What
we Gonna do now, Butch ?
The Cowboy Way: while
you go shooting your more common Centennial Army models and variations with the
holy black, I’m sitting back now, considering myself lucky to be one of this
great bunch of cowboys and getting all this help for the study from the USA,
many European countries and even down-under. It is almost a global project if
you look at the countries stated in the survey chart. But I am also concerned
that no other Western European Belgian Colt owners are stepping forward with
their Centaures like from the Netherlands, Spain, Scandinavia, or from Canada?
On the other hand I would have been surprised to receive contributions from
Italy due to their strong replica industry. When I browse through all those CAS
or BP forums there must be a strong blackpowder shooter and gun collecting
community in these countries…
My way or
the Making of a Centaure Richards Conversion (1): IMHO rarer specimen of the “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY”
can have their place in your Civil War or Western gun collection next to their
grand-uncles of 1st generation Colt 1860 Armies. I took a third
route and shipped my S/N 4079 to Austria to Karl Nedbal (http://www.nedbal.at/) for conversion into a Richards.
Nedbal was recommended to me as a knowledgeable conversion gunsmith. Below are
pieces of Nedbal-art, a pair of converted Uberti pistols.
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Colt Richards Army with ivory
grips (t) and Richards + Mason Navy (b) |
He is using mostly old Uberti C&B pistols
for these tasks but also works on guns delivered by his clients. Until we met
his preferred cartridge for Army conversions was the .44 Special. For proper
bore diameters he recommends lining of the C&B barrels.
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Views of a Nedbal Uberti Colt
Richards Army with custom engraving… |
....and ivory grips |
Here is my wish-list for Herr Nedbal:
#1 a one-of-a-kind pistol because to the best of my
knowledge no Centaure has ever been converted to shoot cartridges.
#2 I wanted her converted to shoot my favorite .44 Colt
caliber smokeless cartridges with inside lubed .429 diameter bullets. For
acceptable accuracy this would require reaming chambers into the bored-through
cylinder and also galvanizing the bore to this smaller diameter. The
application of the galvanizing technique was felt feasible
because the factory groove diameter of the Centaure is ca. .446 only, whereas
1st generation Colts or their Italian replicas normally have ca. .451-.454.
This galvanizing was more complex and difficult a task than anticipated. Only
with the fourth attempt an acceptable groove diameter seemed to have been
obtained.
#3 Because I like the unique Centaure proprietary
naval engagement scene I suggested that Nedbal used my extra cylinder S/N 969
that was included in the deal when I had acquired 4079 in 2005. My reasoning
was that the confirmed hardness of the Belgian steel would easily stand the
moderate pressures of my .44 Colt reloads. As it turned out this assumption did
not hold water. Not because of the quality of the steel but because the
cylinder notches were cut too deep by the factory some 40 years ago. The Vienna
Proof house would not have accepted that for the use with cartridges. In
addition, it was not cost-effective to add the necessary material in the front
area of the chambers required to support the inside lubed bullets before they
hit the cone of the barrel. To overcome these
obstacles Nedbal lathed a new cylinder from 1.7225 – 42 CrMo4 – V
320 steel to proper specs with notches of the proper depth. The original
cylinder engraving was copied and engraved on the conversion cylinder.
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S/N 4079 base pistol for the
Richards conversion – ready to be shipped to Austria to Master Nedbal |
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Being the kind Austrian Karl Nedbal is he
documented the making of the Centaure Richards conversion, see pictures
below. |
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Barrel milled for ejector
housing |
Barrel milled for ejector
housing |
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Ejector housing is being cut |
…and finished |
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Frame prepared for cutting
recoil shield, original arbor removed |
The slot is cut into the new
arbor |
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Gated conversion ring and new
arbor ready for installation |
Conversion ring fitted to frame, new arbor ready to
be srewed into frame |
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Frame with gated conversion
ring and new arbor |
Reaming of chambers of
conversion cylinder |
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Ejector housing ready for
installation |
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Almost completed, old front
sight still in place |
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How does she compare to an original Colt Richards? See below.
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Original conversion ring
removed(t), Centaure (b) with factory front sight, before contouring barrel
lug |
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Scene on conversion cylinder
was copied from C&B cylinder |
To hit POA Centaure Richards
needs new front sigh |
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On May 14, 2008 Nedbal phoned and
informed me that the Vienna Proof House had proof tested the conversion and
granted their acceptance mark (barrel still in the white).
And finally May 23, 2008 was the
great day when I took possession of my Centaure Richards conversion… |
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There she is in
all her beauty... |
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But...all June I worked on loads for the Centaure
Richards but she just did not like my regular CAS ammo with 200 gr or 230 gr
bullets, nor did she deliver any acceptable accuracy with a 200 gr hollow base
over different powder loads. So, after more discussions Nedbal summed it up:
“Galvanizing the bore might be too innovative for accuracy” and installed a
traditional liner instead, see pictures below.
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And that works, see targets in the left picture:
15 meters (left) 25 meters (center) 7 meters (right)!
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WDN/February 11, 2009
© 2007 Wolf D. Niederastroth