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Centaure Long Cylinder Conversion #
What is a Colt Long Cylinder Conversion? #
Next of Kin – Colt Open Top M 1871-72 #
The Making of the Centaure LCCs #
Proof Testing & the BATF #
The Day of Truth #
Range Report 1 #
Range Report 2 #
Growing Pains # Ready for
Action – at Last |
What
is a Colt Long Cylinder Conversion (LCC)? Bob MillingtonÕs (www.armsportllc.com) 3rd generation Colt 1860 Army Long
Cylinder conversions in Dennis AdlerÕs book COLT SINGLE ACTION FROM PATERSONS
TO PEACEMAKERS should have received more attention. Because this rustic and
economical approach to convert mostly 1860 Armies but also a few 1861 Navies to
cartridge firing pistols for the poor cowpokes back then looked like another
interesting proposition for a conversion project.
The
assessment of the late Bruce McDowell that originals were probably made South
of the Border after the Civil War, that they could be had with barrels shorter
than 8Ó and with drift-adjustable rear sights at the breech end of the barrel
added to their desirability. Because this triggered the idea of having a pair
of short barreled Centaure Marshals converted into Long Cylinder
Conversions. McDowell further explained that the Colt Army Long Cylinder Conversions of
yesteryear were no conversions but assembled from obsolete or rejected
percussion parts but their cylinders were straight round cartridge cylinders.
They were newly lathed or converted from a old C&B cylinder by turning the
rear section down to the ratchet stem, adding a ring to build up the area from
which the metal was removed, and reboring the
chambers through the entire assembly.
Originally
these Army LCCs were chambered for the .44 Henry RF but some were altered to
shoot .44 center
fire rounds once such modern cartridges became available. Typically
their cylinders had no bolt approach notches. The newly lathed specimens had no
naval scene roll-engraved.
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#12089
(left) and
#12067 (right) – base pistols for Long Cylinder Conversions |
Pictured above are
my Marshals #12089 and #12067. They are the candidates for the conversions.
#12067 was selected because she needs ÒwaynerizingÓ
anyhow. In addition to this waynerizing this conversion project shall accomplish
another objective: I need a new pair of stylish match pistols. It will be cool
to use a pair of Centaure Marshal LCCs in Cowboy
shoots instead of my Uberti Open Tops.
Next
of Kin – Colt Open Top M 1871-72: Incidentally, the LCCs featured many design characteristics which are to be found on the later developed
Colt Open Tops as well. They were chambered for the same .44 Henry RF/Stetson
.44 Henry RF cartridge. Some LCCs were fitted with a
thin back plate but none had a conversion ring. The Open Top did not have a
conversion ring either. Like the OTs the LCCs also had a straight cylinder. But
theirsÕ have the diameter of the large front section of the C&B cylinder,
whereas the OTs cylinder diameter is that of the smaller rear section.
As
already mentioned above quite a few LCCs got a rear sight dove
tailed on the barrel lug, again similar to the OTs sight arrangement
which is an integral part of the barrel, however.
To
accommodate the new straight cylinders the steps in the Marshal frames will
have to be milled flat. ThatÕs what the oldtimers did
when they manufactured their LCCs. Like the originals their loading levers will
stay in place but have no more function. The LCCs do not have an integrated
ejector. Actually, they donÕt have an ejector at all. In a nutshell, therefore,
you can call the Long Cylinder Conversions the poor manÕs or economy version of
the Colt Open Top.
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Original Colt M 1871-72 Open Top |
Close-up of Mumme Uberti Remington Army conversion #24229 |
The Making of the
Centaure Long Cylinder Conversions: This time German toolmaker and master gunsmith Klaus
Mumme of Kšnigsbronn was trusted with the conversions. Klaus is a respected CAS
competitor. His alias is Sliding Horse. At the July 2010 Centaure
convention in Hofheim he applied for the FROCS membership which was granted July 20, 2010. He is now FROCS
#77.
