Action Work On New Schofield

[Jack Straw]

After a decent shake down period on the new Uberti i tore it down for a little smoothing and lightening.   The trigger was breaking at 4.75 lbs. which is a little heavy for my taste although it was reasonably crisp.  Overall the action was smooth but required a little too much effort to cock.

The important moving parts were all nicely finished and needed virtually no de-burrring.   A few strokes of a stone on the hammer/trigger engagement surfaces were all that was necessary in my view.   The limiting factors in this particular gun were springs.   This sucker had a mainspring that could launch the space shuttle....VERY heavy.  Backing out the strain screw had little effect.  The trigger spring was likewise way too stout.
 
Simple "hourglassing" of the mainspring reducing it's mass by about 30% was where I started, then moving to the trigger spring and very gradually thinning it's mass.   The trigger spring is where things get tricky with the Schofield and if anyone tries this I'd recommend having a stock spring or two on hand.   Go too light on the trigger spring and you'll encounter bolt timing hassles.

My first effort on the trigger spring brought the pull weight down to around 4..25 lb. but I wanted to go a little further.  The second try resulted in just under 3.5 lb. which was right where I wanted it.  Fortunately the bolt timing was still fine.  On a previous Schofield I ran into the bolt timing problem but was able to rectify it with a slight bend to the bolt spring.  I probably just lucked out on this one.

This kind of work does not always go this smoothly but it's a good feeling when it does.   The hardest part of the Schofield to re-fit is sometimes the barrel latch.   On some guns it's just a bear to get the latch spring seated in the slot.   This gun was a hassle but persistance paid off.

The new Schof is now just the way I like it.  I guess I'll get another one.

[Baltimore Ed]

I looked hard at the Schofield years ago but when I discovered that any pressure on the trigger locked up the hammer I decided that while I liked the look it wasn't for me. By the way I'm a duelist and used to shoot Ruger vaqueros. Sounds like you know your way around a topbreak.