Kirst Konverter

[Oyaji]

Anyone use a Kirst Konverter in their 1858 Remington or 1860 Colt Army? A guy at the range had one on his Uberti Remington together with a spring loaded ejector. He had cylinders for both .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I thought it was a pretty neat set-up for an antique replica revolver. Comments?

http://www.kirstkonverter.com/index.html

[RCS]

I have heard nothing but good reports concerning the Kirst converter, I just bought one of their 1851 Colt cylinders in 38 Colt for a project. The photo shows two cartridge conversions of a Uberti 1851 and 1861. These revolvers were found incomplete and well used and abused.
I had to make the ejector rod housings, recoil plate and loading gates. Most import about shooting any of the repro black powder revolvers is the type of bullet used, I make-up hollow based soft lead bullets or you can buy heel type bullets as I noticed my Kirst cylinder is bored though without any shoulders. I used 38 S&W chambered cylinders in my two conversions and enjoy shooting them but you have to find the right bullet.

[ignats]

I have one in an 1851 Remington (Pietta I think) and it works fine. Fun to shoot. I also have one in an 1860 Army. That one required being sent off to a smith Kirst recommended due to a timing issue. I also added the ejector rod it really looks good and works fine. Lastly, I converted a Navy 36 with a 38 cal convertor. That one needs hollow base wad cutter bullets due to the difference in .358 to .375 cal. But, it's also fun to shoot. R&D also makes a number of convertors which a company named Howell Old West Conversions. The prices are competitive and I used one to convert a little 32 cal Pietta that's based on the Remington solid frame to 32 S&W. It's like shooting a pop gun.

[cwartyman]

I have 2 of the R&D converters for uberti 1858 rems. They really turn the 1858 into a hand cannon. I use a 250 grain big lube bullet behind 30 grains of 3f. I do not have an ejector of the 1858's and you have to take the cylinder out to unload anyway. But it is so much fun to shoot them.
Mack

[RCS]

In this repro Colt 36 cal cartridge conversion that I made a few years ago, I noticed that hollow based bullets were a big improvement. Also decided to make-up some special hollow base bullets to test. They work ! but I think the hollow base does not have to be this deep to work. Often thought that I should have installed a 357 barrel liner but these seem to work well.