Handguns Colt Model 1860 Cleaning

Jason DVM

Cadet
Joined
Jul 5, 2019
Location
Issaquah, Washington
Hello All,

I recently purchased my first Civil War artifact, a Civil War-carried Colt Model 1860. I want to display this revolver but was thinking of having it cleaned first. Two questions:
1. Do you have any professional gunsmith recommendations for cleaning (and no detraction from value)? I live in the greater Seattle area.
2. Do you have any wall-mounted display case recommendations?

Thank you.
 
Please send an image . It may need little if any cleaning . Once you do there are several experts who can offer advice.
 
Welcome From The Heart Of Dixie. We would love to see photos of your new acquisition. I'm one of those who likes to keep things as is unless it is something that will continue to deteriorate the piece.
 
Thank you to everyone for the nice welcome. I have attached 3 photos for your review: 2 of the revolver and 1 of the Colt LOA. Any insights regarding care/cleaning, display, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks.

letter.jpg


picture 1.JPG


picture 2.JPG
 
Wow that's a nice piece! Thanks for sharing .
Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy.
 
Welcome! Great looking piece! Thanks for sharing.
I regularly field-strip and clean mine with Ballistol.
Looking forward to your perspective in our discussions! Enjoy!
 
Very Nice Colt. I would leave it as is with that war used look.
 
Thank you to everyone for the nice welcome. I have attached 3 photos for your review: 2 of the revolver and 1 of the Colt LOA. Any insights regarding care/cleaning, display, etc. would be appreciated.

Interesting that it describes the barrel length as 8 Inches. I always thought it was 7-1/2 inches. Or is the barrel on an Army Model longer than the one on a Navy model?

You live in Seattle which can get a lot of rain. Is it humid all the time? I maintained my weapons, both modern and black powder, while living in the hot & humid Mississippi Delta. That requires oiling a little more frequently than most other locations in the US. The advice of the experts should be sufficient to preclude this problem.
 
Hi Jason from Pe Ell WA! Welcome to the forum!

That is a very nice 1860 Army. I noticed that the cylinder has very little roll-marked engraving left, but the bluing "patina" is very similar to the barrel. The frame is cut for a shoulder stock at the recoil shields, but it is a 3-screw frame with no 4th screw studs for the shoulder stock attachment. The wood is very good. The case colors are mostly non-existent on the frame, hammer, and load lever assembly. I am curious about that. The persnickety part of me notes that the wedge is installed upside down. The sole purpose of the screw above the wedge on the left side of the barrel lug is to retain the lip of the wedge spring when the wedge is driven out (right to left) for disassembly. There is absolutely no need to remove this screw to remove the wedge, barrel, and cylinder for field stripping the gun. I have seen so many Colt guns where the wedge screw slot has been mangled, and there is no need for it.

The Colt letter is only good if all of the various parts on the gun show the frame serial number, all or in part. Such parts include the cylinder, the load lever, barrel, and others. The backstrap and trigger guard may have them, or have assembly numbers under the wood that match a penciled number on the inside surface of the wood. Otherwise it may be a parts gun. In the 1920's-1930's, when these guns were only worth pennies on the dollar, many small gunsmiths would swap parts between revolvers to create one that would work/function. I am not saying that is what your gun is, but I am just giving you a heads up as to what it might or might not be.

If you are a judicious individual, get a good set of hollow ground gunsmith screwdrivers and carefully disassemble it, grip frame first.

Take care!

To field strip it, use a plastic hammer/mallet to drive the wedge from the right to the left to clear the arbor (cylinder pin) slot. It will not mar the finish on the barrel lug. Put the hammer at half cock. Unlatch the load lever at the front of the barrel and use it to push the rammer against the cylinder face to move the barrel off of the frame locating pins. If it does not move readily you may have to let a few drops of penetrating oil where the barrel lug meets the frame do its thing. Remove the barrel and then slide the cylinder off of the arbor. Inspect and reassemble in reverse order making sure the wedge spring is on top of the wedge. Drive it in with the plastic mallet until the lip of the wedge spring clears the right side of the barrel lug. Cock the hammer and let it down on the nipple. Ideally you should then have only .001" barrel to cylinder gap.

If you wish to learn more about your 1860 Army, I would highly suggest Charles W. Pate's "The Colt 1860 Army Revolver" (2018) at about $60. I have a copy and it is a very good reference insofar as virtually all Colt 1860 Army revolvers produced. He has, among many other things, shipping information about them.

Insofar as cleaning, DO NOT use any acid based cleaners (such as vinegar) as it will remove any bluing/case colors in a New York minute. Only use alkaline cleaners. HOT water and soap, followed by a liberal application of Ballistol or similar will work well.

I only wish I could afford an original. I am 67 and on SS so I am relegated to collecting Italian replicas, primarily Pietta 1851 Navy .36 "type" pistols, to include many replicas of Confederate revolvers.

My Armi San Marco 1860 Army (BC 1993) 4-screw cut for a shoulder stock with the original ASM round cylinder and an Uberti full-fluted cylinder. I don't know what you paid for your original 1860 Army, but I only have $300 into my replica.

ASM-1860-Army-Fluted-Cylinder-007.jpg


Jim
 
Any recommendations for a reputable gunsmith in Washington State? As noted by sourdough (Jim), the wedge is indeed installed upside down! Unfortunately, I was not able to remove the wedge due to its tightness. Now that I know, this error will bother me if I display as is? Thanks.
 
Any recommendations for a reputable gunsmith in Washington State? As noted by sourdough (Jim), the wedge is indeed installed upside down! Unfortunately, I was not able to remove the wedge due to its tightness. Now that I know, this error will bother me if I display as is? Thanks.
It's a beautiful piece, and I would leave it alone, except for a little light oiling - welcome to the forums!
 
If no gunsmith recommendations, any DYI suggestions for removing the jammed wedge without damaging the revolver? Thanks.

Jason,

See my post #13. A good plastic mallet and the "leg" of a wooden clothespin against the right side of the wedge will work. These will not harm or mar either the barrel lug or the wedge. Use a few drops of penetrating oil around the wedge surfaces. Don't be afraid to give it a few good whacks with the mallet because you will not damage the gun. You might damage the clothespin though!

The wedge will move for you. Just oil it and reinstall it correctly!

I bought a new Pietta 1951 Navy from Cabela's in 2014 that had a stuck wedge. The running joke was that Guido The Gorilla was employed by Pietta solely to drive in the wedges on new guns.

Looking forward to seeing a pic of it with the wedge right side up.

Jim
 

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