"By God, girl, that's a Colt Dragoon. Now you're no bigger than a corn nubbin. What are you doing with all that pistol?" I'll never not think of this line whenever the Dragoon is shown/mentioned.
Mattie Ross: It belonged to my father, he carried it bravely in the war, and I intend to kill Tom Chaney with it if the law fails to do so. Rooster Cogburn: Well, this'll sure get the job done if you can find a fence post to rest it on while you take aim.
On the 'Sam Colt is a jerk' list, 'stealing equipment from your subcontractor while they still need that equipment to make your guns' is a new and exciting installment
Can you imagine how vexating it must have been for E.W. jr. to be operating in good faith with Colt in the hopes of continuing a mutually profitable relationship while he's actively trying to cut you out of the loop because of his past experience dealing with other parties during the Patterson debacle?
I have a original 1st model dragoon made in 1849. I shoot mine every now and then.. I have several videos shooting it here on TH-cam if anyone cares to watch. And more coming. It never fells to amaze me how good it shoots for its age. Great video C&Rsenal!
@@les3449 i own quite a few original Colts from 1849-1900. You are right. I shoot light loads threw them most of the time. But as long as you use blackpowder and the loads the gun was made for. It's perfectly safe and doesn't harm the firearm.
C&R is probably the channel that has the most blood, sweat and toil dripping from the screen. Amazing content, attention to detail and piling up the workload ...
Imagine being an Army trooper in 1848, hitching your horse and walking over to the quartermasters' to trade in your pair of Harper's Ferry single-shot pistols that look more in place in Blackbeard's hands rather than your own... ...then getting a pair of _these_ issued to you instead. You'd think you were living in the future. I suspect that some of the 'transitional' Dragoons with Walker-style grips may have been original Walkers that were sent in for repair, the frames being refurbished with a new, shorter cylinder and barrel assembly.
These weren't issued in pairs my guy, othias covered this as the guns where already in theory 3x times as good as the pair of single shot pistols and the Dragoons where expensive 25$ think the price was.
@@BogeyTheBear Simple it's called tradition vs logistics my friend, by traditions of every European nation equipped it's Calvary with a pair of pistols. So by default when asked to make holsters belts they are made for a pair and up until this point of when the Dragoons are adopted that was the standard. But when your spending 6 times the cost of a single shot pistol for just one firearm, ask yourself do you think a small frontier style army like we had at the time is it cost effective to equip everyone with a pair or just a single revolver that is already as I said 3x as good in theroy as a pair of single shots pistols.
19th Century industrial magnates were never known to be paragons of principle. I doubt the _weaponmakers_ among their number would ever prove to be the exception to that fact.
I put on my Walker C&Rsenal "God created Man, Sam Colt culd not spel this sentints!" shirt this morning, and then this video dropped. Love the repercussion series thanks for all the history.
Othias is a very humble historian and I truly apperciate that, he is always willing to say that he isn't 100% on certain details and to take it with a grain of salt. Most others I've seen say everything as it's set in stone and can't ever be changed.
I love these Reprocussion episodes. I know they're a pain to make compared to the regular Primer episodes, but they're a nice switch-up every now and again.
Would be neat to see an episode on the Griswold & Gunnison. The reproductions, from what I understand, take... rather significant liberties with the original design.
Isn't the G&G basically a Colt copy made from poorer materials? Notably at a much better build quality and consistency than any of the other Confederate makers. Pretty sure Ian over at Forgotten Weapons has a video on them.
It may be because this is an iconic handgun, whereas most of the ww1 guns they've done in a while are obscure guns (some might even call them forgotten weapons)
The reloading process is so slow, even compared to gate-loading cartridge revolvers, that it basically doubles as a meditative practice. Plus, the sheer variety of colors! Most WW1 revolvers are just straight dark blue and black, with rare exceptions like the Swiss 1882 to brighten things up.
I just recently ended up getting an old Colt 1860 New Army replica from my grandfather. Ever since then, I have been very interested in learning more about the history of these old revolvers, as well as gleaning some useful tips for black powder shooting. Thanks for the great videos, keep it up!
Having watched videos on many weird and esoteric channels over lockdowns etc I've found most industries, not just tech, have similar people were owners prioritise maximum profits over turning out a quality product, living a good life and having a happy properly compensated workforce that'll work for and with them. Saw stuff on some machining companies and as an aviation nerd Boeing are another excellent example. The 737Max problems are now alongside the KC46 tanker issues and Air Force One conversion problems.
Gorgeous handgun and some amazing hosts! This series has been a fun change of pace from ww1. I'm so glad you guys have branched out. I eagerly await each of these new episodes.
Though wads and grease are not necessary for accuracy or chain fire risk, they do reduce leading in the bore and make the gun operate considerably smoother. My current habit is to shoot without lube or wad for the first 6 shots, then use Crisco on top of all subsequent projectiles, the arbor, and in the hammer channel. For the final cylinder, I’ll use wads AND grease to both swab the bore and soften fouling for the clean up.
Great episode, great info. Makes me want to get involved in black powder shooting. You two make a good team; professional, informative, and entertaining. Awesome shooting, Mae. I'd love to see an episode on the Ruger Old Army (BP).
1:00:24 I love Othais's in depth information, pursuit of the straight facts and deep dives but I am always more amused than I should be by Mae's derpy humour.
