OT - Cylinder Converter In A Brass Frame A Bad Idea!

don Tomás · Post by **don Tomás** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:06 pm

OT - Cylinder Converter In A Brass Frame .44 Remington Army?

(See my second question regarding shooting BP in .44mag Uberti, posted down below. Thanks, Tom)

I have a brass frame CVA (Italian â€“ â€œPrietaâ€

Post by **Hobie** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:35 pm

I would not do it. As it is, in steel frames, the reports I've read stick to "cowboy" loads... This doesn't imply a great strength to the system.

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:25 pm

Those brass frames are barley strong enough for the BP round ball load and tend to shoot loose real quick. Spend the bux and get a breech loader SA revolver and have one that will last.

CraigC · Post by **CraigC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:51 pm

I definitely would not do it. Those brass frames just aren't strong enough. Check out the new Remington 1858 cartridge conversions from Cimarron. They're also available as a convertible with both .45Colt and .44 percussion cylinders.

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/Conver ... myConv.htm

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:01 pm

Did you say brass framed 1858 Remington clone? Ain't seen one, and while the Remington is probably the stronger between it and it's brass framed .44 Colt counterpart, I wouldn't trust one in brass to hold up to even Cowboy loads. Sides, are ya loading into the 35 grain neighborhood with 3F on a regular basis under a .457 RB? I think the pressure using this load under a 250 grain .45 bullet will be much greater.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:57 pm

Tom -

Are you sure a conversion cylinder would even work in a brass-frame Pietta "Remington"? You might end up buying something that wouldn't even fit properly. If you were going to go to the trouble of having it made, or custom-fitted, then spend the extra bucks on a steel-framed reproduction.

If you really need to go that route, I doubt firing it occasionally with Trail Boss loaded to "cat-sneeze" type levels is going to hurt it. The keys here are "occasionally" and "cat-sneeze". Anything more often and/or anything more powerful is going to eventually cause problems.

Good luck - let us know what you do!

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:04 pm

Why?

Converting BP pistols defeats the purpose, IMVVHO.

don Tomás · Post by **don Tomás** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:26 am

Well, I guess "not such a good idea" is the prevailing thought, to which I have to agree. To answer Andrew's "why"; because I didn't have much money in the C&B and really did want to shoot a BP cartridge pistol. Even though the C&B didn't cost much, it really is a nice gun, is a hoot to shoot and I would feel bad if I messed it up. So...

I remembered I have an old Uberti Cattleman in .44Mag in the strongbox that was given to me. It has timing issues, is loose, and a gunsmith told me the gun needs to go back to the Uberti factory as the parts needed to bring it up to snuff are only available for factory installation. Last time I checked about getting it repaired, I was told that it needed to go back to the original importer for even non warranty repair. The Importer has been out of business for 20+ years! Kind of a catch 22 thing, so it has sat. Besides, the gun would not be worth the shipping to and from the factory. The gun is safe to shoot according to the smith I took it to, and I have put maybe 200 rounds loaded with 250gn cast with 7gn Unique (mild) or 8gn Unique (not so mild). Anyway, how about loading .44mag cases with BP? Fill the case, leaving room to seat the bullet and not leave any air gap? I don't know anybody who shoots BP in .44mag...
Tom

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:36 am

Try another gunsmith. I don't think there is anything that can go wrong on a Uberti that a good gunsmith can't fix, particularly timimg issues!

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 6:31 am

20cows wrote:Try another gunsmith. I don't think there is anything that can go wrong on a Uberti that a good gunsmith can't fix, particularly timimg issues!

Ditto. Heck Tom, if someone gave it to you, you can put some money into it and still come out way ahead!

.45colt · Post by **.45colt** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:18 am

The first thing that comes to My Mind is how big is the bore on a .44 cap&ball revolver?? even if the cylinder would fit will common bullets for the colt (.452-.454") even fit the bore.?
If not your back to square one. Jim.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:32 am

[how big is the bore on a .44 cap&ball revolver?? ]

.457" balls are the correct fit for both my ROA & Pietta 1860 Army.

.45colt · Post by **.45colt** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:41 am

Thanks Pete, I knew the ROA was .45 but didn't know the .44's were that big. Jim.

Caco · Post by **Caco** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:45 am

Allen Harten 713 907 6031 would be the first come to mind for that Uberti.
He does restorations, makes parts, builds em up etc and can heat treat.
Dave

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:54 am

It's funny, the confusion some have about the ROA's - since they're marked .44, but are actually .45". I wonder why Ruger did that. I guess maybe a mental connection with the Civil War Colt .44 Army was desireable to them.

CraigC · Post by **CraigC** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:28 pm

Andrew wrote:Why?

Well, for one thing, Colt and Remington did it! Between the Colt 1860 and the 1872 Open Top that led to the Single Action Army of 1873, Colt engineers Richards and Mason worked on converting all their percussion guns to fire metallic cartridges. From the smallest to the largest, including the Walkers and Dragoons. Same for Remingtons. A lot of different designs were tried but the most practical came after S&W's Rollin-White breech loading patent ran out. On the Colt side, a brand new cartridge conversion could be had for a mere $7 while a Single Action Army was more than twice as much, $18-$20 if I remember correctly. A big difference in those days. The cartridge conversions are as much a part of our history as the percussion pistols and the dedicated cartridge guns that followed. Dennis Adler did a great book on the subject.