Starting in 1969, Kenny Howell started restoring original Colt Cartridge conversions and other antique firearms for collectors.

Kenny came to a point where he needed parts that were no longer available, so he started making them himself. He is a tool and die maker by trade, so Kenny set up the tooling and made the molds himself to reproduce parts needed to complete a repair or restoration. When restoring an original conversion, especially a Colt conversion, the part has to be exact, close won't cut it. This attention to the smallest detail led to the next evolution in the history of R&D Gun Shop, the custom conversions of Italian made "Colt" type revolvers.

In 1984, Kenny made his first conversion of an 1851 Navy replica revolver. Since then, hundreds have been made using Uberti and Colt second and third generation percussion revolvers. These custom made guns involved a tremendous amount of hand work and labor, but the result is a "Museum Quality" reproduction.

The Howell Conversions were featured in numerous magazine articles, and their desirability soared. For a lot less than an original, which may or may not be in good enough shape to be fired, the collector could have a "brand new" conversion, capable if being fired regularly!

No less an Old West Historian and respected writer than Phil Spangenberger said in his "Collectibles" Column in Guns & Ammo, June 1996, regarding the Howell 1860 Richards conversion, "As with every other gun I've seen from R&D, this specimen is a topnotch, museum quality reproduction, fit for any collector or vintage arms shooting enthusiast's collection"

The Howell Cartridge conversions, due to their attention to detail and authenticity have attained a collector's status of their own. It is rare to find one for sale as the owners consider them to be true collector's pieces in their own right.

Kenny has built many guns for the movie industry, and especially for Tom Selleck, who's movies are noted for their authenticity and attention to detail. Tom has used Howell guns in Last Stand at Saber River, Cross Fire Trail, and the classic remake, Monte Walsh. Tom Selleck has proven the Classic Western genre is still viable in today's marketplace and is to be commended for keeping this part of our heritage alive!

The Howell conversions weren't "cheap", they were relatively relegated to those with more disposable income than the average enthusiast could justify. While expensive, when you factor in the amount of labor needed to produce a masterpiece, they are still bargains.

Now we come to the second phase in the evolution of R&D Gun Shop.

Realizing the desire of the public to own a cartridge conversion, Kenny turned his design talents and eye for detail to a marketable "drop in" conversion, that could be sold for a fraction of what a full house Howell Conversion would sell for.

The result was the 45 Colt conversion cylinder for the 1858 Remington style revolvers made by Pietta and Uberti. These cylinders featured and removable back plate, as was found on the originals, that when taken off, exposed the chambers to be loaded with centerfire cartridges. The plate is then replaced on the cylinder, and the assembly, cylinder loaded with cartridges and back plate installed, is put into the frame, replacing the original percussion cylinder. The revolver is then cocked and fired as normal, and the assembly taken out, the empty cartridges removed and replaced with fresh ones to reload the revolver. While it sounds like a slow way to reload the revolver, it was, and is, much faster than loading a percussion cylinder with loose powder and ball!

The Remington cylinder is constructed of 4150 Arsenal Grade steel, which is certified for firearms use and is pre-hardened, requiring the use of carbide cutters to machine. Kenny didn't "have" to use this high grade of a steel, he choose to because he has a reputation for the best and will offer nothing less.

The unique thing about the Remington cylinder is it's six-shot capacity with the venerable 45 Colt cartridge. In fact, this was so unique, Kenny was issued a patent on it! The chambers in the cylinder are angled ever so slightly to allow the full six-shot capacity.

Competitors have written much about this on various bulletin boards, and have tried to use this to dissuade potential buyers to another product. The fact of the matter is, the angle is 5/8 of ONE DEGREE! That is minimal to say the least! Many revolvers have chambers that are further off than that from the factory. The nay-sayers have crowed about this "angle" for a long time, and it is just "much ado about nothing"! The Howell Remington conversion cylinder makes for one of the most accurate 45 Colt revolvers you can get your hands on and they are used countless thousands of times every weekend by numerous Cowboy Action Shooters in local monthly SASS matches!

The Remington cylinders are available exclusively from Taylor's & Co. in Winchester, VA .

We invite you to join with us in the next evolution of R&D Gun Shop, conversion kits for the "Colt" style percussion revolvers! The accompanying pages are dedicated to these products and we'll keep evolving as we have more exciting plans to introduce even more products in the future!