Thank you for this ongoing OUTSTANDING series on the percussion Colts! For firearms that dominated the scene for such a short time, (1836-1872 roughly] the "Cap-and-Ball revolvers" continue to fascinate. In American History that era comprised the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Western Frontier with all its Gold rushes, overland stage routes, Pony Express, Indian fights, wagon trains, and so forth. The era of the percussion revolver may have been short, but what an incredible, tumultuous era it was, a time absolutely loaded with stories just waiting to be told. Maybe one day Hollywood will discover that the "Western Frontier" was a LOT more than just cowboys, cattle drives and cow-towns. FYI, it is critically important to grease black powder revolvers before use. Common grease used during the time was beef tallow, mutton tallow or lard. On the Colt "open-top" design, I liberally "tallow-grease" the base pin and cylinder ratchet before loading, and the revolvers will continue to shoot for many cylinders before fouling out. For prepping round balls and conical bullets, I hot-dip lube the projectiles in a mixture of 2 parts beeswax, to 1 part grease (tallow, lard, coconut oil, etc) and allow to cool and solidify well before the shooting session. Colt's loading instructions said to "put a drop of oil" over each loaded projectile before capping. Roughly following Colt's loading instructions, on round balls or smooth conical bullets, I will brush tallow into the chamber mouths. For conical bullets with a grease groove, I don't bother as the groove retains enough lube to keep fouling soft in the bore. The smooth 258 grain "sugar loaf"conical Mae used was first used beginning in late 1850 during the "2nd Model Dragoon"(1850) era into the early "3rd Model Dragoon"(1851-60)era. The final 258 grain conical in the "3rd Dragoon" era starting roughly 1858, had a single grease groove. The Walker and Whitneyville-Hartford Dragoons(1847) used a 219 grain picket bullet lacking a rebated base. The"1st Model Dragoon" (1848-50) used a 220-230 gr smooth "sugar loaf" conical bullet having a rebated base to ease loading. I've read, [but can no longer find the reference !], that tallow was often brushed onto the capped nipples for waterproofing.
Sam was a shrewd character, convincing people he could make and produce large numbers of guns with no money, no factory and a handful of groupies. It worked everytime. Delorean tried that and it didn't workout well. Kudos to the man that was grammar challenged and sadly his biggest success he was looking for made it and he never lived to see the 1873 SAA.
According to the National Mining Association, gold was worth about $19 per ounce in 1849, meaning that it was worth pretty close to the actual price of gold (about 60 cents on the dollar in comparison)
...in or around 1997 or so I bought a Uberti Whitneyville Dragoon at a S H O T Show in Vegas from Maria Uberti herself (What a looker!!!) It was a very good looking reproduction...sadly I was forced to sell it after my stroke in 2002...
I'm really enjoying these. I have an Uberti 1861 and Pocket Police, and love handling them even if I may never actually shoot them. The mechanics of them are really neat.
Uberti supplied the forgings and castings to colt for finish work . My Uberti 1st Dragoon is a beautiful piece well balanced and smooth action with a proper latch.
@@seymoarsalvagedepends on the model and generation. In this case, the Walker and 1st model Dragoon are F Series. Colt did some finishing, final QC, and shipped them out. On earlier C Series 1851 Navy and 3rd Model Dragoon, all machining, fit, assembly, and finish was done at Colt factory. Uberti only supplied rough forging for three pieces. They were machined in US. The carrels, cylinders, and small parts were all US made.
Five years ago I could count the number of cap and ball revolvers I’ve owned on one finger. In that time I picked up another and they’ve been multiplying in my safe. I’m now in double digits with both BP revolvers, cartridge conversions and their respective bullet molds from both Lee and Eras Gone. I kind of did something similar with civil war rifled muskets. It’s a sickness.
My original 1st model dragoon drops its loading lever with any more the 30 grains of powder with round ball. It is 173 years old but the spring is very stiff.
I know it’s not exactly current, but “A History of the Colt Revolver from 1836 to 1940,” by Charles T. Haven and Frank A. Belden (New York: Bonanza Books, 1940) is a treasure trove of reprinted original documents, specifically chapter 4: The Whitneyville Walker and the Dragoons, pages 44 to 62.
Sam Colt's personal revolver [even after the Navy & Army models had been released] was a 3rd model with leaf sights [ie, set up for use with the detachable stock.] IIRC, it even had a drift adjustable front sight for the ultimate in accuracy in a handgun [at the time!]
55:20 I have both a Walker and Dragoon from Uberti, and the Dragoon has the more authoritative feel due to the fact its grip is much thicker than the Walker.
The 3rd gen colts were uberti made the 2nd gens were made in the US by iver Johnson(Michael Imperoto, the guy who owns Henry now) to colt specs using rough Italian forgings that they finished. The 2nd gens are the highest quality.
Close. None of the Colt BP guns are "Italian made." The first "C series" 2nd Gen guns used three pieces rough forged by Uberti in Italy. They were then machined, fit, assembled, and finished by Colt in the Colt factory. The barrel, cylinder, and small parts were US made. The F series 2nd Gen moved production to Lou Imperato's (father of Michael) Iver Johnson factory, everything else remained the same. They were made to Colt specifications, some finishing might have been done by Colt, but Colt definitely did final QC and shipping. The 3rd Gen saw production start again in Imperato's factory, all was the same, except all finishing was in house, Colt no longer did QC or shipping. None of them were "Italian made" or "rebranded Ubertis."
@@TXGRunner you are wrong sir. 3rd gen colt signature series are ubertis. QC was done by Imperato. They were just nicely finished ubertis. They were made 1993-2002 under Colt signature series name. Look in Eric Deaton’s book ‘Collecting modern Colt black powder revolvers’. All the production numbers and information is in there.