Mumme has
many years of solid gunsmith experience with cowboy guns in general. He
understands what it takes to make a reliably functioning cartridge
firing pistol. I first met him 2004. Back then he altered my Uberti Henry 1860 rifle and an ASP Winchester 1873 carbine
from.44-40 to.44 Colt caliber. These jobs were so nicely executed that
my pard and fellow FROCS #7 Bumble Bee asked him to
give his ASP Winchester carbine the same treatment.
However,
more important and closer to the subject here are MummeÕs
credentials as converter from a more recent project: in early 2008 he altered my
Uberti Remington Army C&B pistol of 1971
production into the .44 Colt caliber Òfactory conversionÓ without loading gate
pictured above.
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The cylinder for this Remington conversion was
provided by the afore mentioned Bob Millington. Klaus
fashioned a new octagon barrel with .429 dia bore,
dovetailed the thin recoil plate and PC front sight into place, constructed and
fitted
the period
correct ejector assembly, and modified the C&B hammer with a PC firing pin
to ignite the CF .44 Colt cartridges. The finish is blue with a traditional
case colored hammer. Despite her mileage this Mumme Uberti Remington New Model Army conversion is one sweet
tack driver!
Klaus
Mumme and yours truly discussing at ease the LCC
project June 1, 2008
After
a lot of discussions backwards and forward during the following months
regarding technical details of the conversion project and finish it was finally
agreed that these 2 Centaure cartridge conversions
will be completely rust blued, no case colors whatsoever! Initially, my
preference was nickel plating like many of the
originals but this thought was dismissed. From the Centaure
RM I learnt the hard way how difficult alignment of shiny
sights in bright sun light can be.
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Step
of frame removed, back-plate before contouring |
To
be turned into 2 LCC cylinders É |
É in the white |
The
newly made conversion cylinders of the LCCs are lathed from 1.7225-42 CrMo4-V320 steel. That is the same alloy Karl Nedbal uses for his conversion cylinders in the Richards,
Richards-Mason, ÒMysteryÓ and Richards Transitional projects. The LCC cylinders
will be engraved with
Texas cattle brands.
Proof
Testing &
the BATF: When the conversions were finally completed sans rear sight,
engraving and bluing in January 2010 they were presented to the Munich Proof
house for proof testing. There was an unexpected hold-up. The proof house
slammed on the brakes. They felt not comfortably applying their stamp of
approval for Òdesign deficienciesÓ.
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No
loading gate needed: cartridges and empties are kept in place by the recoil
shieldÉunless you cock the pistol aiming at the sun |
Texas
cattle brands engraved on conversion cylinder. Note bobbed hammer with firing
pin |
No,
they were not worrying about the open top design. They smelled potential danger
from a conversion without loading gate, preventing cartridges or empties from
dropping out of the pistol during firing or blocking the action. They stuck to
this position despite the fact that they had proof tested my above Remington
Òfactory conversionÓ 2 years ago which does not have a loading gate either!
They
only changed their minds May 12, 2010 (!) when the historical correctness of
this type of conversion was presented through supportive printed evidence from
Dennis AdlerÕs and Bruce McDowellÕs books. No more discussion and the proof
marks were finally applied.
Thanks,
Klaus for your patience dealing with these worry warts.
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August 7, 2010: #12089 almost completed |
Another
important accomplishment was recorded with this project June 16, 2010: the BATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of Martinsburg, WV,
confirmed that custom converted FAUL Long Cylinder Conversions in .44 Colt can
be legally imported into the USA on a temporary base! One could also say an
important US government agency recognized this project.
Only
August 7, 2010 I could take the first look at almost completed LCC #12089. Just
a few finishing jobs are needed like cutting the dovetail on the breech end of
the barrel to install the rear sight, test firing her and adjusting the sights
to bring POA and POI together, and finally polishing and rust bluing the Centaures.
Stay
with me when we are approaching the finishing line of this project!
