1849 Uberti colt pocket pistol

[Texas Gil]

Thinking of buying a pocket pistol and the 1849 uberti replicas seems to be overly expensive. I believe they are the only maker?
Any idea what a good price on-a used one would be? Thanks

 

[Brokenbear]

My first cap n ball was an 1849 pocket Colt 3rd gen ..enjoyed very much ..then I bought an 1862 pocket police Colt/Uberti ...then I bought an 1860 44 army Colt/Uberti

I have to tell you the 1862 pocket police has me leaving the 1849 behind and range trips end up being with the 1860 and 1862

The 1849 I will keep ..heaven forbid should my normal CCW become no longer available to me ..but the 1862 is comparable to the 1849 in size and is in 36 cal which can be ballistically a better CCW

Good luck and have a great weekend

Bear

 

[Phfinneuss]

Uberti is it. I have two of the Colt authentic 48 Pockets and 2 of the Signature 49s.
Signature models are hit and miss in quality, with extreme quality issues. as it is, the two '49s I have are excellent in fit/finish/quality. I got m a year and a half ago for around $700.00 each and I m glad of it! Not cheap, however they are v e r y well made and good quality.

Simson Ltd arms
Gunbroker
Cherrys Fine Arms

1- It s the one on top. silvered mountings too! Whereas the replicas are not plated.

 

[Phfinneuss]

The remarks above regarding the Police model. Yeah, it w a y outperforms the light pocket model. however, the Pocket '49 charged with a well fitting elongated ball is v e r y powerful/affective!!! Penetrated 3 pine boards at 50yds with a 12'' group. This little pistol has a bad rap as being ineffective etc. They were the best seller (300,000+ for a reason!!!).

1- 75yds,, 3 boards through, charged with 14g/elongated cast from a 1862 Colt mold. B o o m !

 

[William Lincoln]

I think that all these pocket pistols are desirable keepers. As a possible deterrent
the issue is not the power but the fact that it is a loud bang and bad people
avoid being noticed--plus who wants to be shot by any gun? If the revolver is
historically accurate, many places will not define it as a firearm- and this may have
legal advantages in some situations. Whereas the Pietta Ace would not qualify
as exempt under the definition if hairs are being split. I would not recommend
BP revolvers for CC-- but if that is all you have ,they beat a sharp stick. Again the
Bang is a big fight stopper psychologically.

 

[user 48679]

Thinking of buying a pocket pistol and the 1849 uberti replicas seems to be overly expensive
Any idea what a good price on-a used one would be? Thanks

I paid less than $400 about 6 months ago for this "as-new" example, from a fellow board member's ad here. (Thanks, griffiga ! ! )

I like it so much that I glommed some accessories & made a case for it.

 

[Texas Gil]

BEAUTIFUL PISTOL AND CASE, SEEMS LIKE MANY OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE CW HAD THEIR PICTURE MADE WITH ONE OF THESE.. LIKE TO HAVE ONE FOR BACKUP DURING MUZZLELODING SEASON. NOT AS BULKY OR HEAVY AS 7 1/2 OR 8 IN BARREL18551 OR 60..NICE CARY SIZE

 

[ghostdncr]

The '49 is a beautiful little gun and I wouldn't feel real sorry for myself if that was my only carry option. Seems like maybe the folks who own these know exactly what they've got because I don't recall ever running across one at a bargain price. I was fortunate enough to own a Colt 1862 Police many years ago and was never disappointed by it in any way. There's no telling how many pounds of powder and lead I put through that little gun and carried it around with me most of the time for several years.

 

[smoothshooter]

The remarks above regarding the Police model. Yeah, it w a y outperforms the light pocket model. however, the Pocket '49 charged with a well fitting elongated ball is v e r y powerful/affective!!! Penetrated 3 pine boards at 50yds with a 12'' group. This little pistol has a bad rap as being ineffective etc. They were the best seller (300,000+ for a reason!!!).

1- 75yds,, 3 boards through, charged with 14g/elongated cast from a 1862 Colt mold. B o o m !

How thick were the boards?
That’s kinda’ important to the conversation.

 

[Phfinneuss]

Oh, right. I just figured all knew what I was talking about. Typical white pine boards got from a lumber supply place.

Btw, I did testing with actual 1'' thick unplaned white pine boards with the average results being slightly less in penetration in contrast to the planed boards (planed boards being less in thickness than 1''). The overall results averaging 2.9/3.0 boards - 6.0/6.8 boards with various pistols/distances and so on.

The whole idea is based upon the 1800s lethality testing via using a baffle target made of 1'' thick seasoned white pine boards, spaced 1 1/4'' apart. The full penetration of o n e board qualifying as lethal (considering all the factors of penetration obstacles such as bone, sinew, tendon and so on). Results were based upon a lightly outerlayered target of the equivelent of shirt, undershirt and light wool jacket (of course not taking into account striking a pocket watch, bible and so on).

I just figured I d add all that since you cited importance to particular details.

1- Target includes the large backing for long range pistol (100-300yds) hit information
2- Target viewed from the 100yd mark

 

[Phfinneuss]

Speaking more to the lethality of these Pocket Pistols, Back in the day there were p l e n t y of homicides caused by these pistols (over 300,000 sold for a reason). 19th century law/courts/testimony documentation etc shows quite contrary to peoples views todays regarding this little pistols capabilities. It s easy for someone today to compare this pistol to modern handgun/ballistic reports with a scoff. Kinda like in years to come, where 'Luke Skywalker' compares his blaster, or whatever, to one of the best handguns of today.

It is critical that the pistol, as all of this type, be properly charged. Poorly charged, the ball could bounce of its target. Whereas, otherwise it would go right through its target. There are a lot of published historical accounts out there showing as such. One of the , yeah, funniest is a man who became riled at his mule and fired at it with a ..Colts Pocket Pistol.. (Considering the year of this account, as well as with some of the other details, all point to it having been a .31 48/49) the ball bounced off the mules head and struck him in the leg. The man had to ride the mule to where a doctor was to have the ball removed.

1- From Gunsmoke and Saddle leather

 

[Tom A Hawk]

While I would not choose to be hit by one, I suggest a large percentage of 1800's lethal incidents had more to do with infection and the state of medical intervention than the power of a .31 ball.

 

[Whitworth]

As Tom A Hawk stated the fear of dying a miserable slow death by infection from being shot was probably as big a deterrent as the wound caused by a bullet. Being gut shot with a .31 would most surely bring death, later if not sooner.

 

[smoothshooter]

While I would not choose to be hit by one, I suggest a large percentage of 1800's lethal incidents had more to do with infection and the state of medical intervention than the power of a .31 ball.

That is true. The most important thing is to immediately stop the attacker immediately. Whether or not they die later is immaterial and doesn’t help you at all.
Ironically, just pointing any kind of a gun at somebody in the old days may have been more of adeterrent than it is today because we know that a large percentage of modern gunshot wounds are treatable. In the old days before advanced surgical techniques and penecillin a gunshot victim was far more likely to die a slow and very painful death, especially if it was a central or lower abdomen hit.

 

[Phfinneuss]

I think that miscreants, poltroons, footpads, road agents and the like, in the early days, when confronted by someone with one of these, really didn t take it serious,- 'Oh!, he just has a little parlor pistol. Let s rush him so that he can try to fire his not powerful single charge that may or may not even hit one of us , ,'. Essentially forcing the defender to fire. In disbelief at the power and noise, and continual fire from this little pistol , ,.

Yeah, one would have to shoot.

------------------------------------
1- 'Parlor Pistol' on the left