I started out shooting a percussion CVA kit Kentucky Rifle and cap lock horse pistol. I used the CVA self measuring flask and a brand I do not remember flask that looked like the one you used with a different mechanism. I just liked using the. Glasgow I used. I had an 1851 Navy in .44, an 1860 Army in .44, a .36 Navy, and a sheriffs model? I forget .31 or .36? Enjoyed shooting (and loading)the .44s more I think but I have large hands. I do not know if the powder or caps (early 1970s) were special but guns were very reliable. I used greased patches for the Kentucky rifle (two pistol charges was a good load, one more comfortable). I greased the cylinders after loading (Crisco I think, though could have been a purpose product?). Got messy but could lot and fire a lot without cleaning. I enjoyed all my black powder replicas. Added another Kentucky rifle and then a Plains rifle. Wanted a full frame Telling on replica but could never justify it. Besides the Colts teamed of history. As did the Kentucky rifles.
I would suggest when loading on a stand to tip the barrel forward to put the strain of seating the ball on the toe of the stock rather than the tip of the trigger being pressed by the hammer.. That is my experience, which is the thing you get right after you needed it, and an expensive one. Thank you all for the work you put in doing these programs.
He's going to get to it. You might have noticed that he's doing these in chronological order, so there's almost a decade of development yet before the New Army. I have no idea if anyone even offers a repro of the Old Army, or if he's just going to cover it in passing while doing the New Army. We all shall have to just wait & see!
Not to be "that guy", but dragoons and mounted infantry are slightly different concepts. Dragoons were meant to be dual role, to fight from the saddle and on foot if necessary. This is evidenced by the inclusion of the saber and pistols, as well as a carbine. Mounted infantry are only tasked to be mounted as transportation then dismount for battle. These units are generally equipped as line infantry. For example, the Regiment of Mounted Rifles were equipped with the 1841 rifle.
I would not say I realy know my way technically around a hand gun but would it not be far more time efficient to be able to remove the cylinder for reloading and have a second one preloaded for quick reloading and you could be affective at a precise powder load for consistency.
Watching the fast-forwarded sequence of Mae trying to load this thing while it's being held in a vice gives a lot of insight as to why militaries were so reluctant to adopt and just said "no thanks, tube on a stick works fine!"
If only there were a way to attach a pre-measured paper packet of powder to the back of a bullet. You could shove one of those in by hand without need of a stand
Othais explains how the Colt safety works, and I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of 5-shot Fudds suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
On the safety pegs between chambers: I have no doubt that they work well on a new, good condition revolver. The main problem with them, in all the variants Colt tried, is that they get beat up over time and eventually fail to lock the hammer into the cylinder. As the percussion cones erode from use, the flash hole gets larger and you get more gas blowing out to impinge on the hammer face. When this gets bad enough, the blowback from each shot will blow the hammer back towards half-cock a bit; it looks like the hammer bounces. This causes the cylinder to begin rotating a little, so the hammer comes down misaligned on the safety pegs or notches. Keep doing this for a few hundreds or thousands of shots, and the safety features get peened over along with the hammer face until they can no longer engage properly and the hammer can slip off. I have an original 1851 Navy revolver that's seen a lot of use and abuse in its time. The safety pegs are all completely gone, peened over into little mounds with sloped sides. The corresponding slot in the hammer face is also peened over so the opening is too narrow to fit a peg if one was there. As a result, if I rest the hammer between chambers it tries to slip off what's now a sloped surface so it rotates the cylinder and ends up on a cap. I now have new nipples in the gun, but just to see what happened I tried shooting it with the badly eroded original nipples. Every shot, the cylinder would rotate as the hammer bounces and the hammer would end up somewhere in between chambers. Sometimes, it would slip down on the next cap though not hard enough to set it off.
Out of all the percussion cap and ball revolvers from the early Wild West era (late 1830s onwards) to the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Colt Dragoon revolver series is my personal favorite followed by the 1860 Colt Army or 1851 Colt Navy (tough choice to choice between those two) and then the 1858 Remington.
Please do the Remington new model army!!! (Known popularly as the “Remington 1858”). The 1858 is the patent date not the production that was around 1861 (especially after the colt factory fire).
Even I enjoy this study about percussion guns, and watching the WW1 1911 episode will appear in a far future, really want you Othias make a review about the few 6.35/ 25 acp pistols used in the WW1. In Ol' México thanks of our Draconian Gun Laws with Cartridge restrictions, being 380 acp the King in the Civilian Pistols can have and 32 acp and 22lr the second common choice, a lot of Mexicans carry a lot 25 acp mouse guns and few are from this era, so really a 25 ACP spin-off will be really appreciate to watch. Thanks.
Love your videos, and this series. One minor nit to pick: The Colt 2nd Gen are not "Italian made." Three forged components came from Italy as unfinished, rough forgings. They were machined, fit, assembled, and finished in US. The barrel, cylinder, and other small parts were made in the US. In the case of the Walker and 1st Model Dragoon, the machining, fit, assembly, and finish were done at Lou Imperato's factory in NY or NJ. Final QC and shipping was done by Colt proper. Earlier "C series" 1851 Navy and 3rd Model Dragoons were done in the Colt factory. Even the Colt 3rd Gen "signature series" are mostly American made, but Colt was no longer doing quality control or shipping. There are two books, one by a guy named Russell and another by a guy named Deaton, both of whom independently document production in detail.
Wonderful historical synopsis of "Film Flam Man" Sam Colt and his-although much more Walker, Whitney et all revolver. Everything I had learned about these firearms I had learned for a book an old collector gave me about 40 years ago, I believe the authors we Haven and Belden, I cant check because I'm in the middle of a house move. Just lots of hard work by your crew. Thank you for that. P.S. My guess is the reproduction you have is an Armi San Marco.
