Colt HAND/SPRING index problem

[Sundance]

Well after 3 hrs of trying to match the old hand nearly got it right.  BUT sometimes the cylinder will not lock up.  Cocking action a lot stiffer as well, I reckon I just need to fettle the face of the hand a tad more.  What do you guy's reckon?  Prior to the spring breaking the action was perfect so assume the hand is the problem.
Could someone give me a description of what the face of the hand should look like?  The old one went to a point -  angled from the left hand - side.  Hope that made sense.
Thanks fella's

[St. George]

Your description's pretty accurate, so try to match original factory angles as much as possible, and stone where any high spots show.

Your problem's not the hand - but the spring.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Cinch ring Sam]

Sundance; I think St George is probably right. Tell you about a problem I had about 10 yrs  ago with a ASM Hartford model 45 colt. kept breaking springs. Finally got smart after about the third one & called the gunsmith at EMF. He said when I got my new bolt spring I should install it a little loose. I backed it off about half a turn & reinstalled the triggerguard/backstrap. that was the end of my trouble. That was a lot of rounds ago & its still shooting. Good luck!

                                                                        Cinch ring Sam

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[Sundance]

I should have mentioned its a Colt 1861 Pietta clone.  Hand and spring come as one, that spring looks a swine to remove from the old hand what I had thought was just taking out the remains of the old spring and swapping for the spring on the new hand/spring, as the old hand working a treat though end looks a might knurled and worn - still has a slight sharp point.
As it sometimes engages I assume I must be close to resolving the problem.
Any other thoughts greatly appreciated.

[Pettifogger]

The sure fire remedy to hand spring breakage in the Colt C&B clones is to get rid of it altogether.  Get a Ruger pawl plunger and spring (about 1.80 from Brownells) and drill a hole in the frame just above and slightly to the right of the grip screw hole.  Once you put in the coil spring, you will never have another problem with the hand spring.

[Quincy1]

Howdy,
I recently put one of these things in my 51 uberti colt navy.
I got part from Dixie and one from VTI , VTI part was about $8.00 more. I wound up using Dixie part which seems a but stronger. I never touched spring just worked on hand. VTI part was genuine Uberti I was told. Both were about 1/4 inch oversize and had to be shaped on sides . Go slow and keep checking fit.Here is my review to Dixie on thier part. It is still working and like I said it apears to be a bit stronger in the spring area. Hopefully you still have broken hand to measure with.
Quincy1

--------------------DIXIE POST on PART #MP1813----------------------------------------------------------
"Well this was my 1st experience replacing one of these. I had to get out the dremel tool after a few days with a file. My original Uberti hand had a broken spring only so I had some idea how long hand had to be. Be prepared to install and remove this thing a number of times, although I discovered I did not have to install the grip frame each time I tested the fit. I took about a ¼ inch off the length and than kind of shaped it on the edge (front and back). I knew I was getting close when I installed it with trigger, bolt, hammer and cylinder with barrel and it worked ok but would not let the hammer back to full cock. That’s when I shaped it a little like the original and Walla it worked."

[Sundance]

Prior to stripping it again sat down and rotated the cylinder for a few minutes on half cock, tried it again and seems PERFECT EVERYTIME so consider it FIXED...........AHHhhhhhhhhhhh successssssss.
Many thanks guy's for your wisdom.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Actually replacing the broken spring in the original hand isn't very hard. Put the hand on a metal block that has a hole drilled in it. Place the hand so that you can drive the remains of the spring right down out of the hand and out the hole in the block. Line up the new spring right over the broken old one. Gently tap the new spring in place with a hammer, driving the old one out at the same time. A lot easier than fitting a new hand. When you have mounted the new spring, you may want to gently bend it slightly. They are often a little bit too strong. Very carefully bend it without breaking it. The hand spring needs to press the hand against the ratchet teeth on the cylinder just enough to cause a little bit of braking action. You don't want the spring pressure so light that the hand barely engages the ratchet teeth. If the spring does not push the hand forward hard enough it is easy to get the cylinder to over-rotate. A little bit of braking action will help prevent accidental over-rotation. When you put the hammer to half cock and spin the cylinder, you want it to sing to you. You don't want the song to be a whisper.

[Sundance]

Wish I'd thought of that  .  Well I seem to have done it the hard way, yeh live and learn I suppose.
Thanks for that technique that's how I'll be tackling it next time...