London Navy!

A couple days ago I got a call from the EMF Company telling me that they just got in a Pietta London model 1851 Navy revolver, a gun I’d been eyeing for many months yet had been out of stock all over (probably exacerbated by Italy’s severe coronavirus outbreak). Debbie at EMF (the President and COO of the company) was a great help in finishing the order and coordinating the delivery on my off day. Outstanding customer service to be sure. I live in Nevada close to EMF’s home state of California and the revolver was delivered this afternoon. Here it is!

This gun is based on the historic Colts built in London, England, during the 1850s-1860s by Colt’s factory their, and is distinguished by its blued steel grip frame. Pietta did a great job! Looks amazing and the grips are finished out better than some other Pietta grips I’ve seen in the past few years. The revolver has a nice action as is but I intend to strip it down and do a full action job on it, deburr the hammer face, and have already installed some Ampco nipples which have given me excellent service in my other guns.

Stay tuned gang for future updates! If anyone out there is looking for a good seller of black powder guns and components, EMF is awesome. Take care everyone!

-Smokey

That is a very nice looking 1851 London. Like the case colors. The grip wood also looks very nice and the contour looks fine without the rearward flair many Pietta1851 back straps have.

Congrats on a fine looking piece.

That is exceptional! I hope that Pietta and Uberti are getting back on track considering how Covid-19 has affected Italy. Many distributors of those guns have not been able to supply revolvers during the pandemic.

That is an extremely nice looking revolver ! I like the leather cartridge box too !

Thanks, friends!!

I just did the always nerve-racking task of loosening the screws for the first time. I’m happy to say, all but ONE of the screws wasn’t in gorilla tight! Lol. The stubborn one came out just fine with some naughty language and a tap handle wrench. As many know the screws on some of these repros can come absolutely blood tight from the factory. Also, the nipples came out without a hitch. The last Uberti I bought had nipples frozen so hard in the cylinder I had to get the factory involved.

Barrel/cylinder gap is measuring .005” and almost 0 cylinder wobble. Lock up and timing are spot on. No throw by or any issues like that. Trigger is light and crisp, probably around 3-4 lbs. Arbor length is set correctly with no change in B/C gap when wedge is seated.

Should make a great shooter. I’ve got a few stones and things coming from Brownells and intend to do a thorough smoothing job on the internals.

She's a beauty that's for sure.

Nice also, as a big fan of C&B revolvers, to hear that imports from Italy may be beginning to flow again.

Smokey Plainsman said:

Thanks, friends!!

I just did the always nerve-racking task of loosening the screws for the first time. I’m happy to say, all but ONE of the screws wasn’t in gorilla tight! Lol. The stubborn one came out just fine with some naughty language and a tap handle wrench. As many know the screws on some of these repros can come absolutely blood tight from the factory. Also, the nipples came out without a hitch. The last Uberti I bought had nipples frozen so hard in the cylinder I had to get the factory involved.

Barrel/cylinder gap is measuring .005” and almost 0 cylinder wobble. Lock up and timing are spot on. No throw by or any issues like that. Trigger is light and crisp, probably around 3-4 lbs. Arbor length is set correctly with no change in B/C gap when wedge is seated.

Should make a great shooter. I’ve got a few stones and things coming from Brownells and intend to do a thorough smoothing job on the internals.

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Now if you and I can find percussion caps to use on our new guns; I just resurrected an older 1858 that I would love to shoot, but I only have about 12 caps left, besides musket caps.

Treestalker said:

Now if you and I can find percussion caps to use on our new guns; I just resurrected an older 1858 that I would love to shoot, but I only have about 12 caps left, besides musket caps.

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I have about 8 tins of Remy 10s left, enough for a long time for me. Last time we had this panic happen, there were rumors the factories had suspended percussion cap production for rimfires instead. May well be the case now or people are just hoarding caps.

Hi Smokey, could you share what the date code is on your new piece? Also, did the EMF President know if the Italian gunmakers are in production again?

Gun Tramp said:

Hi Smokey, could you share what the date code is on your new piece? Also, did the EMF President know if the Italian gunmakers are in production again?

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Yep:

Seeing as they just got this one in a matter of days ago, I have no doubt it’s probably part of a new shipment from Italy.

Good signs that the imports are starting to flow again.

Excellent; thanks Smokey.

Beautiful piece. Keep us informed. Always interesting details, and shooting of coarse.

Beautiful gun, they were also called the Black Navy. I have the Ubertie London navy purchased back in 1979. I didn't know Piette made a London model. The paper work that came with mine recommended a .380 ball. Did Piette recommend the ball size? It's a tight fit, but very accurate. Of all the guns I own, it's my favorite. Have fun.

fistmil said:

Beautiful gun, they were also called the Black Navy. I have the Ubertie London navy purchased back in 1979. I didn't know Piette made a London model. The paper work that came with mine recommended a .380 ball. Did Piette recommend the ball size? It's a tight fit, but very accurate. Of all the guns I own, it's my favorite. Have fun.

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I think the Piettas take a .375 ball, having a slightly tighter throat than the Ubertis. We’ll see come range day!

great looking revolver!

That's a beauty. Glad you were able to get it. Enjoy.

I always liked the looks of that London Navy with the steel trigger guard and back strap. Great looking pistol.

Hey gang! Over the past couple of days I have torn the London Navy down and have done a lot of work on it to get it ready for the range. I used the excellent YouTube videos from Blackie Thomas and Mike Bellevue for the job. Check these out:





Both Blackie and Mike have a whole series on percussion revolvers, there care, use, and tips and tricks for range prep. I HIGHLY recommend you check their videos out guys. I went over the entire revolver and deburred, smoothed, polished every part. For the notoriously problematic hand slot, I used the Brownells S&W hand file and Colt hand slot stone set (also from Brownells) and while an investment it was well worth it. The gun now feels like a completely different revolver and is incredibly smooth. Before there was the normal gritty factory feeling as well as some notable hesitation when locking up at full cock. Now, the cylinder jumps right into battery like butter and the feeling of the gun is just great! I opened up and put a mirror polish on the cutout in the frame where the caps rotate out and away from the hammer after firing. Oh, I also completely reworked the hammer face using this video from Mike:



The results this morning at the range were well worth the effort. I fired 60 shots using Remington #10 caps on the Treso nipple with 20 grains of O.E. powder, wads, and swaged .375 Hornady balls. ZERO malfunctions and I didn’t need to lube the cylinder or clean at all, the gun just kept running perfectly! No cap jams, no cap fragments hanging up the cylinder, or hesitation from fouling. All the fired caps fell right off when the gun was cocked. No second strikes needed. Nothing loosened under recoil. The gun has a great trigger and points beautifully. I was not shooting for groups but it seemed very accurate and I was nailing some tin cans from 30 or so paces away with good regularity. Here’s the gun:

Overall I am EXTREMELY happy with this little Colt’s revolving pistol! I enjoy .36s as they have a moderate recoil, are economical, and are not to be underestimated. Wild Bill Hickok carried them for years after the introduction of cartridge revolvers and Elmer Keith interviewed actual Confederate veterans who said a .36 round ball from a Colt’s Navy was an effective stopper and seemed to work better than conical in the paper cartridges.

In the coming visits to the range I’ll be working on load development and sighting the gun in. Stay tuned! I’ve got a holster and ammo carry system in the works I want to share soon. Hope these ideas help anyone reading. Much thanks to Blackie Thomas, Mike Bellevue, and my friends on this forum for there help and support over the years.

Take care gang!

-Smokey

Thanks for the update and glad everything went well.