For some reason I got the names of the guns mixed up, and thought at first that you were talking about the Colt Walker. When Othais picked up the gun, I wondered "Exactly how big is Othais? That gun looks almost regular-sized in his hands!" Then I realised that I had, in fact, got the guns mixed up, and this was actually a more or less regular-sized pistol.
@@BogeyTheBear I know (I watched the video), but the Walker is still big enough to look ridickulous, while the Dragoon is just slightly oversized. The actual measurements may not be very different, but it's enough to make the Walker _look_ significantly larger.
They talk about about flash over the cylinder face and down into the loaded chambers,combat with felt wad under the bullet, or greased felt wad. I own a Uberti .36 navy without the roll pattern on the cylinder, sold in the US by Navy Arms, I got it new in 72 or so. I used crisco grease over the ball ammo, not only does it prevent flash over, the spread out melted leftover grease, inside the barrel, kept the powder residue moist, making it easier to clean. Messy on reloads on the range, and gets curious looks. Getting the right size cap can be hard, and the copper caps can jam the hammer path. Fun and messy to shoot, either with BP or Pyrodex substitute. Never tried to make roll cigarette paper cartridges. There are several youtube clips, and web articles on making paper cartridges.
I was not expecting Mae to drop something like a shlock mercenary reference! The more I fake hang out with you guys on the internet the more I wish I could in real life. I'm pretty sure a thigh is tonight and spend some time talking about how our motorcycles are super reliable but we just can't ride them at the moment...
The wrong latch is designed so it will never be able to just forced shut because of the mechanics of its operation. Its forcing that latch "closed" as you push the lever up, where as the real one is designed to force open as you close the lever.
"By God, girl, that's a Colt Dragoon. Now you're no bigger than a corn nubbin. What are you doing with all that pistol?"
I'll never not think of this line whenever the Dragoon is shown/mentioned.
Literally where my mind goes first
Mattie Ross:
It belonged to my father, he carried it bravely in the war, and I intend to kill Tom Chaney with it if the law fails to do so.
Rooster Cogburn:
Well, this'll sure get the job done if you can find a fence post to rest it on while you take aim.
Great minds think alike.
Mattie's gun was an 1847 Walker Colt.
@@wesmcgee1648 In the 60s movie, yes. In the book and the 2010 movie it is a Dragoon
On the 'Sam Colt is a jerk' list, 'stealing equipment from your subcontractor while they still need that equipment to make your guns' is a new and exciting installment
All's fair in love and business!
Can you imagine how vexating it must have been for E.W. jr. to be operating in good faith with Colt in the hopes of continuing a mutually profitable relationship while he's actively trying to cut you out of the loop because of his past experience dealing with other parties during the Patterson debacle?
hello reddit
Lol is is true that sam colt tried to smuggle guns to Russia during the Crimean war and when he was caught blamed his brother 😂
I think you'd be hard pressed not to a businessman who didn't pull some outright shady/illegal deals.
I have a original 1st model dragoon made in 1849. I shoot mine every now and then.. I have several videos shooting it here on TH-cam if anyone cares to watch. And more coming. It never fells to amaze me how good it shoots for its age. Great video C&Rsenal!
Kudos for "SNAFU." Well done.
@@MrLeoAtrox lol thanks!! it worked out perfect...i wanted a fun name to draw people to my channel. Cheers!!
Will have to check it out. Thanks for posting!
I have heard that from MANY owners of original colt revolvers. IF you use real black powder these revolvers will last almost last FOREVER.
@@les3449 i own quite a few original Colts from 1849-1900. You are right. I shoot light loads threw them most of the time. But as long as you use blackpowder and the loads the gun was made for. It's perfectly safe and doesn't harm the firearm.
C&R is probably the channel that has the most blood, sweat and toil dripping from the screen. Amazing content, attention to detail and piling up the workload ...
Imagine being an Army trooper in 1848, hitching your horse and walking over to the quartermasters' to trade in your pair of Harper's Ferry single-shot pistols that look more in place in Blackbeard's hands rather than your own...
...then getting a pair of _these_ issued to you instead. You'd think you were living in the future.
I suspect that some of the 'transitional' Dragoons with Walker-style grips may have been original Walkers that were sent in for repair, the frames being refurbished with a new, shorter cylinder and barrel assembly.
they'd need the newer cylinder with the thicker wall between chambers or else you'd still risk it blowing up
These weren't issued in pairs my guy, othias covered this as the guns where already in theory 3x times as good as the pair of single shot pistols and the Dragoons where expensive 25$ think the price was.
@@SasoriZert Then explain the fact why pommel holsters were made to hold a pair of pistols.
@@BogeyTheBear Simple it's called tradition vs logistics my friend, by traditions of every European nation equipped it's Calvary with a pair of pistols. So by default when asked to make holsters belts they are made for a pair and up until this point of when the Dragoons are adopted that was the standard. But when your spending 6 times the cost of a single shot pistol for just one firearm, ask yourself do you think a small frontier style army like we had at the time is it cost effective to equip everyone with a pair or just a single revolver that is already as I said 3x as good in theroy as a pair of single shots pistols.
Colt went on to make nearly 20,000 Dragoons. Do you honestly think the Army scrimped on issuing these one per trooper?
It’s honestly amazing that with all of his shenanigans Sam Colt ever made it as far as he did. Life truly is stranger than fiction.
Revolutionary inventors don't tend to be normal people. Hiram Maxim being a great example.
@@marshallbyrne9643 I don't recall ever hearing stories of Hiram Maxim sneaking into factories in the middle of the night to steal pulleys.
