1862 Pocket Police

[longcaribiner]

Ok, I have 11 black powder pistols already and there was this nice little gun calling my name so now there is 12.  I got an Uberti 1862 Pocket police.  I had the strange idea that maybe my daughter would go shooting with me when I fired my Ruger Old Army.  It is a nice little gun, but after each shot I have to use a needle nose to fish pieces of the cap out of the crotch between the hammer and frame.  I tried three different makes of No 11's. (CCI, Navy Arms and Remingtons) as well as No 10 Remington's. Even tried pinching the caps slightly.    Good thing daughter wasn't along, cause the language grew progessively less acceptable for "polite company"     

A buddy suggested a set of Ruger Old Army nipples., Really?    Do others have this problem?  And why would Uberti sell a gun like this?

[coyotejoe]

Well they certainly are not all like that, I owned one for a while and test fired another after doing some work on it and I don't recall any problems. Cap splatter is most often caused by too large flash hole in the nipples which allows too much backblast. I doubt that Ruger nipples would fit but Ampco probably does make nipples for the 1862. It can be a problem to remove nipples in the 1862 because the recess surrounding the nipple is very tight and not all nipple wrenches will work. I've had to grind down the OD of a wrench to get it to fit. Another issue which may cause cap jams is a too light mainspring which doesn't hold the hammer down on the fired cap. A couple of years ago I replaced the nipples of all four of my revolvers with Ampco. That change was just to get uniformity of cap sizes so I did not end up at the range with the wrong caps for the gun I was shooting on that day but I did notice the side benefit of caps not fragmenting so badly as they had with the original Italian nipples. For nipples I'd suggest "Track of the Wolf", they have a great online catalog, fascinating to browse, but I'd suggest you order by phone and just tell them you need Ampco nipples for a Uberti 1862 and they'll see that you get the right ones, they're real good folks who know their business.

[Flint]

Coyote is on track.  I noticed a while back that Uberti has lightened the mainsprings on Army and Navy revolvers, perhaps also on the Pocket Pistol frame.  The smaller scale of the revolver will also provide much less space for a fired cap to fall into.  Remington #10 in Treso or Ampco nipples will work.  Ruger nipples may fit, (the thread is the same as Uberti, but I'm not sure of the diameter in the well) but you would want smaller flash holes than Ruger provides.

[S.S.]

lighten you powder charge slightly and see if it has any effect.

[Cowpox]

I Have had an Uberti 1862 for about 10 years.  The smaller mortises in these small frame revolvers are a lot more likely to trap cap fragments, than are the full sized revolvers.

A set of good after market nipples will help, but there is no substitute for pointing the muzzle skyward when cocking, and giving the revolver a shake before you level on your target again.  This will allow most fragments to fall free, instead of down into the works.