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Collecting C&B revolvers

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Wow kh54!! You've got quite a collection! I got into this only a little over a year ago and I have only 5 cap and ball right now. I have an 1847, 1851, 1858, 1860 and an 1861. I'm a mere fledgling but I'm looking for my next one...I hope to have a Model 3 Dragoon as my next purchase :thumb: Not a lot available new right now :dunno:
Get the 3rd model dragoon and you can carry it to the neglect of the rest. Uberti makes a hell of a copy.
 
C.O.M. (I forget what the words are...Italian...) is an Italian black powder manufacturing conglomerate using parts from various manufacturers much as Navy Arms did. I actually own an 1851 Navy with the COM marking on it. The late Dr. Jim Davis gave me the rundown on it some years ago, but I have misplaced the information. My barrel bears the DGG symbol indicating the barrel itself was manufactured by Armi San Paolo (ASP). The gun itself bears the EXCAM import mark.

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As far as collecting goes, here are a few of the Colt side of the family...

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And the Remington cousins...

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...not to mention the ones that didn't make the photo shoot that particular day.
Committee of Musketry!:)
 
hrt4me, That is very nice!! I've never seen one of those. I like it. Thanks for posting the pictures. :)

this past Spring I received and rescued a handful of original vintage black powder cap-and-ball percussion revolvers from an estate, they were in horrible condition... here are just a few, including all the open-top Colts and this Hopkins & Allen 3rd Model Bacon and the 1837 Allen & Thurber Pepperbox. This photo was right after I got them and before I took 3 to 4 months to go through and clean two dozen guns; I have fired all these now with light loads...
Colt black powder revolvers.jpg
 
hrt4me, That is very nice!! I've never seen one of those. I like it. Thanks for posting the pictures. :)

here are photos of the Hopkins & Allen when I first got it, it was badly corroded and many parts were stuck together and would not move...
Hopkins & Allen Mfg Co 31 caliber a.jpg

Hopkins & Allen Mfg Co 31 caliber b.jpg

Hopkins & Allen Mfg Co 31 caliber e.jpg
Hopkins & Allen Mfg Co 31 caliber f.jpg


From the previous photos I already posted in this thread, you can see it cleaned up fairly well (enough such that I was able to actually fire it)

Here is one last photo of all the cleaned parts before I reassembled it:
20210502_182340.jpg
 
Get the 3rd model dragoon and you can carry it to the neglect of the rest. Uberti makes a hell of a copy.
Treestalker. yes, That's what I understand about the Dragoon Model 3 anyway. It seems to be exactly what I've been wanting and the other revolvers may feel left out if I understand you correctly? I could see that happening. :thumb: LOL
 
here are photos of the Hopkins & Allen when I first got it, it was badly corroded and many parts were stuck together and would not move...
View attachment 109768
View attachment 109769
View attachment 109770View attachment 109771

From the previous photos I already posted in this thread, you can see it cleaned up fairly well (enough such that I was able to actually fire it)

Here is one last photo of all the cleaned parts before I reassembled it:
View attachment 109772
Oh MY!!. Wow. It was a mess. It appears that you were able to clean it up well. Nice :)
 
this past Spring I received and rescued a handful of original vintage black powder cap-and-ball percussion revolvers from an estate, they were in horrible condition... here are just a few, including all the open-top Colts and this Hopkins & Allen 3rd Model Bacon and the 1837 Allen & Thurber Pepperbox. This photo was right after I got them and before I took 3 to 4 months to go through and clean two dozen guns; I have fired all these now with light loads...
View attachment 109767
hrt4me...Man you got some nice revolvers there and the best thing is that you cleaned them up to be nice functioning irons. Labor of love it sounds like. I can't say that I blame you. I wouldn't mind having that opportunity myself. Thank you for posting. You mentioned something earlier about thinning them out? LOL Wouldn't happen to have a spare Uberti Model 3 Dragoon in your collection would you? HAHAHAHA.
 
Oh MY!!. Wow. It was a mess. It appears that you were able to clean it up well. Nice :)

first time I fired the original (1861 vintage) Colt 1860 Army .44

it definitely made it worth all the time and effort to clean these properly

please go to my YouTube channel to Like & Subscribe, and I will definitely post more videos of me firing these originals... I plan on taking my original 1860 soon to hunt the feral hogs tearing up my ranch

 
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this past Spring I received and rescued a handful of original vintage black powder cap-and-ball percussion revolvers from an estate, they were in horrible condition... here are just a few, including all the open-top Colts and this Hopkins & Allen 3rd Model Bacon and the 1837 Allen & Thurber Pepperbox. This photo was right after I got them and before I took 3 to 4 months to go through and clean two dozen guns; I have fired all these now with light loads...
View attachment 109767


Now that's a collection hrt4me! I'd trade away all of my Italian copies for a nice collection of originals like yours. Well done!
 
