A friend and I were shooting the bull last night and he came up with a very intriguing idea. He brought up the idea of converting an 1860 black powder revolver into firing 22lr. I realize this would require sleeving barrel and cylinder plus work on the hammer/firing pin to say the least. I suggested one of the smaller 36 caliber versions might be easier to work with. How hard would this be to accomplish? Any gunsmiths out there doing this or interested in taking on the project?

Your ideas and feedback are sure appreciated.

not a direct answer, but there's 45LC conversions for 45 Bp pistols.. on midway

jeffe

I have seen the centerfire conversions in both Midway and Brownells. The 22lr conversion wont be that easy. Hoping to get some suggetions and possibly a gunsmith willing to do the project.

Doing cowboy action shooting as I do, and owning a couple of conversions, let me jump in here.



I have an identical revolver to the one Clint Eastwood used in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" that I had built for me while I was in Iraq. The ONLY difference is that I had '60 Army grips put on; I had the '51 Navy grips put on the "parts" '60 I bought from Cabela's and sold it at cost.



I also have an 1858 Remington Army with the Kirst conversion AND the loading port. This is a more "acceptable" conversion, due to cost, than carrying around extra cylinders. Yes, Clint looked cool in "Pale Rider," carrying three extra cylinders on his belt, besides the one in his revolver, but that's about $900 in cylinders alone at today's prices. (He had the R&D-type conversion.)



I have a very nice book on conversions, have seen a number of them being made and, as mentioned, I have two of my own. I have an 1860 Army snubby that I may do a conversion on as well, but I'm not sure if I want to or not.



Can a .22 conversion be done on the gun you suggest? Well, sure, but it would involve those alterations you mentioned and I'm not sure it'd be worth the work unless time does not equate to money in your situation. It always does for me, though.



You can get the '51 Navy in .36 caliber and convert it to fire .38 Long Colt (there WAS a ".38 LONG Colt" -- there was NOT a ".45 LONG Colt!!!) but, with .38 LC brass being a wee bit pricey and .38 Special brass being virtually free, I use .38 Special brass and see the bullets just SLIGHTLY deeper (it's NOT a big deal). The rounds fit the cylinders fine and they shoot fine. I'm still playing with loads, though, so I can't tell you what my gun prefers.



I really like my '58 Remington, too. I'd recommend doing one of the standard conversions unless the goal is just to do it (a .22 conversion) for the sake of doing it.



Still, if you and your friend go ahead on the .22 project, I'd sure like to see it when you're done.



Take care.



Russ

Russ,
In this case my friend Steve is wanting to do the conversion for his Dad. His Dad has some serious wrist issues and cant shoot even mild 38's anymore and he loves the 1860, and especially the conversion guns because of movies like pale Rider. He can still shoot 22's though. We got to scheming and came up with this idea. Steve isnt too concerned about the overall cost because he really wants to do this for his Dad. I estimated it would most likely cost him a grand by the time he was all through and he is OK with that but less is also cool since he is another active soldier like myself. Single though so he gets more gun money than I do.

Who out there does the loading gate conversions on 1860's?

Here are some links to look at, the first is a 22 conversion for Peacemakers and the second and third are links to the black powder cartridge conversions for cap and ball revolvers. He may have to buy a Peacemaker copy or a Navy to use one of these options but they are food for thought.

http://www.gunsnstuff.net/FAC/014.asp
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/2,303.html
http://www.kirstkonverter.com/

Jason

We did some looking aroound today and found Cimarrons 1860 concersion. It seems it would be a bunch easier to sleeve the barrel and cylinder chambers than any other way. He is stuck on the 1860 for sentimental reasons. The Cimarron has the loading gade and ejector shroud already installed. I think all it would take wouold be the sleeving and firing pin alteration to make it work.

Cimarron does the 1860 in 45 S&W, I don't know if those chamber inserts would fit (they may be too long) but for @$8 a piece and @$33 for 6 it may be worth getting the 45 S&W model and the inserts just to see, if nothing else it would give the smith something to copy...
Jason

There may not have beena 45 "long" colt, but there was a 45"short" colt, not a Schofield either.
Good Luck!

Russ,
I think using the Cimarron 1860 conversion will work pretty slick. We ordered one each for me and my friend to today so we can get this project started. Once I have it in hand I will know precisely what all is needed to finish the project. I know at a mininum it will require sleeving the barrel and cylinder and modifying the firing pin/hammer. My only other concern is if the ejector housing will need modification to push the 22 empties out of the cylinder. I dont know how close the rod will be with the smaller 22 caliber hole compared to the 44 hole. If anyone has an 1860 conversion and can determine that for me it would be a big help. Since mine will be at least a month before I see it.

Here is a link to a video on converting to 22rf in a 1851 on gunbroker

22rf conv.

Thanks for the link. That looks like a good source for info on this project.

Anytime I am thinking about converting a bp revolver myself. I have one of the cimmaron conversion I use in cowboy action shoots would like someday to try my own. I would do mine in 44colt to match my other.
Dean