My new child

[DrPepper]

I haven't bought a gun in awhile because I fool with them at work all day and I have 6-7 issued to me, but I've been interested in the old cowboy guns for several months now.

Got my tax return back and decided to spoil myself a little. I picked this up today.

It's an Uberti copy of the old Colt 1860 Army with the Richards-Mason conversion to fire metallic cartridges. In 1871 the army contracted with Colt to convert the old 1860 model cap and ball pistols to fire a modern metallic centerfire cartridge. Back in the day they were .44 cal., but the reproduction I have is a .45 LC (long Colt).

The marks that look like scratches on the cylinder are actually an engraving of sailing ships. 8 inch barrel , the gun weighs over 2.5 pounds empty. For comparison, a standard M4 style rifle only weighs 5 1/2 to 6 pounds empty, so this is close to half that weight in only about 1/3 of the size. This thing is a beast. I haven't shot it yet, but it's a true hand cannon.

[DJNinja]

Sexy. How's the recoil on it, about the same as a 44 Magnum?

[DrPepper]

I still haven't had a chance to shoot it DJ, and I've never shot this caliber before so I don't know what to compare it to. I'll try to get some pictures when I do.

[lfthk1]

This looks like an old black powder pistol I owned as a kid. Very powerful and fun to shoot at close quarters.

[madmax]

45 LC is a pussycat. The case was originally designed for 40 grains of black powder driving a 255 grain bullet at approximately 1000 fps. The factory loads you have are probably running about 850 fps. Almost exactly the same power level as a .45ACP.
Oh, be prepared for it to shoot about a foot high. There is nothing wrong with it, just the original design.