The
Day of Truth:
December 5, 2010 after some 30 months the deed is done, the conversion of my
new pair of CAS match pistols is completed. They were
personally delivered by Mumme to my house.
During the bluing process he noted that an even blue-black color
of the originally high gloss polished steel of the Marshals could not be
achieved. Not even after a second and third attempt. Now they have this antique
like mottled look. I like it.
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#12089 appropriately resting on Dennis AdlerÕsbook COLT SINGLE ACTION FROM PATERSON TO
PEACEMAKERS: note dovetailed rear sight |
During his test
firing Mumme could establish that both pistols were
shooting to POA at a typical CAS distance of 10 yards with very little spread.
No tools were needed to drop the empties out of the cylinders.
Now the $
10,000.00 question: is this Mumme Centaure
LCC the ultimate CAS pistol for a cowboy portraying an early 1870 character?
You bet and lots of style points are on the horizon! As a side note our FROCS
& buddy Bumble Bee was pretty impressed by KlausÕs conversion jobs. He
happened to be at my house with two of his Centaures
when Mumme delivered my new toys. BB was so hot that
he through his RNMA 1st variation #11681 on the table to have her
converted to É you guessed it É an 8Ó barrelled LCC! He plans to use her
together with his 7,5Ó barrel Uberti OT as his main
match pistol! According to Mumme this time the
conversion will only require 3 months. He explained that by the experience
gathered converting my Marshals, ha!
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Sights of #12089 |
No loading gate. Note hole in hammer stop/back-plate
for firing pin! |
Range
Report 1: First work-out of my 2 Marshal LCCs took place December 8, 2010.
Accuracy at CAS distances is OK by me but I need to get used to their short
sight radius before I test them at longer distances like 25 and 50 meters. The
objective will be to establish their accuracy potential but more importantly
their long term reliable function.
Some cocking
issues were noted with a two handed hold due to the lack of a loading gate. When
the pistols were slightly raised while being cocked some cartridges or empties
would move a bit backwards into the loading channel and block the action. The answer to this? I have to learn shooting them duellist
style.
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First shooting impressions at 10 meters/11 yards:
pistols cocked & fired as quickly as possible, aiming at the bulls eyeÉ |
É#12067 connecting slightly to the left and #12089
slightly to the right. Correction is easy with the drift adjustable rear
sights. |
Range Report 2: Gave my Marshals another workout March 9, 2011, with
some CAS holster & shooting drills. The objective was to get a feeling of
their reliability under CAS conditions, how smooth the action felt after Klaus Mumme gave them some fine tuning and also an evaluation POA
vs. POI shooting duellist style.
For the records: after I switched to
duellist style shooting I had no more cocking issues.
They were loaded with my light standard
CAS load of 200 grainers over smokeless powder.
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Close-up of #12089: note hole for
firing pin in back plate. Back plate is epoxied and fixed to recoil shield
with 2 screws |
# reliability
was satisfactory initially but after 30 rounds fired through both of them the
barrel stud of #12089 went flying. Function of the pistol was not affected by
this incident because the lever screw was fixed very tight. Found the stud in
the dust of the range later and fixed it to the barrel with epoxy.
# pointability of both pistols is excellent as
you would expect from the Army lineage. You hit what the front sight is
pointing at. They lean themselves to point-shooting
which is against BDS & CAS rules, however.
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Centaure cylinder evolution (left to right): C&B,
Thuer, LCC, Richards |
# unloading
empties: I was amazed again how easy empties can be removed although these
LCCs donÕt have an ejector. Just bring the hammer in the half-cock position,
point the barrel upwards, turn the cylinder and the
empties will drop out. Period, just like this. Getting the empties out after a
couple of stages have been shot might become a different story, however, when
the chambers are dirty from powder residue.
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Breech view of the cylinders (left to right): C&B, Thuer, LCC, Richards |
# mainspring
& slicking up the action: both pistols were fitted with Uberti SAA mainsprings instead of the hard original Centaure ones which are recommended for C&B pistols.
