Hey folks,
As some of you may have read in my other recent posts, I recently acquired a USFA HN. The gun arrived as advertised and is in beautiful overall condition. I can tell that the previous owner enjoyed some range time with this one, but he also took great care of the gun. That being said, there is a slight turn ring that seemingly indicates a timing issue. Namely, the bolt dropping a bit before the lead. Upon disassembling the revolver for a thorough cleaning after my first range session with it, I found two probable causes for the early bolt drop.
1.) The bolt leg has been worn down in the manner commonly seen in "SAA" revolvers. i.e. almost worn to a sharp point. I've read before that this is attributed to excess friction caused by the heavy factory mainspring.
2.) The hand has also been worn fairly significantly resulting in a less defined/shorter "tip". This is, in my mind, would result in the under-rotating cylinder and mistimed bolt drop.
Sooo... my options are as follows: send the gun off for some TLC (Already talked to the folks at Nutmeg and they offered to fix the issue for a very reasonable price.) , or order the parts myself and make the necessary repairs.
If I decide to order a new bolt and hand assembly, where can I track one down and what parts manufacturer should I be looking at to fit a USFA. (I do understand that the bolt will require some fitting either way). I now a lot of folks swap the factory springs out on these guys, which I will be doing either way just to lessen long-term wear, but any additional advice on the other repairs would be hugely appreciated. Sorry again for the long-winded post, and will post some pictures of the new gun asap.
-Thanks