Author Topic: Cleaning Uberti 1861 Navy (Read 905 times)

johns · « **on:** January 30, 2004, 06:20:35 PM »

Just got my new toy in the mail and tried it out. Shoots great and fit and finish is excellent. There are 3 screws in back of handle to take off the wood part should I unscrew these to give it a bath like I do my 58 rem.I bought the gun threw Dixie and they say to use 376 balls but Uberti says to use 380. When I loaded the 376 balls today they didn't shave as much lead as I would of liked, where do I get 380 balls. Thanks

Full House · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2004, 07:48:44 PM »

Are you shooting the "holy black"? If so, I mean real black power, you should remove the back-strap and trigger-guard and clean everything.

You are correct in stating an Uberti .36 '61 Navy takes a .380 ball and they are available thru www.warrenmuzzleloading.com/ .

I own an Uberti '61 Navy Colt from DGW and it is one of my best shooters. It still will not shoot like my Uberti '63 NMA .36.

Clathrus · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2004, 03:33:49 PM »

my 1851 Navy (DGW, Uberti). The first cap & ball I've shot. I was truly impressed! It is really a shooter; I had thought it would shoot high at 10 meters from some of the stuff I've read, but it was dead on. A real pleasure to handle and shoot. I have a question, though. How much greese do I put on or in the cylinder chambers before firing? The ball seats deeply, and I don't know how much to smear on, or if I just put a bunch down the chamber, or what. And, is crisco really OK?

MOGorilla · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2004, 02:03:51 AM »

I don't use any grease, but use the wonder wads on top of the powder then ram that down to seat it and then the ball. I have heard other people advocating that the ball should be as close to the end of the cylinder as possible and tried filler and using multiple wads to bring the level of the ball up, never noticed any improvement in accuracy, but I was shooting off hand. Even using the holy black, I have not had fouling problems while I used the wads. If you like doing things yourself, look to Gatofeo's posts, he has a recipe for a lube to soak felt in and make your own wads. My wife is a forgiving woman, but melting mutton tallow in the kitchen might put her at her limit, so I buy the wads. I do grease the cylinder pin with bore buttter because when I started shooting, I bought two tubes and still have it laying around. That keeps me shooting for 200 rounds without a problem. All in all, there are many ways to go and no one right answer, I avoid greasing the chambers because I typically shoot in the summer and in Missouri that can mean 100 degree heat with 95% hummidity and that grease just flows everywhere then. Enjoy that navy, I love mine.

Flint · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2004, 06:57:56 AM »

Crisco is fine, and it's traditional, but it does melt at a lower temperature than Thompson Center's Bore Butter. In hot weather, or after a few shots, it is a liquid.

Clathrus · « **Reply #5 on:** February 03, 2004, 09:00:57 AM »

I downloaded Gatafeo's post last night. It answered most of my questions. I've also had problems getting the capper to work properly, but apparently that is a common problem. I'm using 11 CCI caps, that was all there was, and mostly putting them on by hand after pinching them a bit. Seems to work OK. I didn't do the bore past thing that the ugly cat suggested, but accuracy was quite good anyway. That was with .376 balls; wonder how well the .380 would work?

Gatofeo · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2004, 06:33:36 AM »

Sometimes Gatofeo forgets he's a bachelor ... living wayyyyy out in the Utah desert .... where he can melt mutton tallow on the stove and the only dissent he gets is the cat meowing to be fed.
To the rest of you who must be mindful of your Hausfrau when using the stove, I completely understand your reluctance to melt mutton tallow on the stove.
Actually, it doesn't have much of a smell. No worse than lard melting. The scent of the homemade lubricant of:
200 grams of canning paraffin
200 grams of mutton tallow
100 grams of beeswax
has a scent but not a stench. It's not as pleasing as a meat loaf fresh from the oven, but it's not anywhere near the stench created by melting petroleum greases.
But if smell is a concern, just have a couple of big ol' bowls of pinto beans with jalapeno peppers to mask the scent of melted tallow.
Of course ... this line of thinking could explain why Gatofeo is 49 years of age and never been married! :twisted: