Griff

One should always have spare nipples on hand. You just never know when you'll come into another C&B revolver! Eggszackerly! Or simply a "karen", limited understanding of context, or... just dirty minded. (The last being the most likely)!

Heck CC, my Stoeger will fall open when I release the latch... and it has stock springs in it... (although it does have 38 years of use)! GX011706[1].MP4 (Forgive the mess and bare feet... but am preparing for a range day)... tomorrow!

Were rifle KDs also "bottles"? If not, then previous line in instructions doesn't apply to rifle targets.

Chinks are cooler yet. Any can be zippered, tie or hook & eye. My shotgun chaps are full length laced on, my chinks are hook & eye.

Lone Star & Comanche Valley have merged as Lone Star Frontier Shooting Club, the oldest continually shooting SASS affiliated club in Texas. But, still shoot the 2nd & 4th weekends. Texas Ten Horns shoot the 1st weekend, and both are just about equi-distant from Colleyville by the time you get out to the actual range. For LSFSC, take US67 past Cleburne, turn left on FM1434, @ the Ormsby Ranch on FM1434 turn left on CR 1108, then left again at ranch entrance, follow the signs out to the range. For TTT, from US75 go north to US121 to TX 160, go right to TX78, then left to private road 562 and turn left to range.

What!!?? You don't use one of these:

Bore butter or copper anti-seize. I've only had one nipple stick where a nipple wrench couldn't get it out. A little heat, and viola! Out it came.

Newbie! But, my wife would have loved to see your chart... I know exactly when my times started to flag... when that dad-blamed Tex made Frontiersman a "duelist" style category!

Kid, I know whereof you speak. I started out in the game with 45 Colt, and sympathetically listened to pards complain about their troubles reloading the 44WCF. Even politely listened to them telling me that my 45 Colt Uberti 1873 rifle was an affront to all Winchesters, everywhere, withheld my retorts and simply smirked to myself about how easy the 45 Colt is to load! And then came a feller down in South Texas offering up an AWA Lightning for a bargain basement like price! OOO, my imagination took off with flights of fancy as to what a wonderful addition to my WB arsenal this would be... and maybe even sneak it into a cowboy match or three! ACH DU LIEBER! It's a .44-40! A painful debate raged in the my head! To 44WCF or not to 44WCF... An obvious philosophical conundrum! As luck would have it, Starline had just put in on their "ok to backorder" list... Two obvious signs the die was cast... or, as a practical matter... yet to be ordered. So, off to Midway for a set of RCBS Cowboy dies, to Dillon for a conversion kit and to a local bullet purveyor to see what could be had. Yes, I crushed a case or two... Tends to happen when you don't line up the case with the sizing die... Or forget to replace the locating button by the powder drop and think that "just a little more force" might overcome the hesitation mid-way thru the stroke! And yes... the trombone rifle is a fun addition to the WB arsenal!

The only long range rifles I don't use gas checks in are a '74 Sharps in 40-90SBN, the 1885 in .32-40, and the 1886 in 45-70, as none moves fast enough to warrant it. But the .30-30 has never had a plain base bullet in it. At 2200 fps I can't imagine the leading I'd have, even with 18-20 Bhn bullets. (That is until the boating accident claimed them)!

Welcome to the wonderful world of C&B shooting. Some folks install "cap rakes", (basically a piece of drill rod either epoxied or soldered into the top of the hammer slot in the recoil shield & a matching slot cut in the hammer face, basically enlarging the safety slot already there). I had a gunsmith install "Manhattan Conversions"* in mine. It narrows the gap of the hammer slot to about the width of that in an 1858 Remington with attendant narrowing of the hammer face and filling in the "safety pin notch". I still get the occasional split cap that folds over on itself and locks up the revolver. It's easily overcome by having the off hand assist in turning the cylinder to point at which to problem cap exits the recoil shield and enters the capping notch and falls away. I use a Tedd Cash "snail capper" as it better fits in the Colt style/sized capping notch. I also sometimes use an inline capper that I've trimmed down to also fit. (Very minor filing of the brass side of the capper). * the Manhattan revolvers were a contemporary of the Colts and very similar in operation and looks.

The .44 cylinders require the frame to be "notched" to fit. I don't know if the arbor dimensions are different. I don't have any .44s measure, maybe someone else does? But, as the barrels would also require being changed out, there may be an issue with the barrel locating pin placement.

I read on another forum that it was HSM Cowboy loads. From 2022: https://singleactions.proboards.com/thread/35088/45-colt-small-primer

Au Contraire. as per the SHB, pg 30: Emphasis added. Local rules may vary.

Actually, the .38-55 was introduced by the Ballard Rifle Co. in 1876, based on their earlier .38-50 Everlasting. Winchester didn't chamber a rifle in it until the 1894. Marlin using it in their mdl 1881, far earlier than Winchester. The four "dash calibers" that Marlin refused to put on their rifle barrels were the 25WCF, 32WCF, 38WCF & 44WCF, using instead the 25-20, 32-20, 38-40 & .44-40 nomenclature. Whereas the .32-40 was also introduced in the mdl 1884 Ballard and subsequently used by both Marlin and Winchester. It was never a "WCF" cartridge. That distinction was reserved for the .32-20.

