Uberti 2nd Model Dragoon

[Calibre44]

Thought you would like to see a couple of pics of my new Uberti Dragoon whilst its still virginal and glistening in oil.

I’ll strip it down and clean it tonight ready for the range tomorrow – can’t wait to make some smoke!!!!

Pic one

Pic two

[Jim McArthur]

She's a beauty, mate!

Jim

[lucky trigger]

very nice! What calibre is it?

[Calibre44]

very nice! What calibre is it?

It’s a .44.

Luckily, my club rented Melville at Bisley yesterday so I was able to give it a good workout.

Here’s a pic just before I started

I started off with a measly 30 grains of BP:

Here’s a pic

Then built up to a healthy 42 grains:

Here’s another pic!

The funny thing was that the sound waves from the amount of powder must have been amplified in the shooting booths as it blew the foam earplug out of my friends left ear! (you can see him on my right)

A Cautionary Tale!
A word of warning though to all who shoot BP. Wear safety glasses!! – not long after this photo was taken a guy, who was shooting a Remmie, caught a spent cap onto his cheek which cut him causing it to bleed. It was just about 1cm from his eye! He was lucky this time!

I have been guilty in the past of not wearing glasses but not anymore.

[Anand]

That's a great looking pistol

I always get confused between the Dragoon and Walkers despite having read about them. How do you spot them apart? I know one of them was reputed to be the heaviest Colt made during the black powder era but am confused which.

How does it perform in the accuracy stakes?

I think Clint Eastwood used a pair or more of these (or maybe the Walker) along with a Sheriff's model in the film Outlaw Josey Wales.

Thanks for the lovely pics.

Regards,
krish

[lucky trigger]

I totally agree with you on the eye protection. Its suprising how much crud gets blown back upon firing. Great fun though the only bp revolver ive shot is a friends .44 Rodgers and Spencer. We put 80 rounds down range between us

[middaycowboy]

That would see a few apaches off, agree with the glasses, was spotting for my mate and got a hot piece of cap on my cheek, it hurt, just one query on your pics, do you load straight from the flask ? not allowed at my club, usually load a few phials that are pre measured , allthough have seen loading a brass measure from the flask, tell us its like having a grenade in your hand ! cheers Tezz

[Calibre44]

That's a great looking pistol

I always get confused between the Dragoon and Walkers despite having read about them. How do you spot them apart? I know one of them was reputed to be the heaviest Colt made during the black powder era but am confused which.

How does it perform in the accuracy stakes?

I think Clint Eastwood used a pair or more of these (or maybe the Walker) along with a Sheriff's model in the film Outlaw Josey Wales.

Thanks for the lovely pics.

Regards,
krish

I’m not an expert but the Walker is more powerful than the Dragoon by virtue of holding a max of 60 grains of BP as opposed to the Dragoon's 50 grains. The Walker also has a longer barrel but mechanically speaking they are the same. The main difference is the loading lever on the Walker is not held by the familiar catch seen on the later Dragoon, Navy and Army Colt models. As a consequence, the lever can drop on heavier loads. Mind you, the lever has been known to drop on Dragoons but it is less common.

Have a look at the Uberti website and have a look at both guns for comparison – click here.


In terms of accuracy – I’m still experimenting with different loads but I did keep all six shoots in a 12 inch diameter at 25 yards and I’ll be hoping to improve on that with a little more time – hopefully!

Josey Wales - what doesn't he use?! Someone told me he carried 10 pistols!
I’m not sure about Dragoons but he definitely carried a couple of Walkers along with Remingtons, Colt Navy, Colt Army in both .44 and .36, a Sheriffs Special, and some pocket pistols in .31 I think. Great movie and also a great book.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...oseywales1.jpg




Middaycowboy

Yep, no problem with using a flask at my club. I have heard stories of flasks exploding but never met anyone who has actually seen it happen. Just in case though, I always double-check that there are no burning embers left in the cylinders just in case!

[Jim McArthur]

It’s a .44.

Luckily, my club rented Melville at Bisley yesterday so I was able to give it a good workout.

Here’s a pic just before I started

I started off with a measly 30 grains of BP:

Here’s a pic

Then built up to a healthy 42 grains:

Here’s another pic!

The funny thing was that the sound waves from the amount of powder must have been amplified in the shooting booths as it blew the foam earplug out of my friends left ear! (you can see him on my right)

A Cautionary Tale!
A word of warning though to all who shoot BP. Wear safety glasses!! – not long after this photo was taken a guy, who was shooting a Remmie, caught a spent cap onto his cheek which cut him causing it to bleed. It was just about 1cm from his eye! He was lucky this time!

I have been guilty in the past of not wearing glasses but not anymore.

Looks as though it has a healthy kick to it, also. What sort of velocities do you reckon it's producing?

Second your thought on safety glasses: I wear them when shooting ANY sort of pistol: even air pistols, if I'm shooting at metallic silhouette targets.

Jim

[Jim McArthur]

Yep, no problem with using a flask at my club. I have heard stories of flasks exploding but never met anyone who has actually seen it happen. Just in case though, I always double-check that there are no burning embers left in the cylinders just in case!

I wouldn't take the chance! It's best to pre-measure each charge of the size you want into a smalller powder holder, close the stopper on the flask or horn immediately, and load the smaller charge into the gun.

If the tiniest spark ever got into the flask, you'd be holding a hand grenade while it exploded.

Jim

[Anand]

Thanks for the clarification and link to the Uberti site. Very Tempting indeed.


Cheers,
Krish

[Calibre44]

Yep ... that's good advice Jim.

I've been thinking of getting (or making) a loading-stand for sometime now which would be helpful to administer the charge as you discribed - luckily I bought a lovingly made old wooded box containing 40 phials and a funnel plus a compartment for the balls last year on #### which I could use - it was almost criminal to pay the ridiculously low price I won it for but heayho.

Thanks
John

[Chocchip]

I've spoken with someone who has seen a flask explosion, and had the story confirmed by other people.

Apparantly the powder had caked inside the flask and the shooter decided to use his steel screwdriver to stab down inside the flask to break up the chunks and loosen the powder. The flask didn't strictly explode, but more acted like a blow torch with a huge flame jetting out the end. The shooter ended up with the front of his shirt burned off along with eye brows. He was hospitalised for burns but was very lucky that they weren't deep enough for permanent scaring - just like a very very bad sunburn.

Could have been much much worse.

[middaycowboy]

allthough I am new to black powder shooting my mate who got me into it has been shooting it for years and he helped me set up loading, this is how we do it, 100 30gr phials £13, couple of 50 bullet boxes in 44 mag, couple quid each, I usually load 50, 25 with 15 grains 777 and 25 with 5 grains semolina, just empty the phials in the my 5 shot .36 Uberti cylinders and off we go

[tim56]

Like Middaycowboy i use viles every time. Dont know if flasks are banned on our range but i dont know anyone who uses one and most of our members have many years of experience. I load 18grns of TS2 into seperate viles kept in a .44 ammo box and use a 7cc powder scoop for my semolina. I place 6 balls, 6 viles and 6 caps on the table and load each cylinder in turn. This way i know i cant accidentally double charge. Fill the area over the ball with wonder lube and fit the caps. Allways wear safety glasses and try not to talk to anyone when loading, it only takes a minor distraction to "Get It Wrong."