Curious Relics #137: Little Colt Speaks – Colt 1862 Police Part IV

Welcome back, folks! We have reached the end of the road on the Colt 1862 Police. Part I covered the history and Samuel Colt’s final years, Part II tackled variations and how to sort the Police from its near-twin the Pocket Navy, and Part III laid out specifications, dating, and the aftermarket situation for both originals and the Uberti replica. Now comes the fun part. I finally got to take the Uberti 1862 Police out and put some caps and lead through it. As a reminder, this Uberti has been standing in for an original throughout the series the same way the Uberti Wild Bill stood in for a Richards-Mason original back in parts 132 and 133. Let’s dive right in.

Curious Relics Coverage on AllOutdoor:

• Curious Relics #132: The Richards-Mason Conversion Part I
• Curious Relics #133: Richards-Mason Conversion Part II – To The Range
• Curious Relics #123: The Blunderbuss – Thunder at the Table
• Curious Relics #114: Cans ‘n Clays – Scientific Products Targ-A-Launch
• Curious Relics #082: Sub-Caliber Device of The 1950s – Barrelette Shotgun Adapter

Welcome to our recurring series of “Curious Relics.” Here, we want to share all of our experiences, knowledge, misadventures, and passion for older firearms that one might categorize as a Curio & Relic  – any firearm that is at least 50 years old according to the ATF. Hopefully along the way you can garner a greater appreciation for older firearms like we do, and simultaneously you can teach us things as well through sharing your own expertise and thoughts in the Comments. Understanding the firearms of old, their importance, and their development which lead to many of the arms we now cherish today is incredibly fascinating and we hope you enjoy what we have to share, too!

Range Time: The Colt 1862 Police

First thing I want to say before anything else is that this gun is tiny. I mean tiny. Handling the Uberti 1862 Police, it almost feels like a toy in the hand. It is remarkably cute, and I do not use that word lightly. It feels like it should be a .22 or a cap gun, but it is not. It is a real .36 caliber percussion revolver, just built on that little pocket frame. It is honestly surprising how small they were able to get this sort of thing back in the 1860s. That said, small does not mean uncomfortable. It sits fine in my largish hands and it is a pleasant thing to hold and shoot.

For powder I ran Pyrodex P. I am not going to specify an exact charge here, and that is on purpose. I do not want to run the risk of recommending a specific powder charge to anyone, so I will just say I stayed well within the recommended threshold of the manual. If I am being honest, I probably should have leaned more toward the above-average side of that range, not max, but a bit heftier than what I used. Here is why. It felt like the ball would not always butt up firmly against the powder. The ram would kind of run out of travel before the powder column was tall enough to fully back the ball. It was still safe, no huge air gap or anything like that, just a little less than ideal seating. If I had known going in, I would have brought the next size powder spout along to bump the column up. Something to keep in mind if you go this route.

For projectiles, I used .375 round balls, and yes, they shaved a nice clean lead ring going in, which is exactly what you want to see. That lead ring is your seal. I loaded both with loose components and with homemade paper cartridges I put together using a 3D printed jig, cigarette papers, and the same powder measurements. Performance between the two methods was indifferent, honestly. Both worked fine and I did not notice a meaningful difference downrange between paper and loose.

Now let’s talk caps, because this is where I had some trouble and most of it was my own doing. My fresh caps were Remington #10s and those ran fine. My first batch, though, was a set of caps that were at least 15 years old. Those were a mistake. They were very tight on the nipples and they simply would not go off. Good thing I had prepped the gun to be field stripped beforehand, because I needed to take things apart to get those dead caps off the nipples in a safe manner. Lesson relearned: old caps are not worth the headache.

I did run into some jamming and a couple of misfires. I want to be clear that this is not a critique of Uberti. That is just part of the design of these old Colt-style revolvers. They all have these issues. The open-top percussion Colt is a wonderful piece of engineering for its era but it is not a modern sealed system, and fouling and cap fragments are just part of the deal. The misfires I had were because the caps were not fully seated, and again, that is my fault, not the gun’s.

