Nice!!  You Betcha!! 

Anyone have a pattern for this holster? I lucked out and picked up the revolver this past weekend and would love to make the correct holster and belt.

Mako, that's an Army grip, right?  Did it come that way?

Yes it did, which is why I bought it.  I have big hands and prefer the Army grip.  I have never seen an original  '51 or '61 with the Army grip but you could order the '60 with the Navy grip from Colt's back in the day.   pbbbbbbb, little girl handed West Point graduates.  I have seen pictures of originals with Navy grips and they had brass trigger guards with brass back straps.  The brass back straps jump out at you when you see a color picture or in a collection.

I have '51s (Leech & Rigdons) and '61s which I can easily shoot with the smaller grips because they are mousegun caliber.  Basically the power factor of a .380 ACP.  The '60 army shooting balls is actually equivalent to a .38 spl. (140gr ball at less than 950 fps by my chronograph...)

I actually like the size of the later Dragoon Grips, I want my pinky on the grip and not underneath it.  I made the mistake of getting one pair of '71-'72 open tops in .38 Spl with the Navy Grips and another pair in .44 with the Army grips.  I wanted an "early model" and a "Late model" I wish they were all Army grips. 

Know anyone who wants to trade a pair of .44 spl (or .44 Colt) with Army grips for a pair of consecutive serial number 7 1/2" barrel .38 spl revolvers with Navy grips?  I don't care if they are Conversion Models or '71-'72s (barrel length doesn't matter). The .38s are very clean and shot very little.

~Mako

Gentlemen, I'm looking for the Gun Parts Corporation Winchester 94 half octagon, half round barrel they used to sell.  You could buy the whole front end with button mag, forend, etc.  Let me know if you have one you'd like to move.  Thanks!

Okay guys, gonna try loading some APP and try BP loading.  Okay, which rifle of these two will play better with BP, my Rossi 92 in .357 Magnum or the Uberti 1873 in .45 Colt? Rifling, cleaning, etc?

Do you plan on shooting .357 or .38 spl? I'm not sure how well the Rossi feeds the .38 spl.  The '73 is the king of the Cowboy match guns, no ramp to go up the carrier lifts any bullet shape straight up and the bolt pushes it straight in. I personally think it is easier to clean a '66 or '73.  You pull the side plates and it is all right there. Dave, is right about blow by unless you load it full and compress it a bit.  You need that straight wall case to obdurate a bit to seal, but a lot of cowboys use the .45.  I have a couple of rifles in .38 sp,l a Marlin '94  Cowboy Competition (actually chambered in .38 Spl not .357) and a Model '66 Yellowboy. 

I load my .38s with as much powder as I can compress under a 160 gr Snake Bite Grease Wagon and they expand well and seal the chamber. That bullet has a long ogive and actually shoots well in marlins and '92 pattern rifles because of the length.  (Hellgate posted while I was typing this, it is exactly what I am saying) Short and stumpy sometimes has problems in rifles with ramps (Marlin/Winchester) I also have a couple of .44 Spl rifles (one's a carbine shooting .44 Russian)  Those are straight wall cases and once again I put as much powder as I can cram in under a 200 Grain Mav Dutchman and they obdurate and seal as well, even the .44 Russian.  I know people also do the same with .45 Cowboy in '66s and '73s with the carrier you have to add to use the shorter cartridge.  I have that carrier in my '66 that shoots .44 Russian.

The .44 WCF or .38 WCF do about the best, the bottleneck cases seal even better than straight walls.

I will tell you this though, I get more residue back in the action from racking the action as fast as I can shoot than I ever do on the range taking my time between shots.  There are speckles all over my '66s from black powder still smoking as I eject shells during a match.  I get as little as I do with my original Win 73 in .44 WCF when I am taking my time between shots (no hot unburned  powder flying...)

Check these images out below, this is a .38 Spl Short Rifle:

How they sell it...
see first image below

This is how it looks when you use them hard and even clean them (not polish them).
See second image below

And it is clean, this is the inside.
See third image

~Mako