Pietta 1851 Navy Steel .44

[Skeet69]

A nicely made steel (color case hardened) framed .44, with brass trigger guard...Opinions on these? I just got one, (brand new in box, still wrapped)... seems nicely made, and the price was more than right. I already have the king of cap and ball, the Ruger Old Army, I am just a sucker for a good deal, opinions on these, please?
Mike

[marcseatac]

They are a good deal and it's hard to be disappointed with them. I have the 1861 Navy in .36 cal it's nice, the only thing I noticed was the 5 screws on the frame were totally loose and required a very careful tightening. In fact I went ahead and loctited them.

[38splfan]

the 5 screws on the frame were totally loose and required a very careful tightening. In fact I went ahead and loctited them.

From what I understand and the few I have experience with, this is a fairly common occurence with both originals and clones of most Colt 19th century firearms.
Loctite is a good idea. I've seen it recommended on this board before, and I've heard that Colts and clones are notorious for screws backing out during firing.
Not saying it does not affect the models offered by other manufacturers, but it does seem to be most vocal in the firearms.
That said, I have a Pieatta/Traditions 1858 Remington New Army in .44 with the brass frame. Although it is not the looker that the upper grade (Taylor's,Cimarron) Ubertis are, it is fine looking and very well made.

Pietta seems to me to be an excellent value for the money you spend.

[marcseatac]

The loose screws..........I haven't fired it yet, it shipped like that. I could see daylight between the trigger guard and the main frame. I thought it was a bad fit until I tightened the 5 screws and the daylight disappeared. They had all the screws at least 1 turn loose out of the box. One of the screws came very close to stripping out with hardly any force on my part, hence the Loctite.

[mec]

Loose screws=best kind of luck. For years, the Italians picked out at least one screw and hit it with a torque wrench.. Your jog- find out which screw and figure out how to loosen it without crumbling the slot. Piettas generally have smaller chambers and bores than Uberti but they are nicely orchestrated so that they produce fine accuracy. the bonus is that you can shoot the .451 balls without them creaping forward or emerging stuck to the loading ram. They will shoot the .451 and .457 " just fine too.
You will no doubt hear that colt never made a .44 Navy but don't worry. Some of their experimental and low-issue 1860 armys had the old form loading lever and navy grip frames. So close to what you have as to make no difference.

[gmatov]

I hope you used the right Loc-Tite. The stuff that just holds and does not prevent EVER removing the screw without pretty high heat.

You know, blackpowder pistols DO call for a complete teardown, generally, after a shooting session.

Some people say they just dunk the pistol in hot soapy, then hot clear water then oil. I don't like that routine.

Cheers,

George

[marcseatac]

I was reading a thing Beretta put out claiming that 80% of the repairs they had to do on returned guns was because of overcleaning and gun owners that damaged guns being anal about cleanliness. Beretta stated that their guns generally did not need to be cleaned as much as people think. Pretty revolutionary idea actually.

BP is different of course. I use T7 a lot and do use the method you describe. If I feel the need to tear one down, (you can usually tell when a gun needs deep cleaning) I will.

I used the medium Loctite the non permanent one.

What I do is wipe the Cabelas ML lube all over everything, everywhere and I go through the the q-tips like crazy.

Now for the internals................

I like silicone spray lube. I first started using it on ski bindings, it actually chases water out of internal areas. I spray it generously and it bleeds out the old dirt and contamination then I will reapply some within 24 hours in the lockwork. My 1858 Remington stays slick as silk and seems to be in good health! I figure when I do tear it down I will probably replace all the lockwork and hammer by then. I learn as I go and this may all be subject to change.

Also brake cleaner is a great degreaser. I shot about 100 rounds in my Pietta one time and it wasen't so much dirty from the Triple 7 as it was from the caps. I took the grips off and sprayed about a half a can of brake cleaner into every crack and crevise then dryed it with towels let it dry for a few hours and then hit it with silicone spray. Seemed to be just the ticket. Gun felt great!

Sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack the thread..........