanting To Go For Boar But It Will Most Likely Be Sometime This Next Year.i Wont Have Time To Go Before That.some Things Been Wrong With The Site,its Been Down For A Couple Of Days.mike I Know What You Mean By Stomach Problems! I Have Acid Reflux Problems Myself.it Think Most Of It Is Work And Stress But I Take Med's For It To Keep It Under Control.i Hope All Is Well With You!

Dragoon,like I Said That Gun Is Sweet!! I Just Might Have To Do One Of Mine,of Course I Doubt It Will Look As Good As Yours.
 
Kevin, I'm taking the little purple pills for the acid reflux.They seem to work but gave me one hell of a headach at first. I can see you having problems with the constant stress your under.
I keep looking at the 1851 .36 Navy that Cabellas has for about $148.00.Not sure yet what my little heart will settle on getting for Christmas. I'll have $200.00 -$250.00 to play with. It seems this was one of the favorites of the gun slingers and from what I have read so far they seem to shoot real well with ball or conical.
I need to find someone who has shot them allot and knows all the tricks of tuning them and so on.My new book tells me a few things but not as much as I would like to know.
Any of you guy's have the scoop on these .36 Navys and all the do's and don'ts? Thanks for any info you may have, Mike
 
AW Shucks, Kevin, I'm Blushing! Thanks again. You will do fine and if you need some pointers, just ask and I'll tell you what I did.

Mike,
I have small hands and the 1851 Colt Navy is one of my favorites. it has balance, and just enough heft and it is very confortable in my hand...more so that the '58 Rem. And Hickok owned two of them, cap and ball to the end of his life. I have owned several original and a couple repro '51 Navies and I kick mysrelf for selling any of them. All of the originals were conversions to 38 CF. I love the '51 Navy, I don't laik the '60, too slick and round. Love those Octagonal bbl's!

Yeah there is another one in my future too.
There are some nice ones available on Gunbroker. Maybe not at $140.00, but close. That Cabels's gun sound like a good deal.
 
Mike, I hope the purple pills work for you. I've heard good things about how they straighten out the ol stomach. I'll keep you in my prayers.
Kevin, I don't know any LEO's that don't have stomach problems. My dad had an ulcer and my brother is working on one. I got one started a few years back, but I changed my lifestyle and diet and since then it feels a lot better.

back to guns...I like the 51 navy, I think it's a sturdy looking piece for an open top. I don't have one so I don't know the do's and don'ts, but I'll bet they're fun to shoot! :D
 
Old Dragoon, That gun on the Broker is a good deal so far but the reason I like Cabellas so well is that If anything is wrong they take it back and give you another or your money back with no hassels. I really like dealing with them and they have plenty of my moneuy in there bank over the years,:)
The one on Cabellas isn't a brass frame but it has a brass strap running around the back of the frame and grip area. Is this typical of the original 51 or should I just try to find an all steel one? Mike
 
I got ya on the Cabels's thing and that is a good thing for them to do.

I believe that the 1851 originals were all brass back strapped and one piece gripped. The backstrap was often silver plated. There were steel back strapped Mason-Richards conversions, though rare, so i suspect the those original colt's had steel back straps also, The Mason-Richards Conversions were made from 1860 44 Colts. I owned one with the iron backstrap and a couple with the brass backstraps.

You will not over load the '51 with 36 cal even if you can fill the chamber full and cram the ball down just enough to clear the forcing cone. Also I don't think
that the brass backsrtap would ever be a problem with loosening up with shooting. I have never had a backstrap loosen, the barrels on Colts are another story entirely. I bought a new Open-Top from Cimarron when they first came out. I could not shoot a cylinder full of shells without the barrel loosening, (maybe that is a good thing if you are using a drop in cyl. LOL LOL LOL!) I took it to a gunsmith and he could not fix it. I should have sent it back, but I sold it cheap and told the buyer exactly why I was selling it. Hence all my 44 colt brass. LOL
Same deal with the first Cimarron Smith the latch would not stay tight. I sold that one the same way. I won't have one that won't stay tight. Luckily the '58 won't have those particular problems.

In defence of Cimarron/Uberti Clones, I had one of their 45 LC Colt clones. I was shooting with my nephew and we were shooting my 44 mag and the 45LC at the same time I loaded up the 45LC and stepped to the line to shoot. The first shot was a killer, loud and big kick, next ok, next Loud and big, next ok, next loud and big and the sixth shot ok. I was cussing the CCI Blazer 45LC ammo....until I tried to unload, there were two different color of cartridges in the gun. I had loaded 3 44 Mags along with 3 45LC into the Colt Clone. because I was taling to my nephew as i loaded and we had both boxes of ammo open. I sent the gun back to Cimarron to be checked out and it was still in spec's I was really lucky that day.
Now I only open the box of shells that I am using with the gun I am shooting...to a fault.

The Lord protects fools and children and I have been in both catagories more than once.
 
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