Range Report: Uberti 1872 Open Top Conversion .45 Colt

[FloridaVeteran]

Chowmif16 - nice group, and a great-looking revolver! Big plus that you can standardize on the same load for both of the guns.

Tell you what - that is a man's gun. The only other wheelgun that feels pretty much as good in my hand is a Pietta Alchemistas, but these open tops are way cooler looking.

Since Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" was set in 1880, I wonder if they'd have outfitted him with 1872 open tops, instead of the 1860s (or '51s or Walkers - haven't watched it in a long time) that he used, except that they needed the percussion cap misfire and Eastwood's holy-crap look in the final bar-fight scene with Hackman.

 

[Chowmif16]

FloridaVeteran,
Yes it is a lovely gun. It fits well, and the sights are quite nice.
It's fairly light, so the kick with BP rounds is fairly significant.
As to the ability to use a single load across guns, we'll have to see. I think it will end up being a compromise, and each gun will like a particular load.
I just received some PRS Big Lube bullets, and am hoping to try them out within a week.

cheers,
Chowmi

 

[FloridaVeteran]

Chowmif16 - re standard loads, I suspect that this is the next-oldest unanswerable question after, "What do women want?" I try to make a load for which I can reasonably adjust the sights or point-of-aim of all my compatible firearms. However, that may be way easier for me to do, shooting smokeless .45LC, than for you shooting black powder.

Sooner or later, I'll buy some packaged BP Long Colts for my '62s and shoot them for the nostalgia. Too lazy to do it in CAS, because I'd have to put the BP through my long guns and don't want the cleaning haslle.

Don't know if or how you can post YouTube links here, but it would be fun to watch you shoot the '62. When you mentioned that it feels fairly light, are you accustomed to shooting Pattersons? The reason I ask is that I found my open-top to be pretty close to perfect in weight and balance - wondering why they ever changed it afterward.

 

[FloridaVeteran]

Chowmif16 - have you found a holster for your open top yet? If not, do you plan to? So far I have had all mine custom made, but I'm having a hard time dealing with the cost of yet another custom pair. I was disappointed that the neither ones for my SAAs nor for my Alchemistas will fit the '72s. I'm not worried at all about bluing preservation on these two, because the bluing is gone and used-looking is better for me.

Anyhow, if you find a holster that is a good fit and doesn't cost a fortune, I'd like to know.

 

[Chowmif16]

Holster and weight

Florida,
I have not shot a Patterson, although I would love to.
I think the balance is good as well, it just feels lighter than my Uberti SAA - which may be total B.S. - it just seems to feel that way.
I suppose it is probably lighter than an 1860 Army, since there is no loading lever and the cylinder must be lighter.

I happen to have a holster that fits it well. Unfortunately, I bought it 10 years ago and have no idea who made it. It fits my 1860 Army and 1851 Navy as well. I'll see if it has any maker's marks on it.

I'm just now loading up some more rounds with PRS Big Lube bullets to see how they do with it and the SAA/Lever action.

Cheers,
Chowmi

 

[Chowmif16]

Range report with PRS Big Lube Bullets

Shot the Open Top with 200gr PRS Big Lube bullets, and the results are promising.
Seems like the best load was 29.5 gr Goex 3F with an over powder card.
Group at 16ys was about 1.5" vertical and 2" horizontal, which is similar to the group I got with the .454190's and 27.0 gr.
I think I'll keep working with the Big Lubes because I suspect the fouling will build up on the .454190s without a grease cookie.
Cheers,