Now that's a collection hrt4me! I'd trade away all of my Italian copies for a nice collection of originals like yours. Well done!

that is exactly why I plan to thin the herd and liquidate the majority of my Italian clones... I plan to keep a few of my 5 Rogers & Spencers and my 2 Centaure 1860s...
 
Ditto to everything said about hrt4me's collection. The guns I've salvaged were all in fine condition compared to what you started with! Kudos!

I had just two revolvers when I went to my first gun show in my new home state a couple of years ago. Three hours later I left the gun show about 1,000 bucks lighter but with seven new-to-me BP revolvers. The best score of that day was an Uberti 3rd Model Dragoon with a proof date of 2004. It was new in the box and unfired as I recall. It's a beautiful piece with a fine action, light trigger, perfect timing, and it shoots straight. So, I agree with y'all about this gun as a great choice. @Zulch, I actually see Dragoons come up for sale frequently on Gunbroker. Just keep watching. I'm happy with my Uberti so I won't be competing with you. ;-)

FWIW, the guns I bought at the gun show that day averaged to about $142.86 apiece and even included one cased 1860 Army. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the black powder gods show me a little favor.
 
Ditto to everything said about hrt4me's collection. The guns I've salvaged were all in fine condition compared to what you started with! Kudos!

I had just two revolvers when I went to my first gun show in my new home state a couple of years ago. Three hours later I left the gun show about 1,000 bucks lighter but with seven new-to-me BP revolvers. The best score of that day was an Uberti 3rd Model Dragoon with a proof date of 2004. It was new in the box and unfired as I recall. It's a beautiful piece with a fine action, light trigger, perfect timing, and it shoots straight. So, I agree with y'all about this gun as a great choice. @Zulch, I actually see Dragoons come up for sale frequently on Gunbroker. Just keep watching. I'm happy with my Uberti so I won't be competing with you. ;-)

FWIW, the guns I bought at the gun show that day averaged to about $142.86 apiece and even included one cased 1860 Army. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the black powder gods show me a little favor.
kh54, Thank you for the recommendation on GB. I do check there occasionally but I suppose I need to more frequently. Thanks again. Tim
 
I did it backwards. I bought a group of 7 BP guns from an estate sale before firing one, so I was a collector first. I've added a few since this pic & still want a 61 navy & a flint pistol. I've fired very few of these but I hope to correct that when I get back to the states, possibly soon. I wish I had originals but they're just not financially in reach.

I should've added the light stocked plains pistol was loaded probably for years & no one knew about it. A ball puller got the ball out & the chamber still looks ok.
 

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this past Spring I received and rescued a handful of original vintage black powder cap-and-ball percussion revolvers from an estate, they were in horrible condition... here are just a few, including all the open-top Colts and this Hopkins & Allen 3rd Model Bacon and the 1837 Allen & Thurber Pepperbox. This photo was right after I got them and before I took 3 to 4 months to go through and clean two dozen guns; I have fired all these now with light loads...
View attachment 109767
How does that pepper box work? Does the hammer actually lift up from the cylinder as you manually rotate it? It almost looks like it strikes from the side instead of from the rear.
 
Here's my meager revolver collection. The top one is my Pietta Colt 1860 Army, and the bottom one is my Uberti Remington New Model Army. Regarding the Pietta, although it came in a Taylor's box, it didn't say Taylor's anywhere on it. It just said Pietta on the barrel. It"s sure built to some tight tolerances. It takes some force to pull the barrel off after pulling the wedge.

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If I get anymore revolvers, I'll probably go with a Dragoon model or two. Maybe a pocket model might make its way in there, too. I kind of like the stuff that was either more well-known or was in common use.
 
How does that pepper box work? Does the hammer actually lift up from the cylinder as you manually rotate it? It almost looks like it strikes from the side instead of from the rear.

yes, it is a bar hammer, and the double-action trigger cocks/lifts the hammer and rotates the barrel cluster... here are the internals of the 1837 Patent version after I first got it and opened the cover plate:
20210427_123307.jpg

more close-ups of the dirty internals:
20210427_125640.jpg

20210427_125656.jpg


the 1845 patent version is similar
 

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