.45 Long Colt Revolver 'Anyone' Can Own- Legally!

[Cobalt.45]

Thanks to the rules that govern BP arms, .45 LC handguns are available to anyone who qualifies to legally posses a BP gun. The where-with-all consists of a percussion cap revolver-

Pietta 1858 Remington Steel Frame Black Powder Revolver 44 Caliber 8" Blue Barrel
Product #: 258917
Status: Available
Our price: $288.99

and a conversion cylinder-

R & D Drop-In Conversion Cylinder 44 Caliber Pietta 1858 Remington Steel Frame Black Powder Revolver 45 Colt (Long Colt) 6-Round Blue
Product #: 292272
Our price: $259.99

Others are available, as well as conversion cylinders to shoot .38 Specials from .36 steel-framed BP handguns.

Not cheap or an ideal solution but one that is available to those so inclined.

Midway has 'em:
http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?t=82579&pageNum=0&tabId=5&categoryId=10631&categoryString=10635***9511***

Prob. others as well.

[m700m]

.45 colt revolvers are great fun, I keep one for home defense as well. if you hand load, you can work wonders with this old cartridge(stay within SAAMI). I have an Uberti set-up like you describe, and this gun is very accurate.

[Anformula]

Pretty cool....

Years ago I read an article by guy who was a .45 long Colt fan. In modern firearms, that cartridge can be loaded to almost .44 Mag performance.

[festergrump]

Modern firearms being the key word there. In the conversion cylinders that Cobalt refers to they recommend "cowboy loads" or underpowered cartridges, IOW.

Loading the conversion cylinder with six fresh cartridges is quite a bit faster than pouring BP in a regular C&B revolver, ramming a ball, and capping each nipple, but just as quick as that is a complete cylinder swapout in a Remington 1858 New Model Army. Out with the old and in with a loaded one in under 5 seconds. Approximately $200 for the pistol and an additional $30 for each extra cylinder at Cabelas.com. (Clint Eastwood does a cylinder swap towards the end of "Pale Rider" for reference, but he takes his sweet time about it because he's just cool like that. LOL).

While a conversion cyliner will ship to your door without having to go through an FFL dealer, if a convicted felon is caught with one in a BP revolver... that'll be a felon in possession charge. I looked into it a while back.

[Cobalt.45]

I wonder how much product liability issues drives the caveat to use down-loads in the conversion cylinders/BP handguns?

There have been issues in the past in regards to sub-par metallurgy of some of the imported firearms used for BP shooting, and certainly no one should even consider using such a set-up in a brass-framed revolver. But a high quality gun (like the Ruger line of BP revolvers, for instance) made with up to date technology should be able to handle at least over the counter .45 LC rounds.

That being said, you would be well advised to approach such loads with extreme caution (if at all) if they are outside of the manufacturer's recommendations.

[festergrump]

That's an excellent point, Cobalt... Product liability. The Pietta remakes are said to come with literature which recommends 20 grain loads (measured by volume) in each cylinder chamber when they can easily handle twice that. In fact, a 20 grain load won't even allow the rammer to load the ball down snugly on the powder, a condition which can be dangerous with a BP gun. I've read that some people who prefer the 20 grain loads use corn meal, grits, or even grass seed as a filler on top of the powder. Point is, Pietta recommends a much lighter load than what they can handle for the life of the gun, and it's been time proven by literally 10s of thousands of examples over decades. Product liability, no doubt.

Even the barrels of the Pietta and Uberti remakes are said to be of a lesser quality steel than is used for a modern firearm, so one should keep in mind when selecting a .45 LC round for a conversion cylinder that the bullet needs to be made of pure, soft lead only. No jacketed rounds. I'm sure the barrels on the Armi San Marco and other imports are the same.

Ruger, OTOH, those fellows make a fine BP gun all the way around with the Ruger Old Army, but I've read rumors floating around that Ruger will be discontinuing them, if they haven't already. Not sure if they'll be offering another model or not, but seeing the huge size of the Old Army fan base, I would be inclined to believe they are getting out of the BP gun business altogether. Why change designs if everyone loves the original? Nobody take my word as fact on that because it's just hearsay, though.

I'd be more inclined to put a conversion cylinder in a Ruger OA and try out some full powered loads than any other make of BP revolver, though, to be honest.

Some site I ran into a few years ago offers custom made conversion cylinders, but I can't seem to find the link right now. I'll post it later if I can again find it. Anyway, I was thinking that a custom five shot cylinder would allow for thicker walls between the chambers than a six shot, while a better steel selection and better temper of the cylinder would be ideal. The hand should be long enough to rotate the cylinder the extra distance, I think. Could work just fine, but I'll wager it'd be pretty darned expensive.

I'd want to go with a Kirst style conversion over an R&D, just because of the hinged loading port and single firing pin design, but that's my personal preference. It requires some modification to the frame, though, IIRC. The real truth is I would probably never have the extra cash handy to even buy one if I ever wanted to. :o Too many other projects take precedence, know what I mean? :)

[Cobalt.45]

I have a link to a supplier of Kirst conversion cylinders as well as reproduction parts for original Remington, Colt, Ruger, etc. handguns.

It is-
https://www.vtigunparts.com/ab2240000Equick/

I don't think I'd modify an original gun to install a conversion, though. But they do offer an opportunity to get the most from a reproduction gun, providing the metallurgy is up to the task.

I hadn't heard that the Ruger BP guns might be discontinued. They are popular- makes me wonder why, if it turns out to be true. There had been a decline in the popularity of BP arms in general, if the pawn shop market is any indication.

I'd say to get one if you can and then you at least have the option to convert to a smokeless cylinder if desired, and enjoy it as-is until then.

