1851 or 1860 barrel?

[bobthemotorcycle]

I have a Pietta 1860 stubby (birds head grip) but am going to put a 5 inch barrel on this birdshead grip frame so I can have a loading leave and have a little better ballistics.

I like the 1851 (in .44 cal) barrel but am kind of interested in opinions and likes.

Who prefers an 1851 barrel and who prefers a 1860 barrel.

Also, what's the cylinder gap on these revolver suppose to be?

Here it is with a 7 inch barrel but I want it more compact.

 

[necchi]

The 1851 was never factory made with a 44 cal barrel. Colt offered the gun only in 36.
The 44cal 1851 barrels are a modern "fantasy" design.
The primary difference between the 1851 and 1860 in the contour hexagon or smooth,
With the birds head grip, I would think the issue of barrel weight should be considered first.
The round 1860 would be a little lighter.

 

[hawkeye2]

As much as I like the Navy barrel the Army is lighter and would probably look better.

 

[Stantheman86]

I honestly love the look of the long Navy barrel with the Birdshead grips. It's a "Fantasy Gun" but who cares. It's cool

 

[Treestalker]

I'd put that 1860 snubby barrel in the picture on it for packing, you can usually load your chambers with a piece of ramrod through the rammer hole in the frame; I do this with my 3" cut down Navy .44 and it works great. You can put a drawer pull knob on the ramrod for comfort. Cutting the Navy barrel to 5" does not leave enough ramrod, you will need an extension. It would make a cool looking 'Doc Holliday' gun though! P.S. If you do have to use it in defense, take Wild Bill's advice and aim for the navel; it will shock the opposing force and help get you away alive, and the doctors can perhaps save him if he doesn't die of trauma.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

I'm kind of worried about this cylinder. My 1851 in .44 cal can make a full lead ring with .451 ball when pressed in but the cylinder holes on this 1860 fluted cylinder will only produce half a ring with .451 balls. I'm going to get it reamed and see what next size bigger ball will do. Love how it looks though.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

Anybody know cylinder gap or is it just as close as can without dragging?

 

[Phil Coffins]

Cylinder gap should be small, I like .003” on mine.

 

[tenngun]

I like a fantasy ‘51 in a.44, to me it’s the best looking of revolvers

 

[Red Owl]

The ,003 is pretty tight to my knowledge, I thought .006 was more common but if the .003 doesn't bind up- it ought to produce more power, etc.

 

[Jim Nasium]

I like them both authenticity aside. That sure looks pretty cool!

I'm new to Colt model BP revolvers and only own a few. I'm not familiar with what was actually spec by print. I'll tell you what though, one of mine has a 3-4 thou gap and that's the one I have the least fun with. I was going to open it up a bit, but figuring it might be more accurate I held off. It turns out that practically speaking it's no more accurate, and I do tend to compulsively chase after my best shooting.

I'll bet you do lose a fairly insignificant amount of velocity between .003-.008 like Red Owl surmised. With a brass frame I'd think it wise to keep the endshake tight. With a steel frame, I'd just rather shoot for hours and clean in the garage instead of on the range.