Dragoon.

[docone31]

I took her to the range today.
Way cool. Shoots a little high though. I guess I have to grind the hammer down more. Well, easier to remove than add.
What a whomping rascal! Where the balls hit, there was a definate crater each time. Got to fire off 18. My ramrod did fall some. I have to fix that. I will remove the pin, release the clip and spring, either make a new spring, or entrap the end piece in some tubing that fits inside the ramrod.
I had ground the whale tail out of the grip and it fit a lot better. No felt recoil at all. People at the range gathered around to watch me fire. Some where choking from the grey smoke. Lots of grey smoke.
I cannot visualize how anyone could comfortably carry that piece in an holster all day. Definate heavy, but that helps with the recoil.
It is a Western Arms from Uberti.
Ran some Clover as lube to remove pits in the barrel. They are gone and the barrel shines now.
What a pistol. I had never seen a Dragoon before, only ads. I found six at the place where my shop is. One an original!
I meas wow.
I got a copy, and I love it.
Used the Lee powder scoop. 3.4 gns. Seemed a tad much for a start load, but worked perfectly. I prefer the ramrod to go to 45* to the barrel. This load it was a couple of degrees off. Not much, but off a little.
All in all. A good day.
I can see why it was Sam Colt's favourite. It was good to me today.

[Omnivore]

Ah, Sam Colt. So we're talking about a revolver then, as opposed to one of these;
http://www.militaryheritage.com/pistol4.htm

Is that a Walker, or one of the later three Dragoon models?

3.4 grains is rather light. Maybe you mean 34. 34 grains is not terribly much for either a Walker or one of the later Dragoons. The 1860 Army and the Remington New Model Army will hold that much easily, and more, under a round ball, and they're considerably smaller guns with shorter cylinders. The Walker will take up to 60 grains and the later Dragoons around 50 IIRC.

A cute fix I once saw for a Walker loading lever was the installation of an 1851 Navy/1860 Army style lever latch. Depends how "authentic" you want to be.

[docone31]

Whoopsie, I meant 3.4 CCs rather than grains.
Duh...
It is the revolver. Square trigger guard.
On the Walker I had, I bent the spring holding piece. I have jewelery tools, so I used my mandrel pliers to put a bend in the spring close to the barrel. The lever still fell, but only when i approached 70gns, which I did not do much. A waste for target shooting. Fun, but a waste.

[Beagle333]

You can use a file to put a little more "tooth" on the catch and it will stop some of them from falling, and nobody can see it. Don't get crazy making the tooth though. 'Too much and you'll have trouble getting the lever down to load.

[dondiego]

I don't believe that they were meant to be carried in a holster. They were called "horse pistols". To shoot, and to carry.

[toot]

even the originals had the loading lever fall down after shooting. after all 60 grs of powder was a very stout load even in the day!

[Wayne Smith]

Walkers and Dragoons were to be carried in saddle holsters, attached to the saddle, not to the rider. It wasn't until the Navy that human holster carry was intended.

[fishhawk]

The reason they all seem to shoot high is from the originals being regulated to 100 yds.

[M-Tecs]

The different models http://www.uberti.com/dragoon-revolvers

[Good Cheer]

If you know someone with a Lyman 45266 they can work mighty fine molded dead lead soft.

[Fly]

Ya aim at the stomach & hit them in the chest.


Great pistols Fly

[johnson1942]

buy a 45 long colt cylinder for that gun and really have some fun. i did that for my ruger old army and love it. man does it shoot accurately and so do the dragoons in long colt.

[doc1876]

Very good information here, yes the Dragoon and the Walker were "Horse Pistols" the 1860 and the 1851 were "Belt Pistols", and the 1849s were "Pocket Pistols" the reasons for the names were apparent when you would see them together. The Walker loading lever would eventually fall when shot, hence the improvement on the 1849 1st model using the latch which continued to be improved each model year until the 1872 open top made loading levers obsolete.
Now if you wish to go "Hollywood" and carry in a holster, I can get you a duplicate of the Josey Wales rig, and you can "fastdraw" one just like Clint! (of course, you will not have the advantage of a camera to cut out your fumbles, and do not fall in the river with it on!)

[toot]

what I and my friend's do when we shoot them and the loading lever always falls down even with a 45 grain charge is to put an elastic rubber band on it, it doesn't bother your sight picture and works fine. try it, have been using it for over 40 years.

[docone31]

I have already filed the notch on the barrel, and the ramrod is much more stable. I plan on popping the pin, and bushing the channel to tighten the spring.
I will try the filed notch out first.

[flagman1776]

The hosters were called pommel holsters which is the front of the saddle, where the horn was located in Western saddles. Single shot pistols were carried butt forward & a twist draw was employed. Heavy revolvers were carried the same way. This was the case through the F&I war & Rev War, Texas independance (Texas Rangers), Mexican War, Civil War.

Bibliography
Man Made Mobile Early Saddles of Western North America
editor Richard E. Ahlborn c. 1980 Smithsonian Institution Press
The Horse Soldier(1776-1850) Vol 1
by Randy Steffen c. 1977 University of Oklahoma Press
United States Military Saddles (1812-1943) by Randy Steffen
c. 1973 University of Oklahoma Press