During my visit to my mom's, she handed me dad's ammo cans and told me that what ever was inside was mine. After sorting through the ammo and deciding what fit the firearms I have, I was left with 4 boxes of .44 Magnum ammo, 6 M1 Carbine magazines, and 4 TEC-9 magazines with a loader. Knowing that I already have more than enough of the M1 mags, and I have no interest or need for the TEC-9 mags, I took them and the .44 Magnum ammo to the local LGS that I've dealt with for over 20 years in Ohio.

After 2 hours of talking with John about old times, and telling him about dad passing away, (dad dealt solely with this guy for years) I walked out with two Italian made cap and ball replicas, 100 caps, 50 balls for each and a pound of powder. Both are Colt 1851's, one is .36 caliber and the other is .44 caliber. The .36 caliber is a brass frame, and the .44 is steel.

Yesterday, my brothers and I went out and fired both revolvers, and had a blast. I haven't shot black powder since I was a kid, shooting .50 caliber muzzle loaders.

I think dad would have been proud of this trade...I know I am. However, these won't be living with me for long. I'm planning on using them to trade up for something better...we'll have to see.

Knowing that dad always traded guns, almost always ending up on top, I'll have to see if I can do the same. I've already set a few things in motion, and will be meeting with a civil war reenactor this weekend to see if he's interested in them.

I'll post pictures of them later...they're on my camera, and it's still packed in the suitcase.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

A couple years ago, I missed a $45 replica black-powder 'Colt Pocker-model' at a flea market by about two minutes.
I do own a genuine Allen Thurber 30 cal., six-shot cap & ball pepperbox. Probably one of the the first mass produced. American double-action 'revolvers'.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I like cap and ball pistols. There is that delay when you pull the trigger that just adds something to it. It makes the target shooting more of an art than a skill if you know what I mean.

Just don't forget to clean then RIGHT AWAY since most black powder is corrosive.

Very cool purchase! Uberti?

After CT is done taking away my rights I have a feeling if I want to keep shooting I'll be buying a few of these!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Black powder kicks ass.

Good Trade

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Pictures of the .36 caliber...

Manufacturer is still unknown for sure, but it is Italian made with a date of 1970, as per the markings on it. The barrel isn't marked. From what I've found, I think it's a Uberti, but I don't know for sure.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Neat. From the pictures here:
Colt 1851 Navy Revolver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

it looks like the originals were steel frame, but I like the look of the brass.

I've never shot black powder, but I'll bet it's fun. At the moment a single action cartridge revolver is as old school as I've gone.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I remember seeing similar replicas in Italy when I was there in 1973. They were so great looking I was very tempted even though I was not much of a gun guy.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Confederates copied them with brass frames because of a shortage of steel. They would be used long enough to grab a steel framed version from a dead Yankee.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I've got this brass one stripped down for a serious cleaning. Since it's a replica, even though it's 42 years old, cleaning the brass won't hurt the value.

The Colts, with their open top, were known to be weak, but reliable. Remington made a revolver with a top strap, making it stronger...but was known to foul up much more easily than the Colt. The Remington cap and ball revolvers were more desireable after the war due to the fact that they could be retrofitted with a new cylinder and shoot the new cartridge style ammunition.

The Colt's barrel is held to the frame with to small pins (to locate it) and the center rod, which holds the cylinder. They were locked together with a wedge.

I don't plan on owning these long...I've already got someone interested in a trade. After letting my wife shoot my 12ga Savage 320, she's decided she like it better than I do. I'm hoping to end up with a Mossberg 500 or and older Remington 1300 or 870 when all the trading up is done. I kept most of the good stuff to add in on the trades...it's always nice to have something to sweeten the deal a bit.

Dad was into trading up, and really good at it...I hope that I can do as good as he did.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I'm not good at trading I just get financially raped by my gun collection.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Well, I just got the brass one as polished up as I can get it without going mechanical. Brasso and some elbow grease was all it needed. I removed all parts out of it, cleaned them up really well and gave them a decent coating of oil, then reassembled the whole thing. I decided I needed a new wedge, as the one it came with is pretty wore out...to the point that the screw is all the way in and the wedge is loose. I hammered the old one on an anvil, and it helped a little, but not enough. I'll get it ordered in the morning, and post pictures of the polish job as well.

Whoever owned this over the years really beat the heck out of it. There's little marks everywhere on it, especially on the butt end.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I noticed the little pecker tracks all around it. WTF?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

My guess is that it was a Civil War reenactment piece, and thrown around alot...

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Yeah looks to have a lot of usage wear, its not holster wear.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200