[kepiblanc]

I have been a proud owner of a Ruger Old Army revolver since last June of this year. After being told by customer service representatives from both Midway USA and Ruger itself that this gun was discontinued, I wasted no time purchasing one second-hand when the opportunity came shortly thereafter. It was in excellent condition when I first got it, and it still is now.

So then I promptly ordered the R & D Drop-In Conversion cylinder for my Ruger Old Army revolver from Midway USA. There was a problem with the conversion cylinder binding up in rotation after I first installed it, but I got it repaired by the manufacturer free of charge. I only had to pay for shipping of the gun and conversion cylinder both ways.

It was only recently that I actually got to shoot my Ruger Old Army with the conversion cylinder. I shot 30 rounds of .45 Colt "cowboy" cartridges with it, made by Black Hills Ammunition. (These are what the conversion cylinder's maker recommends.) The bullet of this cartridge is 230 grains, all-lead, and round nose flat point.

As for the shooting itself, I would have to say that it was quite nice. I was able to easily hit small targets 10 and 15 yards down range, and the recoil wasn't really all that much, either. The spent cartridges fell out of the conversion cylinder easily each time I reloaded it, a process in itself that was fast and easy. Cleaning up the bore later on was easy too - I used Birchwood-Casey No. 77 Muzzle Magic Cleaner, a water-based solvent for black powder guns.

I love this conversion cylinder for my Ruger Old Army so much, I'll likely never use the original black powder cylinder ever again.

[Cobalt.45]

There was a problem with the conversion cylinder binding up in rotation after I first installed it, but I got it repaired by the manufacturer free of charge.
Did the repairs affect the orig. cylinder's fit?

The spent cartridges fell out of the conversion cylinder easily each time I reloaded it, a process in itself that was fast and easy.This is good to hear:)- I had thought initially that unloading spent rounds would be the Achilles heel of the whole deal.

[kepiblanc]

Did the repairs affect the orig. cylinder's fit?

No, apparently not at all. The original cylinder of my Ruger Old Army revolver rotated and timed flawlessly before I ever got the R & D conversion cylinder for it. I am not quite sure what was even done to remedy the problem it had with the R & D conversion cylinder, as I never got a chance to speak with the company's gunsmith after the work was completed. The ladies who answer the phones at R & D told me that that they repair problems similar to the one I was having every so often, always free of charge, and that it's not a big deal for them. It took only a few days to get my Ruger Old Army back after I shipped it off to R & D, so I guess they were not lying about that. Both my original and conversion cylinders work just fine now - that's all I can say for sure.

This is good to hear:)- I had thought initially that unloading spent rounds would be the Achilles heel of the whole deal.

I'm unsure as to why you would think so, but this conversion cylinder is no joke. For what I paid for it, it had better not be! I was impressed with its workmanship from the very first moment I took it out of the box. It's made from some quality and precision machined steel, mind you. :cool:

[Cobalt.45]

OT, but I always wanted a working version of the Mattel cap gun that was part of the "Fanner 50" set that was a belt buckle. You stuck out your gut and the gun flipped out and fired. Dating myself here, but anybody remember them?

Too cool...

The Fanner 50's were top shelf- authentic looking, heavy and well made. And they would actually "shoot"! The bullet was grey plastic w/clips that held the bullet in a shell that actually looked like a shell. An adhesive-backed, round cap was stuck onto the end of the bullet, loaded and when shot, the bullet would fly from the end of the revolver.

The bullets were kind of hard to load into the shells, so one side of the pistol's grips had an indentation to put the bullet into so you could shove the shell onto it.

I remember the range being across a living room if enough elevation was used and enough power to topple a house of cards. But great fun for a kid.

Very shortly afterwards, my best Christmas present ever was given to me- a brand-new Daisy BB gun. Strange thing is, I remember the smell of the gun oil more than anything...

[jlwilliams]

There is a long history of converting BP guns to fire cartrige ammunition. Historicaly, as soon as Wesson's patent took off smiths were converting existing guns to shoot the new self contained cartriges. The drop in kits are by far the easiest, most direct root to doing this today. If you're a little more adventurous with machine tools, you can bore out the cylinder nipple holes and sleve the chambers to accept 22lr. You will need to put a 22 barrel liner in the barrel and put a firing pin on the hammer, but that's not as hard as it sounds. Take a look at the way the hammer comes down onto the percussion cap nipples. It hits just right to hit a rimfire. There is an outfit that sells plans on how to do a more historically acurate cartrige conversion.

http://www.anvilenterprises.com/

I never sent them the money to buy their plans, but I have handled a number of conversions and they are real handguns not to be taken lightly. Even with the downloaded cowboy action ammo, a .38spl or a .45lc is powerful. I have a H&R rifle in 45lc that will handle loads I would never put through any handgun, but even the 'light' loads are formidable.

[cunapi73]

No only is posession of a conversion cylinder and concurrent posesson of a BP pistol by a prohibited person a felony, so is installing a cylinder conversion unit in a BP firearm by anyone a felony.Its illegal to convert a BP firearm to a cartridge gun w/o BATF prior approval by anyone w/o a manufacturers permit and will cause you all sorts of problems with the xyz boys.

[festergrump]

Its illegal to convert a BP firearm to a cartridge gun w/o BATF prior approval by anyone w/o a manufacturers permit and will cause you all sorts of problems with the xyz boys.

Cite a source for this, please. I believe you are mistaken. It is only illegal in the USA to convert or manufacture without license for sale, not for personal use.

It IS illegal for a convicted felon to possess a BP rifle or pistol at all, which I stated earlier, but this law is at the state level and not the federal level, else they too would be an FFL dealer transferable item.