@@Roflcopter4b are we sure we’re talking about Samuel colt, this seems like a Sam Hyde situation.
19th Century industrial magnates were never known to be paragons of principle. I doubt the _weaponmakers_ among their number would ever prove to be the exception to that fact.
I put on my Walker C&Rsenal "God created Man, Sam Colt culd not spel this sentints!" shirt this morning, and then this video dropped. Love the repercussion series thanks for all the history.
wait that was a real shirt and I missed out!?!
@@seymoarsalvage Last t-shirt campaign had some great shirts.
@@ES90344 I was in and out the hospital last year so I missed it lol dang..
Othias is a very humble historian and I truly apperciate that, he is always willing to say that he isn't 100% on certain details and to take it with a grain of salt. Most others I've seen say everything as it's set in stone and can't ever be changed.
I love these Reprocussion episodes. I know they're a pain to make compared to the regular Primer episodes, but they're a nice switch-up every now and again.
Would be neat to see an episode on the Griswold & Gunnison. The reproductions, from what I understand, take... rather significant liberties with the original design.
Fancy seeing you here. Looking forward to the next Razorfist Arcade
Hey Razor!
Isn't the G&G basically a Colt copy made from poorer materials? Notably at a much better build quality and consistency than any of the other Confederate makers. Pretty sure Ian over at Forgotten Weapons has a video on them.
Bro. Wtf, I’m seeing you more often, I saw you on hickok45’s vid on the model 25-5 earlier.
Lol yeah the G&G repro is just an off the line brass-frame Colt navy repro with the front portion of the barrel turned down.
I love how hard it is to explain Colt's early history to friends & coworkers.
I am enjoying this series a lot more than the WW1 stuff. There's something rather comfy about these black powder revolvers.
I personally think that they're both great, I wouldn't really say one is better than the other. I do agree woth you about being comfy though
It may be because this is an iconic handgun, whereas most of the ww1 guns they've done in a while are obscure guns (some might even call them forgotten weapons)
The reloading process is so slow, even compared to gate-loading cartridge revolvers, that it basically doubles as a meditative practice. Plus, the sheer variety of colors! Most WW1 revolvers are just straight dark blue and black, with rare exceptions like the Swiss 1882 to brighten things up.
@@hailexiao2770 the case color hardened frames plus the brass grip straps, beautiful combination
I just recently ended up getting an old Colt 1860 New Army replica from my grandfather. Ever since then, I have been very interested in learning more about the history of these old revolvers, as well as gleaning some useful tips for black powder shooting. Thanks for the great videos, keep it up!
Who can hate Mondays when we get new C&Arsenal episodes?
Sadly, it was already Tuesday for us europeans.
hearing about Sam Colt’s shenanigans reminds me of the business practices of modern tech companies…
Or the company he founded.
Having watched videos on many weird and esoteric channels over lockdowns etc I've found most industries, not just tech, have similar people were owners prioritise maximum profits over turning out a quality product, living a good life and having a happy properly compensated workforce that'll work for and with them. Saw stuff on some machining companies and as an aviation nerd Boeing are another excellent example. The 737Max problems are now alongside the KC46 tanker issues and Air Force One conversion problems.
Samuel Colt, 19th-century techbro.
Thank you for the excellent episode. Nice conical bullets. From a long time former patron and now utreon.
Go team utreon !
Gorgeous handgun and some amazing hosts! This series has been a fun change of pace from ww1. I'm so glad you guys have branched out. I eagerly await each of these new episodes.
Though wads and grease are not necessary for accuracy or chain fire risk, they do reduce leading in the bore and make the gun operate considerably smoother. My current habit is to shoot without lube or wad for the first 6 shots, then use Crisco on top of all subsequent projectiles, the arbor, and in the hammer channel. For the final cylinder, I’ll use wads AND grease to both swab the bore and soften fouling for the clean up.
Great episode, great info. Makes me want to get involved in black powder shooting. You two make a good team; professional, informative, and entertaining. Awesome shooting, Mae. I'd love to see an episode on the Ruger Old Army (BP).
1:00:24 I love Othais's in depth information, pursuit of the straight facts and deep dives but I am always more amused than I should be by Mae's derpy humour.
Thank you for this ongoing OUTSTANDING series on the percussion Colts! For firearms that dominated the scene for such a short time, (1836-1872 roughly] the "Cap-and-Ball revolvers" continue to fascinate. In American History that era comprised the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Western Frontier with all its Gold rushes, overland stage routes, Pony Express, Indian fights, wagon trains, and so forth. The era of the percussion revolver may have been short, but what an incredible, tumultuous era it was, a time absolutely loaded with stories just waiting to be told. Maybe one day Hollywood will discover that the "Western Frontier" was a LOT more than just cowboys, cattle drives and cow-towns.
FYI, it is critically important to grease black powder revolvers before use. Common grease used during the time was beef tallow, mutton tallow or lard. On the Colt "open-top" design, I liberally "tallow-grease" the base pin and cylinder ratchet before loading, and the revolvers will continue to shoot for many cylinders before fouling out. For prepping round balls and conical bullets, I hot-dip lube the projectiles in a mixture of 2 parts beeswax, to 1 part grease (tallow, lard, coconut oil, etc) and allow to cool and solidify well before the shooting session. Colt's loading instructions said to "put a drop of oil" over each loaded projectile before capping. Roughly following Colt's loading instructions, on round balls or smooth conical bullets, I will brush tallow into the chamber mouths. For conical bullets with a grease groove, I don't bother as the groove retains enough lube to keep fouling soft in the bore. The smooth 258 grain "sugar loaf"conical Mae used was first used beginning in late 1850 during the "2nd Model Dragoon"(1850) era into the early "3rd Model Dragoon"(1851-60)era. The final 258 grain conical in the "3rd Dragoon" era starting roughly 1858, had a single grease groove. The Walker and Whitneyville-Hartford Dragoons(1847) used a 219 grain picket bullet lacking a rebated base. The"1st Model Dragoon" (1848-50) used a 220-230 gr smooth "sugar loaf" conical bullet having a rebated base to ease loading. I've read, [but can no longer find the reference !], that tallow was often brushed onto the capped nipples for waterproofing.
