Picked up "used?" Colt 1862 Police .36

[BlueMax-CT]

I was at the range with my Flintlock rifle yesterday and saw a Uberti Colt 1862 Police .36 being sold as used. It looked new, so I broke it down, worked the action and found it flawless. It even had the original oil on the cylinder shaft. I've been wanting to get back into BP pistol shooting anyway so I could'nt pass up this little jewel. I had a chance to fire it today using 15 gr. fff BP, fiber wads, and .375" balls, only ones available. From pass experiences with a 1860 New Army Colt .44 I expected the thing to shoot high, BUT 18" at 25 yards? Plus the the grouping was about 5". I've ordered .380" and .389" balls to help the grouping and purchased a 1/8" brass rod to make a new, taller, front sight. Other than these issues the revolver fired flawlessly baring the occational jamming by spent caps. BTY I plan on designing the new front sight to match the style used on the Remington New Army. If all goes well with the replacement front sight and the larger balls I'll order another cylinder for it and make a loading block for faster reloading.
:D

[ 01-03-2006, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: BlueMax-CT ]

[J.C.]

You quickly found the reason you got the piece at such a price! For the rest of it, run with it.

[mykeal]

Will be most interested in your results with the larger balls. I got a new Police at an auction recently and have been looking for loading data; my notes indicate .375 ball with 15-20 gr FFF, but I lost the reference. I have not yet shot the gun, so I can't say if that's a good load or not; your experience suggests the larger ball should be better. I was thinking of going to .390 next but haven't ordered any yet. Please let us know how the .380-.389 work.