I've never owned a brand new gun

All the ones I've shot have been pre-worn in.
........Well, except the Bersa Thunder- which is an autoloader, so I can't compare it to anything.

This new Cimmaron 1872 Open top is going to take some getting used to.
It looks alot like my 1851 cap and ball Colt, but the mechanics have a different feel to them.
The cylinder is heavier, and I guess the internal springs need to be beefier, too- it doesn't spin like the other one.
It's a .38 SPL and so there is more metal in the barrel but it doesn't seem to be front heavy.
The hammer seems different, although a side-by-side comparison shows them to be pretty similar, except that the new one is missing the rear sight notch- it's in front of the forcing cone.
--------Which could be a problem. The first shot I took at a target 15' away (on a cowboy shooting range) went right over the top as I was sighting in where the rear hammer sight should have been.

I'll let you know when I've shot some factory rounds through it-and pics.

UPDATE...(with pics)

Ok, we got to the range and I found out two things.
ONE-- It shoots high, about 6-8" at 25 yards and to the left (not that you could tell on the pics...), but so does the 1851 Navy.

-and-

TWO--The way my shoulder is messed up, I don't know about shooting a rifle, even leftie because of the way my muscle is torn at the tendon- it was hurting on the way home.

First, the sight is different from the old(er) school Colt:
The B.P. Colt (brass/bare metal) has the rear sight on the hammer, and the open top(blued steel) has it in front of the cylinder.
The high shooting can be cured with some judicious application of a file, so I'm not too worried.
I also know that these old pistols were designed to be able to hit what you were aiming at past the 75 yard mark.

(click for bigger is better)

I can't call them "Old school" and "Pre-school", because then we'd be getting into
this one:


That being said, no matter how similar they look- there is 20 years worth of development between these two:






It's wearing in pretty well, and the recoil is hardly noticable with the 7.5" barrel.
The trigger has a nice light pull and the hammer leaves a nice big hole in the primer.
I'm happy with it and that's what matters, isn't it?
Besides it just looks cool.
There is amost no gap at the forcing cone, and as it wears in, it can be kept that way with the cylinder pin retaining wedge.
I think I spent my $429 pretty well at the Powderhorn (410 Acess rd.-N between HWY-90 and Marbach) with friendly people and decent prices.
If you're in the San ANtonio area, you might want to drop in and say "Hey" to the guys.




UPDATE----
After several months of having this gun, I can notice the definate front heavyness compared to the .44 Navy.
No matter how I hold them, both shoot to the left and high at 25 YDS.
I had to notch the front site to be able to put some blackening on it, otherwise it was hard to see in bright sun.

If I could start getting consistant patterns with it, I'd like to try it on the 50Yd range and see what my elivation was.

UPDATE part dos---------
The pulling to the left was the operators problem, after I adjusted my grip it went away, but still shoots a plate size pattern about 6-8" high at 25yds standing.