[NCWanderer]

Here's what's happening. While dry cycling it I noticed that the cylinder coasts a little past battery. Then as I let the hammer down slowly (I don't dry fire) the cylinder rotates counter clockwise past battery again and the hammer comes to rest on the right side of the nipple,but not in the safety notch.. However if I cycle it very slowly it works normally. I tried pointing it up and down and the same thing happens. I haven't taken it apart yet. I wanted to see what you guys think first. The gun hasn't been fired that much. Maybe 200 rounds or so. I built it from a kit so I am familiar with whats inside. Just not sure which part needs working on.

[Hud]

I had a similar problem with mine with a conversion cylinder.
It would lock up when cocked, but when the trigger was pulled & the hammer let down slowly, the bolt would drop & the hand would rotate the cyl. to the left & the hammer would come down between the chambers.
If I recall correctly, the bolt was a hair too tall causing it to not release from the hand (or trigger, don't remember which).
I carefully stoned down the height of the bolt 'till it released.
Locks up perfectly now.

[sundance44s]

Cock it slow and watch the bolt rise and make sure it is riseing ahead of the notch and not behind lock up .
If it is riseing at the right time , the hand is a little long , and will cause it to skip lock up when cocking fast .
I`ve fixed a few with this problem , its common .
If you never cocked it fast you might not ever notice it .
I like to be able to cock mine fast if I want also .

[NCWanderer]

When I cock it slow, the bolt comes up like it's suppose to and goes into the notch normaly. So, do you think I need to stone the tip of the hand?

[sundance44s]

I`ve had some Pietta Remington hands that were shaped wrong from the factory , if you don`t have a spare hand .....go slow and just use a stone .
One nice thing about working on the Remington you can watch the lock up and see what is going on .
It will take alot of testing to make sure you aren`t takeing too much off , some times it doesn`t take much , on others I`ve used a dremel and sanding drum but I have always had spare parts just incase .
It`s a pain to keep putting it back together for testing fit , probally why they get sloppy fit at the factory .
Never had this problem with a Uberti Remington ...but you pay on the front end for better fitting .
Pietta has come a long way on the fit and finish of the outside parts , but are still lacking on the innards .....still a good buy .

[NCWanderer]

At full cock is the hand suppose to stay engaged with the cylinder or does it recede back into the frame? Mine stas engaged.

[sundance44s]

At full cock the bolt is suppose to stay up and lock the cylinder in place .
At half cock the bolt should be down , away from the cylinder to allow you to turn the cylinder by hand for loading or remove it .

[sundance44s]

I`ve never had this problem with a Colt open top ..they have a ramp cut out ahead of the lock up notch which allows the bolt to be at a better angle for quick lock up when cocked fast .
Only draw back on the Colt because of the shape of the frame to cylinder , you can`t watch what is going on during lock up ....I have to feel my way around a Colt .

[NCWanderer]

At full cock I'm OK, but at half cock the hand protrudes out.....maybe .015" to .020" (just eye balling here) is that normal?

[Voodoochile]

The hand being that it's spring loded will keep contact with the cylinder at all times till the hammer is nearly all the way down "at rest."

Like Sundance said, you can stone the tip of the hand a little to give a better time but go slow & fit lots because once you've gone too far it's nearly impossible to get that metal back.

[sundance44s]

With the hammer at rest down you should not be able to see the hand from the side sticking out ....the hand will be more flush with the face of the recoil shield.
with the hammer at half cock the hand will be sticking out of the recoil shield buy just a few thousands ....

[NCWanderer]

Then you know about the gorilla who works at Pietta. :DAlready had a run in with him. Had some stuck nipples and they were a bugger to get out.

[sundance44s]

Yeah that Gorilla has caused me to ruin a few good screwdriver tips in the past ...I wish they would lay him off a spell .

[NCWanderer]

Thanks for showing me what to work on. I'm still pretty green at working on these things but thanks to the folks here at THR I'm learning. May not have time to work on it until after Christmas, but now at least I know where to start.. You made me realize that I need to order some spare parts from Dixie. Also I believe that anyone wanting to get into BP should start with a kit like I did. That way you'll have a little knowledge about the gun.

[sundance44s]

Your welcome NCWanderer ....
I had just did a hand fitting job on a Remington last week and had it fresh on my mind . same problem as yours .
When you order some spare parts you`ll find the new hands will also have to be fit , they come a little large one size fits all , and require fitting .
The spare springs will uasually be drop in fit ...
Bolts will need some fitting or at least stoneing .
You will feel more at ease working on them when you have a few spares .
Dixie or VTI both carry plenty of spare parts .
Here is VTI`S site you might enjoy looking through for parts ....
http://www.vtigunparts.com/

[NCWanderer]

I decided to try something simple first, so I tightened the mainspring screw 1/2 turn and that did it. Guess the last time I had it apart for cleaning I didn't get it tight enough. Who would think something that simple would cause me problems. Live and learn.

I checked the price of a new hand and Dixie was cheaper than VTI. Is the quality the same? I still plan on roding a few parts.

[sundance44s]

....maybe by putting more tension on the hammer it slowed down your cocking fast . ( I noticed the same thing fixing the one last week it would do that also )
But if it works fast enough to suit you , the parts will get some wear anyway the more you shoot it ......the Remingtons always work better after they get broke in good .
I`ve never ordered the parts from Dixie so I don`t know ... I like the way they are listed on the VTI site better is all .

[NCWanderer]

I didn't think that the main spring tension was critical. But it seems to be working perfectly now, no matter how fast or slow I cock it.

[NCWanderer]

I like the way VTI lists their parts too, but the price difference on some parts is substantial. That's why I was wandering about the quality.

[NCWanderer]

I've been wondering if I've really fixed the problem by adjusting the main spring tension as I mentioned in post #16 of this thread. I now would like to ask if what I did was a fix or only a band aid. I would like to hear someone else's opinion on this.:confused:

[Hellgate]

If you fixed it, it is fixed. What I do is hold the trigger down and repeatedly cock the hammer forcefully and run the cylinder around several times. Repeat slowly. If you don't get any over travel or under travel and the gun comes to a solid battery each time, then who cares what you did as long as now the gun works reliably. It may just be "wearing in". Sometimes I will fiddle with a gun in order to fix a problem and sometimes I fumble onto the fix without knowing exactly how I did it but as long as it is now working I don't worry about it until the gun acts up again which may be never. Hold the trigger down and rack the gun a bunch of times. If it is locking up fine, you're OK.