Does anyone out there know how to adjust the cylinder bolt timing on NM Vaqueros so the bolt does not drag on the cylinder but rises in the lead?
I own a Vaquero and was tired of the cylinder ring.
You will need Dial or digital calipers and I used dykem, ( blue colored layout dye), a 3/32" drill bit, a vise and Dremmel to perform this task.
I modified my timing by making a new plunger for the hammer. I made it out of a 3/32 dia. titanium drill bit.
It wasn’t easy to get it right, but now the latch, (bolt); stays picked up and drops right in the beginning of the lead, perfect!
I used Iowegan's
drawing, which made it better, but the latch was still dropping early so I modified it
worked properly in my Vaquero.
I made one for my brother to and it works just as good.
My mods were:
Dim.
A = .100
B = .300
C = cutoff @ .860, rough @ .840, finish = .835 - .837
D = .094
E = .058 or thicker if travel still works smoothly in hammer
I did this by using a vise and a Dremmel with a cutoff wheel and it almost looks like it was cut by a machine, no kidding, it just took lot's of practice.
If there is any locking up when cocking the hammer, lengthen B dim to .310 - .320 and this dim. ( mine worked with .300), has to be the inside dim. at the .058 depth and then the material at both ends are angled slightly to the outside edge. This is just clearance travel but the shorter the better for more strength so try .300 first.
The hard part, not really, after getting the pin to the rough .840 dim. take the Dremmel and a polishing wheel, pink in color, and work a radius where the hammer plunger rides the back of the latch from about 1/2" back from the tip to a little past center of the pin @ top. It needs this radius to allow it to ride on the back of the latch longer so it will keep the latch down longer.
Be careful not too take too much off of the top when making radius, remember it's only a few thousands, from rough cut of .840 to final dim of .835 - .837.
I used a cylindrical pink polishing stone approx. 1/2" long by approx. 1/4" dia., however it was worn in the middle, sort of like if you were to use it and keep wearing down the middle so that it tapered back up to full diameter which really worked out great for cutting a good smooth radius on the drill bit.
The final work is to use the same polishing stone and slightly bevel the other side of the drill bit at an angle, approx. 30° 180° around the pin, up to the sides of the radius lines. Just copy the chamfer on the original pin as this will help smooth out the travel of the pin in the hammer.
Ok, a little more work, lightly roll the radius on some 400 grit emery cloth with some oil by hand.
It took me many, (ok - about 10 drill bits), to get this method down right but the end result was well worth the effort and cost.
Also, polish the back and top of the latch where the hammer's plunger rides and I used pro gold, very lightly, on the same area as well as the newly cut radius and it is butter smooth.
One last thing, the material you take off creating the radius was critical to my success. When the latch dropped just in fron of the lead, (approx. 1/16), all I had to do was take a little more material creating a little bigger radius so that the latch would stay down just a little longer. It worked!
Sorry this was so long, but it is hard to explain in detail enough for someone to understand what I did to correct my timing.
Disclaimer: Any modification you choose to do to your or anyone else’s firearm is your responsibility as this is just for informational purposes only. I do not recommend the above instructions to be used to modify any firearm.
Good Luck!