Cocking of #12067 was a bit harder compared to #12089 but not unpleasant. Her
mainspring may need some more lightening. Incidentally #12067 was the pistol
that needed waynerizing when still in C&B stage.
Some amateur had worked the bolt and the hand. After some additional attention
she got from Klaus her action is still a bit stiff compared to #12089. This
should improve over time with some more mileage. For the time being I can live
with it.
# triggers
of both pistols are just ... sweet. Broke like glass!
Mexican twins: mottled look of #12089 (top), #12067 (bottom)
I feel that this Long Cylinder
Conversion concept has potential in CAS for main match pistols, particularly if
duellist or double duellist is your preferred class. That was the comment of
European champion in the classic cowboy class Michael "Lederstrumpf"
Mayer after he fired a couple of strings through both pistols yesterday as
well.
Growing Pains: But all Spring
and most of Summer went by before the pair was really ready for serious cowboy
action. Here is a list of minor and major headaches that needed to be
addressed.
# barrel
studs: the epoxy did
not do its job on the barrel stud of #12089. It went flying again during my 3rd
string of 5 rounds a week later. To make things worse so did the stud of
#12067. Obviously medicine stronger than epoxy was required to cure this
ailment. Welding the studs with a dental laboratory laser seemed to be the way
to go. This worked and still works perfectly until today for #12089 but not for
#12069.
During the next work-out
session her stud went off flying again. Another session with the laser was
called for but again this fix did not do the job. After consulting with the
smith the only option left seemed to manufacture a new stud with a wider base
and to cut a new, wider and deeper dovetail into the barrel. And that did it,
finally. We are now well into June.
# action
job of #12067: while #12089 works flawless after her one laser welding,
cocking of #12069 became more and more difficult during all this experimenting
with the fixes of her barrel stud. It reached a point were cocking under match
conditions was almost impossible. It seemed that both hand and bolt were not
properly hardened and also the hammer cam had suffered some. Possibly the
timing was gone. Time for a full overhaul of the action
including fitting a newly fabricated bolt and hand. This was
accomplished by mid August.
During the latter part of August and
early September both pistols were given the .44 Colt treatment
with some 200 rounds each of my regular light CAS load. Both pistols performed
fine, no flying studs, no timing issues. So, I was confident that shooting them
at the forthcoming FROCS meeting September 10 would be just a piece of cake.
# new front
sight: during main
match and the side matches at the FROCS meeting both C&B and conversion Centaures were to be fed with BP loads only. And that was a
stiff gentlemanÕs load of CH2. #12089 went flying through the paces but #12067
again had issues. No action or stud troubles this time but the front sight went
off during the second stage of the main match. This was frustrating some
because I could no longer compete but apart from that was no immediate disaster
É but it could quickly develop into a major PITA É because I had registered
both pistols for temporary import into the USA with the BATF for the War DeptÕs and my Texas vacation 10 days later. But again luck
was on my side.
Ready for Action – at Last: Gunsmith and LCC converter Klaus Mumme aka FROCS #77 had attended the FROCS meeting, that is
the good news. He took ailing #12067 back home to his shop in Southern Germany
for the making and installation of a new front sight of proper height É which he did at no charge. So, #12067 was back in Hofheim a week later and I was ready for some shooting
action Texas style!
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Thanks to this timely support of Klaus
I could attend the Sunday shoot of the Tejas Pistoleros at Eagle Lake September 25 and the Annual Shoot
of the Canadian River Regulators at the Bar H Ranch in Clarendon October 8,
2011 with both Centaure Long Cylinder Conversions in
perfect shooting order. Even did quite well at the bullet splitting contest. It
was about time É
Colt Army
conversions with Mexico Connection? From Všsendorf/Austria Nedbal ÒMysteryÓ Conversion (top), Kšnigsbronn/Germany
Mumme Long Cylinder conversion (bottom)
WDN/October 26, 2011
© 2007 Wolf D. Niederastroth