CAS TOPICS > The Dark Arts

Correcting an arbor fit issue on my 1851 Colt Navy.

<< < (2/8) > >>

Pettifogger:
Removing an arbor, welding it up, turning it down, fitting and reinstalling is a LOT or work.  What I tried to do in the articles is describe an easier but effective way of doing the job.  Putting a shim between the barrel and the arbor will work just fine.  It's just hard getting the right size shim.  It has to be the right size OD and thickness.  You can try verious thickness washers (including the plastic ones you can get from Ace Hardware) and maybe find one the right thickness.  The problem is if the washer is just a tad to thick, it's hard thinning it down.

Delmonico:

Metal washers are easy to thin, a drop of super glue to the end of a old cartridge case and clamp it in the vise and thin with a fine file.  A bit of heat from a Bernze-O-Matic and it will drop right off. ;)

44caliberkid:
How about wrapping a piece of tape around the end of the arbor, clamp it standing vertically, and add about 1/16 " of slow curing epoxy.   When it hardens, remove the tape and file the end to fit.
   I didn't find the remove, weld and fit method ALOT of work.  I had screw in arbors, not pinned, so they just screwed out.  The machinist did the welding and turning, and a fine job he did, you could not tell any material had been added.  I think he gave me a deal because he was interested in what I was doing with it.  Then it was just trial fit, slide on the barrel, remove a little of the end with a file, slip on the barrel again.  I had it two or three tries, took me all of 5 minutes.  I will admit, a pinned arbor would be a bigger pain in the neck.

Advertising:

Pettifogger:
What kind of Colt clone was it?  I have never seen one without a pinned arbor.  Also, you said you didn't find welding and fitting the arbor to be a lot of work and then say you had someone else do the work.  It's always easy when someone else is doing the work.  For the average home gun tinker it is a lot of work because most people don't have tig welders and lathes in their garages.  Also, drilling out the arbor pin has to be done correctly or you can ruin the frame.  All the arbors have threads and screw in.  The pin is to keep the arbor from rotating and every 51 I have seen or worked on has a pinned arbor.  Again, I'm curious.  What kind of Colt clone did you have?

Mako:
Maybe it's an Armi San Marco.  I have one the pin fell out of, probably because the arbor was loose as a goose until we added JB Weld and put a new pin in it.  It was either that or weld it up and recut the threads.
~Mako

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page