Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Deadly Colt Army Model 1860

Army and Weapons | Deadly Colt Army Model 1860  | The Colt Army Model 1860 is a muzzle-loaded cap & ball .44-caliber revolver used during the American Civil War, made by Colt Manufacturing Company. It was used as an arm of cavalry, infantry, artillery and naval forces.

The Colt 1860 Army uses the same size frame as the .36 caliber 1851 Navy revolver. The frame is relieved that the use of a blunt cylinder with which the Army chambered in .44 caliber possible. The barrel on the 1860 military force has a cone that is visibly shorter than that of the 1851 Navy, which the Army revolver to have a longer cylinder. An important distinguishing feature of the Colt 1860 Army first introduced the M1855 Colt Root revolver was "creeping" loading lever.
More than 200,000 were manufactured from 1860 to 1873. Colt's biggest customer was the U.S. government with more than 127,000 units are purchased and issued to the troops. The weapon was a single-action six-shot weapon accurate up to 75 to 100 meters, where the fixed sights were typically set up by manufactured. The rear sight was a notch in the hammer, clearly visible only when the gun was tense.
The Colt .44-caliber "Army" Model was one of the most popular revolvers of the Civil War. It was a six-shot, rotating cylinder, and fired a .454-inch diameter (11.5 mm) round lead ball or conical projectile, which was driven by a 30 grain charge of black powder ignited by a copper percussion cap that a fugitive charged with fulminate of mercury (a substance that explodes upon impact) included. The primer, when struck by the hammer, igniting the powder charge. When fired, balls a muzzle velocity of about 900 meters per second it.
There are very few variations on the 1860 Army Revolver, but there was limited production of a 7.5-inch barrel model. (Wilson 1985), and an illuminated model with cylinder flutes. The importer Cimarron Arms Company, this was called the "Texas Model", because some of them came to Texas shortly after the separation. The goal was to use silver spring steel of controlled carbon content, and more power, but the diluted cylinder proved inadequate and sometimes exploded. (Ibid Wilson)
Military 1860s had elongated screw lugs on the side of the frame to mount a removable shoulder stock.
Original Colt Model 1860 Army revolver had steel frames. Modern replicas are made by many manufacturers, some with steel frames and some of which were brass frames. Brass frame replicas are intended for use with smaller loads than 30 grains of powder FFFg that can be used with the modern day replica steel frame, usually ranging from about 12 to 15 grains to 20 grains of powder FFFg.
Laden is a somewhat lengthy process, with each of the six chambers drilled in the rotating cylinder is loaded from the front, or "muzzle" to end. A measured amount of black powder is poured into a room. Besides a lead ball is placed at the opening of the chamber and by pressing down firmly with the rotating loading lever which is mounted under the barrel of the gun. To seal each room, an over-size 0.454-inch diameter (11.5 mm) lead ball is dropped off slightly by the loading ram into the room to go. Also, as for many nineteenth century civilian shooters, modern shooters often place a lubricated wad between balls and powder, or, alternatively, pack lard or a commercially sold bore lubricant at the mouth of each chamber to prevent powder in a room The is ignited when another is fired, known as an Chainfire.
When the Colt Model 1860 was used by 19th century soldiers, they are usually loaded the gun with paper cartridges. These patterns consisted of a pre-measured load of black powder and a ball wrapped in nitro-paper (paper that was saturated with potassium nitrate and then dried, so the more flammable). To load each room, one had to do was slide the cartridge in front of the room and the chair of the ball with the loading lever ram. Then a percussion cap was placed on the elevated diaphragm, called a nipple at the back of the room.
The Colt 1860 costs about $ 20 per gun. This is quite expensive in the 1860s, both the United States Army and individuals.
The Colt "Army" revolver is distinguishable from the Colt "Navy" revolver which two models, the octagonal barrel Model 1851 Navy, and the round-barreled Model 1861 Navy, both Navy models of smaller .36 - caliber . Replica Navy revolvers sold today are often sold in the historically-incorrect .44-caliber, originally, all Navy revolvers were only manufactured in .36-caliber.

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