Wells Fargo

[mec]

When I got this, it shot a foot high or more at 25 yards and was a bit tight for proper functioning. I relieved the cap channel in the standing breach,radiused it a bit and got it working. Also filed off quite a bit of the hammer nose/rear sight and cut the notch on the bias to line things up horizontally.

Now, it shoots just a few inches high at 30- 50 feet and is close enough to be death on a rabbit at the shorter range. The velocities with fffg and pyrodex are right at 700 fps and even at this puny level, it will put a 31 cal 50 grain ball through three gallon water jugs.

Now that it shoots close to the sights, its an unalloyed pleasure.

 

[musketman]

That is one nice cap and ball revolver you have there, and it's great that you were able to modify it to function better... :thumbsup:

 

[[email protected]]

Yes....LOOKS NICE...
just wondering how much powder it takes to get 700 fps?


** WV SCROUNGER ***

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

You don't see much written about these little guys, but they are fine companions on a woods walk or when fishing. A great substitute for a .22 long rifle "modern", they fit into most pockets or tackle boxes. There is even a reasonably priced drop-in replacement cylinder available in .32 S&W short for those so inclined. I'll take mine without the attached rammer and just use the arbor instead.
And at only 12 grains or so of fffg per shot it doesn't get any more economical.

 

[mec]

12.5 grains of fffg does 720 or so while the same volume of he substitutes are in the high 600s. this is unusual because the larger capacity .44s have pyrodex getting more velocity than fffg and h777 in the same volume produces wide variations and some extremely high readings.

 

[Rebel]

In a revolver of that small a cal. would it be safe to use 4f in it?

 

[mec]

Pretty much for sure. A friend would use nothing but 4f in his brass framed navy. Said it fouled less than fffg.

 

[Rebel]

It should give you a bit more velocity than 3f then.

 

[Donny]

I know nuthin about revolvers, but I hear with the brass frames, one can be damaged from too hot a load? :: I wonder what charge of FFFFg is too much? :hmm:

 

[mec]

I've heard of brass frames stretching,colapsing and such from heavy rammer pressure as well as the loads. The 31s don't produce any pressure, recoil or torque to speak of and I would expect that they might treat a brass frame better than the larger calibers.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Truth is, the chamber-full of fffg is a fine load. Ffffg
won't make a magnum out of a popgun. If you have the ffffg, go for it. But I don't believe I'd run out and buy a can just for this purpose.If you really feel you need more power, you probably need more gun. A Walker will usually get the job done I've found.

 

[jim gray]

I have a .36 caliber brass frame 1851 Colt Navy and a 2nd Model Dragoon. I don't know about the .31, but I try to keep the loads low in the brass frame revolver. There is a benefit in that because I can do a heck of a lot of shooting with a pound of powder.

Don't load too light though because the balls tend to ricochet. Trust me on that.

 

[mec]

funny you should mention it. Thirty or more years ago, I caught a bounce back from a brass framed navy. Ball had hit a well seasoned fence post and came back and hit my leg.

Didn't hurt though.

 

[mec]

One thing I forgot to mention. The name Wells Fargo was made up by collectors for these leverless pocket models. There is not record of WF ever buying any .31 revolvers.

Keith said that they were propular with the Pony Express riders though.

 

[jim gray]

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only person to do that, but it's even more comforting to know that full power loads don't do that.
I'm glad to hear that yours didn't cause any injuries either, I shot the remaining 4 chambers into a sand pile.

 

[S_O_Laban]

Great pics and info as usual mec.

Keith said that they were propular with the Pony Express riders though.

I find this interesting given I thought I had read or heard that the Pony express riders didn't carry guns to save weight? Comments?

 

[Zonie]

I can't speak for the Pony Express riders, but if my tail was riding thru some of the areas they rode, you can bet I would have carried a small revolver like the Colt even if I had to buy it. :: ::
As they say, "Be Prepared" ::

 

[mec]

They all went armed -some of them with multiple weapons if they could afford them. Only one rider got killed and that was the result of a horse wreck.