FYI, the below picture has had an arrow added to it indicating the hook of the extractor. Your dummy cartridge should be able to be placed behind this hook, against the bolt face to facilitate prying the ejector back into the bolt. If you were unable to do this either the extractor is too short or it was cut too shallow. The rim thickness for a 45 Colt is `.060". The distance from the inside of the hook to the bolt face must be at least this distance, otherwise the extractor cannot drop over the rim to extract the case from the chamber. I don't actually use a dummy cartridge as an assembly aid, just a empty case... works as well. If you have a dial caliper, and haven't sent the rifle back yet, measure that distance and include the actual measurement in a note accompanying the rifle. I'd also measure the inside radius of the bolt hood, that "arc" covering the rim over the top of the bolt. The rim diameter for the 45 Colt is .512" +/- .012. Ergo the radius should be at least .256". This will keep the rim from sitting flush against the bolt face, again making extraction impossible. Additionally, I keep a couple of small magnetic parts tray handy when disassembling a rifle to keep the small metal bits contained in near proximity to my work. Sorry I didn't see your latests posts to this topic before now, but had a set of circumstances of my own to deal with.

In the years since I bought my first one in 1987, I've had it and the others apart and back together many, many times. What others have said about good screwdrivers is a must. Make sure they are hollow ground. I prefer and recommend the Magna-Tip sets from Brownell's. The lever screw is usually the most difficult outside the magazine cap. SliX makes a purpose built tool for the mag cap. As a mostly BP shooter, my recommendation is to grease, sparingly, and only in those areas that are not accessible without taking the side plates off. I.e.: Link pins, and cams for the carrier arm and lever springs. I run the carrier dry, or when I have lubed it, I've used a dry, powdery lubricant. It never seemed to really make a difference & quit its use fairly quickly. I've taken about 0.010-0.015" off the sides of the carrier to give it looser fit in the mortise. For BP, this allows me to run a 3-day match without removing it to clean the carbon buildup from the fouling of BP. By the way, there are several versions of the oil vs. grease issue. For instance, I own and drive an 18-wheeler... my wheel bearing on the tractor are oil bath, yet in a nearly identical configuration, the wheel bearings on my trailer are grease. My rule of thumb has always been grease where it requires disassembly to re-lube, oil where it's accessible for replenishment.

VTI Gun Parts for Uberti 1873 Cattleman SAA and Target You can get just the backstrap, item 8 UB05008 Grip Frame, Steel - $58.50 and the Trigger Guard, item 26, UB005026 - $69.75 without a grip, or you can get the assembly, Item 11 UB005011/Assy, Steel Grip Frame & Trigger guard $199.50. I'd suggest calling to ensure stock on hand before ordering. I'd also consider getting the hardened screw set at the same time.

The short answer is "Yes"! The longer answer has been addressed above. I.e.: To what extent depends on the bullet & charge.

It ain't for the faint of heart. Well done.

Unless they have one in inventory that someone didn't complete the purchase on. I know a couple of folks that found just what they were looking for hanging on Shiloh's wall. One that I know of, made a trip from western Washington state to Big Timber after putting a deposit on it... picked it up the next day. They don't currently show any on their website, but might be worth a call...

Do you mean thusly?

Heck, even in the 1990's we had a website... maybe not as nice as others, but it contained needed information. You gotta start somewhere!

Hope ya bought plenty! And that ya got what I sent ya.

What GJ said. If I decide to use the same alloy for different cartridges & rifles, I do so knowing each of them will be a compromise. I have 30 (assembled and in "kit form") .30-30 Winchester 94s. The complete and operable rifles cover from an 1898 thru 1980 productions. The almost half are post 1950 and of those they are grouped from the post '64 to just before the AE was introduced. These have the most consistent chambers, groove diameters & bore diameter... ergo, I tend to load them with harder gas checked bullets and the same loading formula. I don't shoot jacketed in anything pre-1907, and keep the cast a little softer, usually straight wheel weights. For my .40-90 Sharps BN and .45-70 I add a little lead to the wheel weights as I shoot BP & smokeless at lower velocities and those two rifles a bit shallower rifling. Depth of rifling varies from rifle to rifle so variations in alloy are warranted. In my cowboy main match guns, I generally run straight wheel weights for the cartridge guns, and pure lead in the C&B revolvers. I have an old target from the first batch I ever purchased in 1990, a bottle that measures 4" wide by 10" tall. If a load in handgun stays on that target at 25 yards, I call it good, and in rifles it needs to be consistently hit at 50 yards. Also from that same batch of targets, I have a "running bear" that's about 3'6" x 3', if you include all four legs and head sticking out... The body measures about 1' high by 18" wide. For long range rifle, I need to be able to keep all hits on the body at 300 yards from my rest. Or on the head for my scoped 1885 which measures about 4" x 6" Other than chrono'ing some WB loads, I haven't shot at a paper target in maybe 30 years with a pistol caliber. If the description of my main match ammo expectations brings to mind the phrase, "...good enough"... you'd be right. If I have a good day shooting, I can usually be competitive with the long range stuff, so... ammo that's only "good enough" doesn't cut it. To be competitive in that arena you need to measure, test, adjust, measure, test, adjust and repeat until you're satisfied that your ammo is the best it can be for that particular firearm. If you want to show up and shoot... and don't care how you finish, then, by all means, just buy some factory ammo and consider it, "good enough".