Sam was a shrewd character, convincing people he could make and produce large numbers of guns with no money, no factory and a handful of groupies. It worked everytime. Delorean tried that and it didn't workout well. Kudos to the man that was grammar challenged and sadly his biggest success he was looking for made it and he never lived to see the 1873 SAA.
According to the National Mining Association, gold was worth about $19 per ounce in 1849, meaning that it was worth pretty close to the actual price of gold (about 60 cents on the dollar in comparison)
...in or around 1997 or so I bought a Uberti Whitneyville Dragoon at a S H O T Show in Vegas from Maria Uberti herself (What a looker!!!) It was a very good looking reproduction...sadly I was forced to sell it after my stroke in 2002...
If she was beautiful like her revolvers, her barrel was wedged on too tight, her forcing cone drug her cylinder, and she was slightly out of time.
@@randymagnum143 "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." Francis Bacon, 1625.
Excellent video. I learned a lot. Will view the entire Reprocussion series.
I'm really enjoying these. I have an Uberti 1861 and Pocket Police, and love handling them even if I may never actually shoot them. The mechanics of them are really neat.
Uberti supplied the forgings and castings to colt for finish work . My Uberti 1st Dragoon is a beautiful piece well balanced and smooth action with a proper latch.
Colt didn't actually do anything to the guns, Iver Jonson did. Thats prolly a good thing as Colts QC since the 90's has been trash
@@seymoarsalvagedepends on the model and generation. In this case, the Walker and 1st model Dragoon are F Series. Colt did some finishing, final QC, and shipped them out. On earlier C Series 1851 Navy and 3rd Model Dragoon, all machining, fit, assembly, and finish was done at Colt factory. Uberti only supplied rough forging for three pieces. They were machined in US. The carrels, cylinders, and small parts were all US made.
Five years ago I could count the number of cap and ball revolvers I’ve owned on one finger. In that time I picked up another and they’ve been multiplying in my safe. I’m now in double digits with both BP revolvers, cartridge conversions and their respective bullet molds from both Lee and Eras Gone. I kind of did something similar with civil war rifled muskets. It’s a sickness.
Thank you so much for this episode. Dragoon is my favorite cap and ball revolver. I'll have to buy one when I get back to the USA.
My original 1st model dragoon drops its loading lever with any more the 30 grains of powder with round ball. It is 173 years old but the spring is very stiff.
I enjoy the black powder episodes. You all do a great and wonderful job on all your episodes. Thank you.
Tremendous series! Thanks for creating this and sharing.
I know it’s not exactly current, but “A History of the Colt Revolver from 1836 to 1940,” by Charles T. Haven and Frank A. Belden (New York: Bonanza Books, 1940) is a treasure trove of reprinted original documents, specifically chapter 4: The Whitneyville Walker and the Dragoons, pages 44 to 62.
So happy to have more Reprocussion to watch! been playing with my spiller and burr and 44 remy more and more lately.
Been eagerly awaiting this episode. Did not disappoint.
'They tell me you are a man with true grit.' Love this series and the Dragoon.
Outstanding & Informative
Another great installment on the development of the Colt revolver. Looking forward to the Third Model episode.
Sam Colt's personal revolver [even after the Navy & Army models had been released] was a 3rd model with leaf sights [ie, set up for use with the detachable stock.] IIRC, it even had a drift adjustable front sight for the ultimate in accuracy in a handgun [at the time!]
@@nunyabidniz2868 The Third Model Dragoon was the perfected Walker.
Thank you Rock Island Auction for helping out with this!
55:20 I have both a Walker and Dragoon from Uberti, and the Dragoon has the more authoritative feel due to the fact its grip is much thicker than the Walker.
the walker would split under the load because the chamber walls were too thin, one of the many corrections made to the dragoon
Love the show and appreciate all the hard work.
The 3rd gen colts were uberti made the 2nd gens were made in the US by iver Johnson(Michael Imperoto, the guy who owns Henry now) to colt specs using rough Italian forgings that they finished. The 2nd gens are the highest quality.
I forgot to add Duelist1954 has a good video explaining explaining the colt blackpowder generations.
ITS MADE FROM PEOPLE!
Close. None of the Colt BP guns are "Italian made." The first "C series" 2nd Gen guns used three pieces rough forged by Uberti in Italy. They were then machined, fit, assembled, and finished by Colt in the Colt factory. The barrel, cylinder, and small parts were US made. The F series 2nd Gen moved production to Lou Imperato's (father of Michael) Iver Johnson factory, everything else remained the same. They were made to Colt specifications, some finishing might have been done by Colt, but Colt definitely did final QC and shipping. The 3rd Gen saw production start again in Imperato's factory, all was the same, except all finishing was in house, Colt no longer did QC or shipping. None of them were "Italian made" or "rebranded Ubertis."
@@TXGRunner you are wrong sir. 3rd gen colt signature series are ubertis. QC was done by Imperato. They were just nicely finished ubertis. They were made 1993-2002 under Colt signature series name. Look in Eric Deaton’s book ‘Collecting modern Colt black powder revolvers’. All the production numbers and information is in there.
