Uberti 1860 Army or 1861 Navy?

I'm considering a cap and ball revolver and am looking at the Uberti 1860 army and 1861 navy.
Any preferences for one or the other and reasons behind them you all might have?

I think you need both - just depends on what order you want to buy them in.

36 round ball is a little less expensive when compared to 44 round ball. 36 cal Navy revolvers can us a little less powder.

I work overseas but last trip home (couple weeks ago) I was shooting the following 0000 buck (.380 dia ball) out of my 1851 Navy. Price per ball is good and they shaved a nice ring.

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Super-Buck-Lead-0000-8-lb_jar-380/productinfo/SBK40/

I believe the 1861 Navy .36 is the most elegant cap & ball revolver Colt ever made.
I have an Uberti 1860 Army and it comes in second place.

"Both" is a great answer...

But it's hard to beat an 1861!



Old No7

Yes, the '61 is most elegant, and a '51 just seems to have a better feel. I have a 1860, (unknown make) and a Remington Navy, (Uberti) and I really like the .36 caliber. (actually .380") It's also much more powerful than one would think, or that "foot pounds of energy" figures indicate. I believe the .36, generally speaking, is more accurate than the .44's. ?? That may not be true in guns of equal quality. ? One other thing, I often carry a black powder pistol when hunting, and the .36" makes for a better small game gun, the smaller ball tears up less meat. But it will go right through the back of a deer or elk's skull, when a coup-de-grass is required.

1851/ 1861/ 1860. That’s like choosing which of your kids is your favorite.

Thanks for the responses. I ended up ordering the 1861 Navy. It definitely has sleeker lines. It should be fun to learning how to shoot. The only downside is speer and hornady don't make .380 round balls which means ordering them online. I ordered some from Track of the wolf, so not a big deal. Maybe I'll make my own at some point.

My old Dixie Gunworks catalog says the Uberti chambers are .372" in diameter.

That should be small enough to allow you to use a .375 diameter to load the gun with and Hornady makes .375 diameter lead roundballs.

I have both and like them equally. I think it boils down to the feel in your hand. I really like my 1858 Remington to. I would suggest watching some of the duelist 1954's Youtube videos.

koauke said:

I'm considering a cap and ball revolver and am looking at the Uberti 1860 army and 1861 navy.
Any preferences for one or the other and reasons behind them you all might have?

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I have an 1860 and like it. I also have 3 1861's - one pietta and 2 uberti's. Try both sizes of ball. Get a .38 was punch and a roll of the hard durofelt material. They even sell lanolin to lube it with.

Your maximum accurate load will be enough 2F BP to just let you seat a wad on top of the powder with out interfering with the ball centering itself in the chamber mouth. You can work down from there to see if accuracy improves.

2 F wants a bit more ramming pressure than 3F, but not quite as much as Pyrodex. One of the reasons I like the '61 over the '51 is the better rammer setup.

The only downside on my 61's is the weight. But then the longer barreled 60 is bout the same. I like the 60 grip but love the 36 cal. Less powder, smaller lighter ball and very easy to shoot a lot to get good with it.

My unmentionable Colt wears a 60 grip frame ... i love this setup. I am prolly going to get a 60 grip frame for my 61 navy. They sure feel rite to me.

I like the smaller Navy Grip and the shorter 71/2" barrel on the 61. For some reason the 8" barrel on the 60 Army doesn't point as readily for me even though it's only 1/2" longer. It--the 60 Army--feels like I'm pointing a wand where the 61 seems to drop right on target.

condorsp said:

I believe the 1861 Navy .36 is the most elegant cap & ball revolver Colt ever made.
I have an Uberti 1860 Army and it comesView attachment 465 in second place.

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I've always thought that the open top Colt cap-n-ball guns were the peak of elegance, balance, and handling. The barrel on my 1860 is 6", which I found made a perfect revolver even more perfecter.

Rat said:

I've always thought that the open top Colt cap-n-ball guns were the peak of elegance, balance, and handling. The barrel on my 1860 is 6", which I found made a perfect revolver even more perfecter.View attachment 1251

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Hmmm. I’ve got an 1860 that’s a mate to yours, 5.5” barrel and it was made for Navy Arms by Uberti in the 1980’s.

4th Light Armored Recon Bn.
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