OK, here's one for all you gunsmiths, tinkerers, enthusiasts, shooters, knowledgeables, et al, et al. Not to long ago I bought a Uberti 60' Army framed Richards-Mason in 38 Special, 5 1/2" barrel from a Taylor Firearms dealer. Nice gun, all lines, fit, finish, bluing, etc, were great. I didn't fire it until I cast and loaded some DD Snakebites over FFF Goex. Rounds were accurate and as always, a hoot to shoot. Before I had 100 rounds through the gun, I noticed on the cylinder some nasty marks on the cylinder, on the outer edges of the cylinder bolt leads. On all six leads, they were on the front side (towards the barrel) and appeared as if the bolt was not coming into the leads in the center.
The timing of the action was good, the bolt left leg is coming off of the hammer cam, allowing the bolt to snap up when needed, not to soon or late.. I had previously did a little initial stoning of the innards, just taking off any noticeable burrs and roughness. I did do the 'Pettifogger' arbor check (ie, sticking the arbor in the arbor hole of the barrel assembly and twisting) and at that time it was a perfect mate. Figured I had a Uberti with a rare perfect arbor fit. Then I read on the COLT FIREARMS section here on CAS CITY of a post titled "Nipples for 2nd Generation Colt 1851 Navy" of the problems a member was having with the nipples on his '51. One of the responses by Coffinmaker, also 2nd by Pettifogger and 45 Dragoon was that some of the newer Uberti firearms were giving a false indication of the arbor length by using Pettifoggers 'stick and twist' method. Most of this starts with Coffinmakers reply #10 and following. I'd quote it here, but that's beyond my capability here, can't figure out how to go to another site and attach a quote without losing the whole post here. Been there, done that.
Anyway, did the Pettifogger/Coffinmaker check and sure enough, my arbor wasn't bottoming out due to roughness in the arbor hole and maybe a few on it. Polished things up and rechecked. Arbor bottomed out and twisted a lot easier. Sure enough, the frame/ barrel assembly didn't meet. Had some 3/8" dia brass washers and played around and found that by sticking two of them (they were thin ones) down the arbor hole I got a good meeting of the two assembly's. Was even able to put the wedge back in giving it a smart whack. The alignment was such no damage could be incurred by inserting the wedge. Checked the barrel/cylinder gap before and after putting in the wedge, both the same gap, approx. .002 plus a tad. Everything else checked out, no grittiness when working the action, timing seemed ok, all the rounds I did fire went bang when pulling the trigger. The only glitch was the marks on the cylinder bolt leads.
I put blue Dyken on the bolt and around the cylinder, put it back together, worked the action, took the Colt apart, and viewed the results. The Dyken was worn off of the forward edges of the leads (toward the barrel). The bolt on the forward portion of the area that locks into the cylinder notches, had the Dyken worn off on the corners. Appeared to be two raised areas on both forward corners(left and right) that had high spots. Now this would tell anyone with any gunsmithing skills and told me that that could be a possibility for the reason for the marking on the cylinder. Tells me that these high areas are preventing the bolt from following and going into the center of the leads, causing the rubbing on the edge of the leads. I could be wrong, but at least that what appears. Any of you have any other possibilities or have experienced or seen this. It tells me to stone and smooth the front of the bolt where the Dyken was rubbed off, BUT, I'm a reader and studier of anything I do, gunsmithing wise included.
I've read a lot over the years by authors such as Nonte, Chicone, Pettifogger, posts here and other places and recently borrowed a Kuhnhausen book on Colts from a friend and after reading his do's and don'ts about the timing of the cylinder and bolt, it's got me 'gun shy'. Kuhnhausen give specific ways to fit a bolt and it didn't give much leeway in taking anything off the sides of the bolts, esp the right side. Wondering, can I take a wee bit off the front left corner of the bolt where it enters cylinder lead without compromising tight lockup with the cylinder? Just by looking at the left front where the Dyken was rubbed off shows a high mark that may be causing the unwanted, misplaced rubbing. What say any of ya. Any thoughts, cures, or just a hello would be appreciated. Man, I need to figure out how to say what I want without being so windy. Oh well, haven't been many new postings on this forum, gives ya all something to read. Take care all. CC