I do very much enjoy when rock island auction does a video on their up and coming items its always interesting.
Yes! my favorite series on the channel! Spending some qualify time with my uberti third model while watching this! 😍
Longest episode ever on the Colt Dragon, this must be act of God, Hallelujah!
I started out shooting a percussion CVA kit Kentucky Rifle and cap lock horse pistol. I used the CVA self measuring flask and a brand I do not remember flask that looked like the one you used with a different mechanism.
I just liked using the. Glasgow I used. I had an 1851 Navy in .44, an 1860 Army in .44, a .36 Navy, and a sheriffs model? I forget .31 or .36?
Enjoyed shooting (and loading)the .44s more I think but I have large hands.
I do not know if the powder or caps (early 1970s) were special but guns were very reliable.
I used greased patches for the Kentucky rifle (two pistol charges was a good load, one more comfortable).
I greased the cylinders after loading (Crisco I think, though could have been a purpose product?).
Got messy but could lot and fire a lot without cleaning. I enjoyed all my black powder replicas. Added another Kentucky rifle and then a Plains rifle.
Wanted a full frame Telling on replica but could never justify it. Besides the Colts teamed of history.
As did the Kentucky rifles.
My Dad gave me my great grandfather's dragoon. It's huge. And you can use it as a club when you run out of ammo.
Please don't try that. Those old open tops are just not that rugged a design to hold up to such abuse...
@@nunyabidniz2868 I'm talking end of the world zombie situation. That thing is a heirloom.
That crazy long loading sequence left me proxy exhausted. I almost had to take a nap.
This series got me into bp shooting thanks you sir
I would suggest when loading on a stand to tip the barrel forward to put the strain of seating the ball on the toe of the stock rather than the tip of the trigger being pressed by the hammer.. That is my experience, which is the thing you get right after you needed it, and an expensive one.
Thank you all for the work you put in doing these programs.
so many variations on the whole "Stop what you're doing over there" thingy...I love C&Rsenal.
yeah i been waiting on a new repercussion and you been teasing us in your q and a
It ain't the much awaited and storied 1911 episode....but this will do
You can see she's having a lot of fun shooting that pistol. I want one now for sure.
YESSSS!!!!
I love these episodes. PLEASE tell me you're gonna do the Remmington New Army
The only one I like myself, The Remington that is... Love C&Rsenal
I'm curious about the history of the Remington, it just doesn't get the attention the Colts do
He's going to get to it. You might have noticed that he's doing these in chronological order, so there's almost a decade of development yet before the New Army. I have no idea if anyone even offers a repro of the Old Army, or if he's just going to cover it in passing while doing the New Army. We all shall have to just wait & see!
@@nunyabidniz2868 Ruger probably makes the finest repro of the old army
of any cap and ball revolver.
LoL 42:54 I thought you were going to say Crozier!!!! 😉🤣 not Talcott!
No angry eyebrows though.
This is an episode I’ve been WAITING FOR!!
People are saying these dragoons are rare and here's me getting offered $200 at a gun shop because it's "old"
Oh how I Have been looking forward to Othias finishing his story.
Not to be "that guy", but dragoons and mounted infantry are slightly different concepts. Dragoons were meant to be dual role, to fight from the saddle and on foot if necessary. This is evidenced by the inclusion of the saber and pistols, as well as a carbine. Mounted infantry are only tasked to be mounted as transportation then dismount for battle. These units are generally equipped as line infantry. For example, the Regiment of Mounted Rifles were equipped with the 1841 rifle.
Depends on where in history you are. From the beginning dragons where just mounted infantry that evolved to medium cavalry.
I would not say I realy know my way technically around a hand gun but would it not be far more time efficient to be able to remove the cylinder for reloading and have a second one preloaded for quick reloading and you could be affective at a precise powder load for consistency.
Samuel Colt, proof that Bastards and Cream rise to the top...
Watching the fast-forwarded sequence of Mae trying to load this thing while it's being held in a vice gives a lot of insight as to why militaries were so reluctant to adopt and just said "no thanks, tube on a stick works fine!"
If only there were a way to attach a pre-measured paper packet of powder to the back of a bullet. You could shove one of those in by hand without need of a stand
Oh yes! The good old colt percussion revolver is back! XD 👍👍👍
Othais explains how the Colt safety works, and I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of 5-shot Fudds suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
On the safety pegs between chambers:
I have no doubt that they work well on a new, good condition revolver.
The main problem with them, in all the variants Colt tried, is that they get beat up over time and eventually fail to lock the hammer into the cylinder. As the percussion cones erode from use, the flash hole gets larger and you get more gas blowing out to impinge on the hammer face. When this gets bad enough, the blowback from each shot will blow the hammer back towards half-cock a bit; it looks like the hammer bounces. This causes the cylinder to begin rotating a little, so the hammer comes down misaligned on the safety pegs or notches. Keep doing this for a few hundreds or thousands of shots, and the safety features get peened over along with the hammer face until they can no longer engage properly and the hammer can slip off.
I have an original 1851 Navy revolver that's seen a lot of use and abuse in its time. The safety pegs are all completely gone, peened over into little mounds with sloped sides. The corresponding slot in the hammer face is also peened over so the opening is too narrow to fit a peg if one was there. As a result, if I rest the hammer between chambers it tries to slip off what's now a sloped surface so it rotates the cylinder and ends up on a cap. I now have new nipples in the gun, but just to see what happened I tried shooting it with the badly eroded original nipples. Every shot, the cylinder would rotate as the hammer bounces and the hammer would end up somewhere in between chambers. Sometimes, it would slip down on the next cap though not hard enough to set it off.
