Quote Originally Posted by Simon G View Post
Interesting stuff. I'm still not convinced by the numbers stated there though. I have books by Joseph Rosa, Doc O'Meara and C. Howard Moore that all put factory cartridge conversions of Colt revolvers at around 9000 and 7000 manufactured 1872's. Or is this article refering more to converted Remingtons and my obvious bias is getting in the way?

Jim, rimfire was indeed more popular during the latter stages of the 19th century, but this facilitated conversion as little had to be done to the hammer to ignite the rim primer. Converting to centerfire meant fixing a firing pin that would be durable enough.

To let you into a secret, I'm having a Cartridge Conversion replica made by a friend who is a part-time/hobbiest gunsmith. It will still be a muzzle loader as per S1, but will have an ejector rod and a loading gate as per the Richards pattern. But, is also being converted to use smokeless powder.......

This started because I found a genuine set of, in really great condition, aged ivory grips for an 1851 Navy revolver. The grips are worth twice what the gun will be!!!!!
Sounds like a great project, Simon! Be sure to post pics of the finished product.

Kind of like buying a dog because you got hold of a really great dog collar!

Jim