Army Time!

[Smokey Plainsman]

Hey gang!

Some of you may be following my progress on my 2020 Pietta London Navy .36 revolver. Well, now it’s got company!!

Yeah guys, “we’re in the Army now”

I just couldn’t resist! I had this gun on order from Dixie Gun Works for about a week and they were lagging on shipping, seems to be a trend with them lately. Saw it in stock at EMF for a notably cheaper price so picked up the phone, rang Dixie, and canceled my order. This was on the 31st and that afternoon I ordered the gun from EMF and today the UPS man arrived with it. MY ORDER WAS PROCESSED, SHIPPED, AND DELIVERED IN 2 BUSINESS DAYS. Amazing! Granted, I only live the next state over, but still BRAVO to EMF for such fast service.

I spent the evening disassembling the gun (the nipples were TIGHT!) and going over the action and smoothing and deburring every square inch of the revolver. I am very pleased to say that this gun is excellent, just like my London Navy. Pietta is knocking it out of the park with these new 2020 production revolvers. There were no notable burrs inside the frame and machining is very good. Timing is perfect and the gun locks up solid with an ideal .005” of cylinder gap. Unlike Ubertis, the hand slot was well done and there was no annoying “step” in the slot like I’ve seen on some Ubertis.

Also, the arbor length is set perfectly. That’s another huge issue with the Uberti guns. I’m trying not to knock them too hard, and honestly they make a prettier revolver. But, I’ll stand by that I think Pietta honestly knows how to make the better mechanically sound sixgun. The bore on this Pietta is quite good with nice deep grooves. The forcing cone is a bit crude and there is no crown on the barrel, something I intend to fix soon. I will also check the chamber diameter and ensure it matches the groove diameter of the bore by reaming the chambers if necessary.

Overall I am extremely happy with the gun thus far. Pietta has come a LONG way and they’re still not perfect but for the money it’s a very nice revolver. Like always they benefit a lot from a little TLC and this one slicked up very nicely.

Look forward to an initial range report and reliability check before serious load development and mods begin. Thanks so much for the support gang. Take care!

-Smokey

 

[hanshi]

Handsome revolver, that Army. I like the Navy as lot as well. The .36 Navy was what Hickok carried.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Another photo of the Pietta 2020 Colt’s Model 1860 Revolving Belt Pistol of Army Caliber:

The knock down factor of the big .44 cal slugs are a sure win in this carryable piece. No wonder the Army loved it. Might well become my new EDC field revolver for personal defense when out in the field. First it’s got to prove reliable and accurate but I have high hopes!

 

[Dale Lilly]

Here is my favorite Pietta, but Li'l Sparrow insists it not be fired. So it lives on a shelf display in our computer/play room [along with a bunch more ML weapons]. Chrome/gold/engraved … I may sneak it out and go boom. Polecat

 

[sourdough]

My 1860 Army is not a Pietta but is an ASM (BD/1994). The original ASM cylinder is in the bottom left compartment. The full-fluted cylinder is an Uberti.

My favorite Pietta is this 1851 Navy 2nd Model Belt Dragoon .36. Pietta never marketed this, but it would have been nice if they had. It is a parts gun based upon a Pietta 1851 Navy (CM/2014) with a smooth cylinder, part round/part octagon barrel, squareback trigger guard, and hardwood grip. The trigger guard is not easy to find these days as Pietta no longer sells the squareback.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

My 1860 Army is not a Pietta but is an ASM (BD/1994). The original ASM cylinder is in the bottom left compartment. The full-fluted cylinder is an Uberti.

View attachment 41872

My favorite Pietta is this 1851 Navy 2nd Model Belt Dragoon .36. Pietta never marketed this, but it would have been nice if they had. It is a parts gun based upon a Pietta 1851 Navy (CM/2014) with a smooth cylinder, part round/part octagon barrel, squareback trigger guard, and hardwood grip. The trigger guard is not easy to find these days as Pietta no longer sells the squareback.

View attachment 41873

Regards,

Jim

BEAUT love that Navy!

 

[BullRunBear]

Congratulations on the big brother to your Navy. That's a nice arrangement in the photo. And I've been quite satisfied with the recent Pietta C&B revolvers.

After you mentioned them, I checked the EMF site. They have decent prices as you said but they are "temporarily out of stock" on almost every cap and ball. Maybe you got the last one.

Jeff

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Congratulations on the big brother to your Navy. That's a nice arrangement in the photo. And I've been quite satisfied with the recent Pietta C&B revolvers.

After you mentioned them, I checked the EMF site. They have decent prices as you said but they are "temporarily out of stock" on almost every cap and ball. Maybe you got the last one.

Jeff

Hey, Jeff! The Italians have slowed production from the ‘Rona but guns are trickling in. I actually just got done re-doing the color cased hardening on my gun:

From the factory the new Piettas use a mirror polish to the frame and loading lever and color case hardening is too dark and “reflective”, reminds me of an oil slick! I stripped it with vinegar and dulled the surface to make a satin look and used cold blue and water to make the effect. The colors are more subdued and much closer to how the originals would’ve looked. I like it!

 

[sourdough]

ASM revolvers were always somewhat color subdued. See my ASM 1860 in post #5 compared to the Pietta Navy just below it..

Jim

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

ASM revolvers were always somewhat color subdued. See my ASM 1860 in post #5 compared to the Pietta Navy just below it..

Jim

Looks good, Dough!

 

[BullRunBear]

Smokey,
Thanks for describing your process of making a more authentic looking case hardening. Lord knows I have enough C&B revolvers so I can spare one to experiment on. Could make for a fun winter project.

Jeff

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Finally got my new Pietta 1860 Army to the range:

I was waiting on a new punch to make wads for gun and it arrived yesterday. Initial impressions of the Army are EXCELLENT! Today was mainly to prove reliability and make sure the gun functioned properly. With a deburred and polished action and hammer face plus Slix Shot nipples we had 100% perfect reliability over 36 shots fired.

The caps fall right off when cocking the action and firing the next round under recoil, or remain on the nipple in one piece where they are totally bottomed out and not blown apart or sticking out away from the face of the nip. These Slix Shots WORK and even with a full 35 grain load the caps were not fragmenting. I was using Remington #10 caps. This gun features a capping channel and works splendidly with my Polish capper too. The gun uses the stock mainspring as I personally think a lightened mainspring in these cap and ball revolvers can make for poor results as the spring can let the cap blow back which can lead to it getting caught between the hammer face and frame. I’ve had it happene on a Cimarron that came with a “cowboy action” spring kit install.

The sights shoot high and just a bit to the right but the one preliminary group I fired looked good. Now I can get to work on load development and will be testing some Johnston & Dow conicals. Had a great time and the gun has more thump than my Navy and that could be a good thing for defensive work.

Thanks!

-Smokey

 

[Mulebrain]

Got to get out and shoot my wheel guns more