.36 pistol recommendations

[vi11ain]

I already own a .44 Rogers & Spencer, which is very nice indeed. My girlfriend enjoys shooting it, but she is small with small hands and finds it a bit on the heavy side, so I have got a variation for a .36 muzzle loading pistol on my FAC so that she can borrow that when we're at the club.

Now, my question is, do you have any recommendations for a suitable .36 revolver? I see that there are quite a few Colt replicas out there, which seem to be nice and small, but are they any good (ie accurate and easy to use/clean). I also see that there are some Remingtons, but are they smaller than the .44 Remingtons?

Advice on suitable loads for .36 with 777 would be useful too....

[griffc]

Hi - ive just parted with the uberti remington and was very happy with it. Shot around 12 grains of 777 with semolina filler. Its lodged with my local rfd if youre interested - its priced to sell as i needed the slot...

Corrie

[vi11ain]

So, is it smaller than the .44 Remington? I've not actually handled a 36 Remington yet.

[griffc]

Hi - it was smaller than my euro arms .44 though not massively. Corrie

[john paul]

You could go for a .36 Colt Sheriff - Navy 1861 (Pietta). I have one as well as a .44 Remington Target sights s/s Euroarms. The finish on the Pietta Colt Sheriff is very good and it shoots sweet comes to aim better than my .44.
Mine likes 15gr of Pyrodex by volume. I have used it with 777 starting from 12gr going up to 15gr, but it seems to prefer 15gr of Pyrodex.
The wedge thing is a bit odd and can be a swine to knock out, I use an old brass key blunt at the end or a flattened .303 case. You soon get used to this its not a problem.
You should be able to pick one up second hand for less than a £100.
I bought mine from a club member for £75 (as new powder, balls and flask) he had only fired x2 cylinders with it and concluded b/p pistols were not his scene.
As the loading arm is short it is a little harder to load the ball though. A friend of mine got round this by making a metal sleeve for more leverage.
The 1861 Sheriff is easier to load than the 1851 Navy Sheriff. The design of the 61 more advanced.
Have a look at the Henry Krank Catalogue on the net for further ref.
Cleaning is no worse than a solid strap, I would say.

Regards, JP..

[tim56]

Just a thought but wont a .36 be heavier than a .44 of the same model ? A smaller bore must mean a thicker barrel/cylinder thus more weight. As i say, just a thought as iv never owned a .36.
Out of all the revolvers i have fired i recon the Pietta .44 Colt 1862 was probably one of the lightest. Henry Kranks list them on their web site. "wwwhenrykrank.co.uk" Shown as item 164. .44 cal, 14cm barrel and weighing 1 kilo. Theres also the 1861 navy which is listed as item 163A which is .36 cal with the same short barrel and 1 kilo weight. Funny looking things though with not having a top strap.
Personally i would stick with the rogers and spencer or go for the remmington both which only weigh .25 kilo more. Both shoot really well with no real faults and theres plenty of them around both new and second hand. Happy searching. Tim

[enfield2band]

I already own a .44 Rogers & Spencer, which is very nice indeed. My girlfriend enjoys shooting it, but she is small with small hands and finds it a bit on the heavy side, so I have got a variation for a .36 muzzle loading pistol on my FAC so that she can borrow that when we're at the club.

Now, my question is, do you have any recommendations for a suitable .36 revolver? I see that there are quite a few Colt replicas out there, which seem to be nice and small, but are they any good (ie accurate and easy to use/clean). I also see that there are some Remingtons, but are they smaller than the .44 Remingtons?

Advice on suitable loads for .36 with 777 would be useful too....

The easiest way to solve your problem is to go to a shop that stocks Blackpowder pistols. Take your girlfriend with you and let her see what she thinks.
You will then be sure of purchasing something suitable.

[vi11ain]

Thanks for the advice guys. We're going to pop over to Bisley when the Phoenix is on to see if any of the usual suspects turn up with something interesting to take a look at/buy.

Ben

[Seanus]

Might I suggest the 1862 Colt Police but make sure you get the Uberti one as the Pietta ones seem to be 'normal' sized rather than the original 2/3 size from what I've seen.
The only drawback is that due to its small size it's only a five shot but not violent to shoot.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-313582.html

[vi11ain]

A quick update for you:

We went to Bisley on the first day of the Phoenix and looked at quite a number of pistols. In the end, Jing decided that she really wanted one of the .36 Colts as they're considerably smaller than the Remington 1858's or the Rogers and Spencer - her hands are just too small for them and the weight was a bit much for her.

In the end, we bought a really nice, barely used Uberti 1862 Pocket Navy from Fultons, which is surprisingly small - almost handbag sized . The cylinder and action are quite tight so I'm sure they will improve as the gun gets a bit of use.

We've both had a go and it's really nice to shoot although a little small for my hands. hopefully this weekend we'll try it rested to see what accuracy we can get from it.

[Jim McArthur]

Sounds like you made a good purchase! Let us know how the shooting session goes.