Cap&Ball conversion for trail gun???

[EDELWEISS]

Every so often I get a itch for a C&B revolver and conversion cylinder.  Now the itch is back.  I dont intend to hunt with it or for serious defense, but more likely as a neat trail gun kinda "JUST BECAUSE".  I was thinking about one of the Sheriffs snubbie types.  Im flexible about 38 or 44/45, and ofcourse would only use the Cowboy loads.

When folks tell me its not a good idea they never seem to a reason beyond slow reloads, and thats acceptable in a selfdefense gun but Im hoping not to need that.  Frankly if I do need to reload thats an awful lot of bullets that I need to account for when the lawyers get involved.  Im thinking if worse comes to worse, they cant claim Im some sort of crazy (welll), Mercenary with a 50 round drum........and a full length version has the "scuuuse me while I whipps this out" effect.

I keep thinking the original C & B guns performed well enough and the conversion cylinders made them even more effective in their time.  Besides Wild Bill did pretty well with his 36 Colts even after the cartridge guns were available.

Sure it wont be a magnum, and not even a +P+; but isnt it enough for when you hope not to need a gun?  What am I missing?

[Mikey]

Well actually, I don't think you are missing a thing.  As I recall, Wild Bill carried two - just in case he needed a Neu Yawk reload (lololol).  As you know, these things were used for trail guns for many years until cartridge conversions, and later cartridge gun came along. 

Nice thing is they are fairly lightweight, especially in something like the Sheriff's models or storekeepers models, and I wouldn't want to get hit with a roundball when I'm out in the woods miles from a hosptial, or anywhere. 

I often think about one of the 1873 reproductions as a trail gun.  Mikey.

[timothy]

One of my favorite things to do is take to the field with frontier style weapons and think about the old west. The desert hasn't changed much in 100 years so if these guns ever worked they still will.

[coyotejoe]

I wouldn't advise going the route of a revolver and conversion cylinder but get one of the guns which are manufactured as a conversion. The reason being that their bores match their bullets. The .36 cap&ball guns have bores of .375"+ or - a bit and firing bullets of .357" tends to be worthless. The guns built as conversions have .357" bores and thus shoot well. The .44s tend to have bores of .451-.453" and shoot fine with standard .45 caliber bullets but a .45 Colt case full of black powder really stresses the frame on the open top Colt replicas and powder fouling tends to bind up the cylinder of the Remington Replicas pretty quickly. Guns originally built as cap&ball are not so strong as those now being built from the ground up as cartridge guns, different steel and heat treatment.
  Several importers are now marketing the Uberti replicas of the Richards/Mason cartridge conversion of the Colt Army and Navy models as well as the 1872 Open Top in .44 Colt caliber which was Colt's first gun actually built for cartridges, not a conversion. These Uberti replicas are actually bigger and heavier in the cylinder and frame than are the cap&ball units. That does detract from the slim, graceful lines of the 1860 Army model and makes them a couple of ounces heavier but does make them stronger and more durable.

[m-g Willy]

I was going to get a colt conversion till I heard about all the problems with them.
Check out some of the CAS sights to see what these shooters have to say about them.
I'd stick to the cap and ball guns or if I just want to shoot cartridge gun I shoot a 73 colt or the 75 remington.


Willy