Kilibreaux
New member
While looking at some of the other threads I wanted to share a couple of my own blackpowder conversions. I did these about 20 years ago just before all the cartridge converters for classic C&B guns started showing up.
After looking at the Uberti Cattleman for about 10 years I finally had the spare cash to take the plunge and buy one to see if - as I suspected, it was identical to the cartridge version except a few changeable features. Sure enough, aside from the side firing pin and open recoil shield the guns were identical and it was simple to fit a replacement .45 Colt cylinder and base pin. I mic'd the barrel and sure enough it came out .452". I fabricated a dovetail insert for the recoil shield from 4130 steel plate and heat treated it, and tapped it into place with some Accra-glass to bond it. I made a barrel insert to act as a drill guide and used an aircraft bit to drill the new firing pin hole. the BP firing pin was tossed and replaced by a CF version.
I then set out to see what it would take to blow one up by loading as close as modernly possible to the original .45 Colt black powder load. I managed to get 37 grains of Cleanshot compressed into new brass under a 255 grain slug. Those things kick a lot harder than any modern smokeless ammo! But the guns held - and are still going strong. I even made up some smokeless loads using Herco. Even "hot" .45 Colt ammo seldom exceeds 14K psi.
Anyway I wanted to share a few photos of my conversions.
After looking at the Uberti Cattleman for about 10 years I finally had the spare cash to take the plunge and buy one to see if - as I suspected, it was identical to the cartridge version except a few changeable features. Sure enough, aside from the side firing pin and open recoil shield the guns were identical and it was simple to fit a replacement .45 Colt cylinder and base pin. I mic'd the barrel and sure enough it came out .452". I fabricated a dovetail insert for the recoil shield from 4130 steel plate and heat treated it, and tapped it into place with some Accra-glass to bond it. I made a barrel insert to act as a drill guide and used an aircraft bit to drill the new firing pin hole. the BP firing pin was tossed and replaced by a CF version.
I then set out to see what it would take to blow one up by loading as close as modernly possible to the original .45 Colt black powder load. I managed to get 37 grains of Cleanshot compressed into new brass under a 255 grain slug. Those things kick a lot harder than any modern smokeless ammo! But the guns held - and are still going strong. I even made up some smokeless loads using Herco. Even "hot" .45 Colt ammo seldom exceeds 14K psi.
Anyway I wanted to share a few photos of my conversions.
