Pretty good replies Cowboy's! Lurkers out there by the millions may be reading yer posts. Newbies by the baskets full. People wondering and then finding some solutions.
As fer me.....Being a "Kitchen Table Gunsmith" and all I haven't used many action stops. I used the proverbial cylinder trapped by the hand, and the bolt with a bolt block of course. Not the bolt block all the time though. I've used that in an attempt to align chambers with bores and stabilize bolts. I guess I should do some action stops now to keep abreast of all things new and old.
I've never seen a revolver with an action block as it came to me. I'm not up to par with the Action Shooters. Usually when a revolver had way too much over draw I tuned the action better to stop it. I like the hand against the ratchet when the bolt has the cylinder locked in battery. Some guns come from the manufacturer with the hand designed to be a block to the cylinder be loose turning backwards. The double actions can be like that. Of course that doesn't apply here.
I had a job on a Belgian Colt to do where my Buddy wanted the hammer to stop by contacting the backstrap. That took some doing and still end up with a tuned action. I didn't care for that set up and....to make matters worse I own the gun now. Bought it from the Gentleman. It has a nice action and the original owner stated it was the best tuned most positive action he ever pulled the hammer on. That's a relative thing though.
Anywhooooo….I have to admit the action block makes a lot of sense. As does the bolt block. Especially for revolvers used in the Cowboy Action Competitions or Fast Draw Competitions.
I never knew that Colt had an action stop to his SAA revolvers. I'd like to see or hear about that set up. Was it simply that the hammer came to rest against the backstrap? I have a video from AGI about the single actions and the instructor was a Colt employee at one time. I don't remember anything in there about action blocks. Maybe I'm just forgetting it.
I did see a picture of an action block in a magazine article some where. Oh! It was an article in print about some prominent gunsmith tuning single actions Hmmmmmm….let me remember. I got it. It was some thing like Goones Gunshop I reckon. Some Hombre named Mike. His real name was 45Dragoon. Filling a nich in the gunsmithing market. Workin his arse off all the time.
Must be a friend of that Hombre with the handle "CoffinMaker".
You Hombre's are alright in my book. It's a real little book too! I have to respect Folks willing to take the time to explain some about their trade secretes. Most gunsmiths avoid that. I don't care for that attitude much. Why not help out your fellow man?
I've had some trouble getting info about some things in the past like casehardening gun parts the real old way. I like doing that now that I found out how to do it. The Double Gun Journal Volume Five Issue 3 Autumn 1994. A Doctor that does double shotguns wrote the article. Good reading and explanation of casehardening gun parts. I've done some of my guns like a Walker for instance. Looks good. The real casehardening is different than what is on the Italian guns we buy today. It really does harden the parts fer sure. Try to peen in a casehardened hammer by dry firing on the nipples. Won't work too well. Try wearing out a trigger casehardened the real way. May take a good long time. I don't have a gunsmith furnace so I just use a wood fire outside like they did in the beginning.
Made my own crucibles to put the parts in and all.
I helped a young man with a dream he had to have his old Belgian Colt restored. It took the proverbial barrel set back (mill the barrel lug) and alignment and action tuned and timed and all that but....I refinished the gun with Nitre Bluing and casehardened the frame and hammer and trigger and loading lever and all that gumbo. He came to pick up the gun that I had laid on the kitchen table where I was drinking some coffee. We talked and he remarked about how nice my 1860 Army was that was laying there on the table. I let him try the action and all that. He really thought that it was a nice gun.
When I told him it wasn't my gun and that it was his...… he was so happy I can't explain how happy he was. He could hardly believe it was really his old gun. Made my day.
OK 45dragoon! I have some bolt blocks in some of my guns too soooo.....yer guns aren't tougher than "some of mine". So there... hot shot. ha ha ha