Aww, you guys are going to spoil us with some awesome content 😘
Out of all the percussion cap and ball revolvers from the early Wild West era (late 1830s onwards) to the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Colt Dragoon revolver series is my personal favorite followed by the 1860 Colt Army or 1851 Colt Navy (tough choice to choice between those two) and then the 1858 Remington.
Love the new opener!
Schlock Mercenary, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time
There was a time when I was up to date with Schlock, but it didn't last long. Certainly wasn't expecting to hear it mentioned over here.
very thorough and fascinating .thanks
She's awesome and knows how to shoot and handle that dragoon!
Very informative. Thanks a lot for making this! Really enjoyed it.
Please do the Remington new model army!!! (Known popularly as the “Remington 1858”). The 1858 is the patent date not the production that was around 1861 (especially after the colt factory fire).
All in good time. They're doing these chronologically, so you'll have to sit thru the Baby Dragoon & the '51 Navy episodes first...
Even I enjoy this study about percussion guns, and watching the WW1 1911 episode will appear in a far future, really want you Othias make a review about the few 6.35/ 25 acp pistols used in the WW1.
In Ol' México thanks of our Draconian Gun Laws with Cartridge restrictions, being 380 acp the King in the Civilian Pistols can have and 32 acp and 22lr the second common choice, a lot of Mexicans carry a lot 25 acp mouse guns and few are from this era, so really a 25 ACP spin-off will be really appreciate to watch.
Thanks.
Love your videos, and this series. One minor nit to pick: The Colt 2nd Gen are not "Italian made." Three forged components came from Italy as unfinished, rough forgings. They were machined, fit, assembled, and finished in US. The barrel, cylinder, and other small parts were made in the US. In the case of the Walker and 1st Model Dragoon, the machining, fit, assembly, and finish were done at Lou Imperato's factory in NY or NJ. Final QC and shipping was done by Colt proper. Earlier "C series" 1851 Navy and 3rd Model Dragoons were done in the Colt factory. Even the Colt 3rd Gen "signature series" are mostly American made, but Colt was no longer doing quality control or shipping. There are two books, one by a guy named Russell and another by a guy named Deaton, both of whom independently document production in detail.
Wonderful historical synopsis of "Film Flam Man" Sam Colt and his-although much more Walker, Whitney et all revolver. Everything I had learned about these firearms I had learned for a book an old collector gave me about 40 years ago, I believe the authors we Haven and Belden, I cant check because I'm in the middle of a house move. Just lots of hard work by your crew. Thank you for that. P.S. My guess is the reproduction you have is an Armi San Marco.
This is great. I hope to see the 1851 Navy.
I love this series.
Nobody is better than you two historians! Nobody.
For some reason I got the names of the guns mixed up, and thought at first that you were talking about the Colt Walker.
When Othais picked up the gun, I wondered "Exactly how big is Othais? That gun looks almost regular-sized in his hands!"
Then I realised that I had, in fact, got the guns mixed up, and this was actually a more or less regular-sized pistol.
The Dragoon is built on the same exact frame as the Walker. The only thing 'less' about a Dragoon is length.
@@BogeyTheBear I know (I watched the video), but the Walker is still big enough to look ridickulous, while the Dragoon is just slightly oversized.
The actual measurements may not be very different, but it's enough to make the Walker _look_ significantly larger.
Love this series !!!
Thanks! I learned a ton.now, I want one.
Just the usual comment of appreciation of your work and engagement of The Algorithm.
They talk about about flash over the cylinder face and down into the loaded chambers,combat with felt wad under the bullet, or greased felt wad. I own a Uberti .36 navy without the roll pattern on the cylinder, sold in the US by Navy Arms, I got it new in 72 or so. I used crisco grease over the ball ammo, not only does it prevent flash over, the spread out melted leftover grease, inside the barrel, kept the powder residue moist, making it easier to clean. Messy on reloads on the range, and gets curious looks. Getting the right size cap can be hard, and the copper caps can jam the hammer path. Fun and messy to shoot, either with BP or Pyrodex substitute. Never tried to make roll cigarette paper cartridges. There are several youtube clips, and web articles on making paper cartridges.
I made paper cartridges for my repo Sharps. Tried to make pistol paper cartridges. Just not worth the time. What is “flash over prite ton” mean?
I think it’s interesting that Colt didn’t shorten the frame when he shortened the cylinder, rather he increased the size of the forcing cone.
"low effort, high fancy" is how I strive to live.
Woohoo so close. Next gun up is the greatest of all time!!!
Cant wait for my fav... the 1860 Army!
I was not expecting Mae to drop something like a shlock mercenary reference! The more I fake hang out with you guys on the internet the more I wish I could in real life. I'm pretty sure a thigh is tonight and spend some time talking about how our motorcycles are super reliable but we just can't ride them at the moment...
The wrong latch is designed so it will never be able to just forced shut because of the mechanics of its operation. Its forcing that latch "closed" as you push the lever up, where as the real one is designed to force open as you close the lever.
This episode is listed under the specials episodes playlist instead of the reprocussion episodes playlist
Love this series
Othais is the best example I know of what Small Arms Review used to call an "RKI" not an expert...a "Reasonably Knowledgeable Individual".
Mae rocks.
The casbah will never be the same!
I'm waiting for your review of an 1860 Army and comparison to the Dragoon.
First time May dont need extra length.She had to 2 hand 'the Hammer' and its been cleaned and its still 'Stiff'.
if you had placed the side where the funnel is closer to the edge of the flask cover you might have had a easier charging of the chambers.
Good stuff!