On the subject of chain fires, I had zero. No chain fires and no real concern of one. I did not run wads over the ball. I relied on that lead ring from the oversized ball to seal the chamber, and I did grease over the mouths from time to time. I will say it was a very hot day, hot enough that the grease I was using basically turned to liquid and was not doing much of anything. So really I was leaning on the lead ring to do the sealing work, and it did the job.

The loading lever felt great. Solid, not fragile at all, which is not always a given on a replica. It did drop loose on me once during shooting, though. When I looked closer I figured out why. When the lever is fully raised, the latch does not quite catch in the little notch cut for it. It is almost like the notch was not cut deep enough. The latch is just kissing the edge of it. Combine that with a little side-to-side play in the lever itself, and if it biases to one side it will pop down. If this were my personal gun, which it is not, I would probably take a file to that notch and deepen the ledge just a hair to fix it. Minor thing, easy fix, but worth mentioning.

The trigger pull averages right around 2 pounds 14 ounces on my gauge. There is no take-up to speak of. It is just a stiff wall and then a sudden, kind of clunky drop. Not a refined trigger by modern standards, but for what it is, it does the job.

As far as accuracy goes, it shoots on the high side. The groups I was getting ran about 3 inches at 15 yards, standing unsupported, and they were landing about 2 to 3 inches above my point of aim. A six o’clock hold would probably bring things right in line. Shooting high is extremely common with these old designs and this replica is no exception, so no surprise there.

I shot it until fouling started to affect function. Let’s call that 20 rounds, maybe 25. I know I reloaded at least four times before things started to come up. The jams became more frequent and the action started to get gritty and drag as the fouling built up. That is normal for black powder in a tight percussion action, and it is your signal that it is time to wipe things down. Nothing alarming, just the nature of the beast.

A few mechanical notes for the record. The barrel wedge stayed put the entire time. It was tightened down just fine and I had no issues with it, which is worth pointing out since a loose wedge is a classic complaint on these open-top Colts and one the original shooters in my research ran into. I had no timing or lockup problems beyond the jams I already mentioned, and those were cap and fouling related, not a mechanical fault. No over-rotation, no failure to index, nothing like that.

The sights are crude, but I feel like crude is being a little too harsh, because it draws an unfair comparison to what we have now. It is just a notch in the hammer for the rear and a post up front. That is it. But that is exactly what these guns had originally, and it is no more crude than any other muzzleloading black powder revolver of the period, or even plenty of newer ones. For 1860s technology, it is entirely appropriate, and once you accept it for what it is, it works.

Final Thoughts: The Colt 1862 Police

So here we are at the end of four parts on the Colt 1862 Police, and I have to say I have grown fond of this little thing. It is easy to see why the .36 caliber pocket revolver sold the way it did. You get real .36 caliber authority in a package that practically disappears in a coat pocket, and even the modern replica captures that charm completely. Holding one, you understand the appeal instantly. It is the original concealed carry, and it came from the mind of Samuel Colt himself as the last design he had a hand in before he passed.

The Uberti replica does the original justice. It handled well, it shot about like you would expect an original to, and the few gripes I had were either my own fault, a product of a very hot range day, or just the inherent quirks that every Colt open-top percussion revolver carries. That loading lever notch is the only thing I would actually put a file to, and that is a five-minute fix. For someone who wants to experience what this gun was without dropping serious money on a fragile 160-year-old original, or worse, shooting a real one that ought to be preserved, the Uberti is the way to go. That is exactly what these replicas are for.

If you own an original, my advice stays the same as it has all series. Preserve it. The overwhelming majority of these were converted to cartridge before the turn of the century, so an intact percussion example is a scarce piece of history. Let the replica take the abuse at the range and let the original rest easy. Both of them have earned it.

That closes out our series on the Colt 1862 Police. From Samuel Colt’s last design to a hot day at the range with a little Uberti standing in for the real thing, it has been a fun one to work through. Thank you for riding along.

In closing, I hope our Curious Relics segment informed as well as entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We did not just realize how guns were supposed to look and function. It was a long and tedious process that has shaped the world we live in. If you have a question or you are sitting on information that could sharpen up an article like this one, you can find me through my Linktree. Until next time!

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