Howdy Again
Allow me to chime in on Schofields and other Number Three Smith and Wesson Top Break revolvers.
Uberti made the marketing decision to chamber the gun in .45LC instead of the shorter .45 Schofield. This meant that the cylinder had to be longer than an original Schofield, and so the gap at the front of the cylinder (where fouling could accumulate) was eliminated. The Uberti Schofields are notorious for jamming up with black powder loads. They're OK if you use smokeless cowboy loads.
This is slightly incorrect. Yes, Uberti lengthened the cylinders to accommodate the longer cartridges such as 45 Colt. The 'gap at the front of the cylinder (where fouling could accumulate) was eliminated' is not quite correct. The barrel/cylinder gap is still there, as it is on all revolvers. What Uberti, and ASM before them did, was to shorten the cylinder bushing at the front of the cylinder. Without lengthening the frame, something had to give in order to fit the longer cylinder into a frame approximately the same size as the original. So the bushing at the front of the cylinder was shortened.
This is the cylinder from an original S&W Schofield. The part protruding from the front of the cylinder is the bushing. This is a separate part that has been pressed into the cylinder. The front face of the bushing stands approximately .170 proud of the front face of the cylinder. Inside the bushing is the ejector rod with its spring.
This is the way they fit together. The extractor rod slides inside the cylinder arbor. Notice the helical groove on the base of the arbor.
The bushing ID is slightly larger than the arbor OD, so the bushing slips over the arbor.
With the cylinder in place, the front face of the bushing presses against the frame of the barrel, for want of a better term. This means the barrel/cylinder gap is offset horizontally about .170 from the front of the bushing. That .170 of horizontal separation means that the cylinder arbor, which the cylinder rotates on, is shielded by the bushing from fouling blasted out of the barrel/cylinder gap. Black Powder fouling accumulating on the arbor, is generally what causes revolvers fired with Black Powder to bind. S&W used this design for all their Black Powder era Top Break revolvers, and it functioned very well.
I don't shoot the Schofield much, but I have a pair of New Model #3s that have the same features. They perform very well with Black Powder, I can shoot an entire CAS six stage match with Black Powder ammunition, without spritzing anything on the guns. No Ballistol, nothing. They just keep on rolling as they were designed to do.
The cylinder in the foreground of this photo is an Uberti cylinder. Notice how much shorter the bushing is. The bushing is shorter because that is the only way the longer cylinder could fit into the frame window of the Uberti Scofield. Yeah, it's a 38 but that does not matter for this discussion.
With the Uberti cylinder in place, the horizontal separation between the front of the bushing and the barrel/cylinder gap is much less. This cylinder has not been snugged down quite all the way, but you get the idea. When fouling blasts out of the barrel/cylinder gap of a revolver, it pretty much forms a disc. If the bushing is not long enough to spam the width of the ejected fouling, it cannot protect the arbor as well from fouling being blasted onto it. Black Powder fouling is gritty, and as it works its way down between the arbor (or cylinder pin on a Colt) and the cylinder, it starts to bind the cylinder.The Uberti bushing simply is not long enough to shield the arbor from fouling blasted out of the barrel/cylinder gap as well as the longer S&W bushing.
There is more that enters into it, the type and amount of bullet lube used has a major effect. A good supply of soft Black Powder compatible bullet lube on the bullet goes a long way to keeping a revolver rolling when fired with Black Powder.
LRDGCO, my hat is off to you if you can keep a pair of Uberti Schofields rolling all through a match with just an occasional spritz of Ballistol. With my Big Lube bullets liberally lubricated with soft SPG lube, I can go through an entire match without giving my S&W top breaks any further attention. Many other Uberti shooters have reported otherwise.
Regarding getting used to a S&W style Top Break, I have to agree. The grip shape of the Top Break is a bit different than the plow handle grip of a Colt. The hammer is set further forward on any #3 S&W Top Break than on a Colt or replica. This means there is more of a reach for the thumb to cock the hammer. Speaking shooting one handed of course, is there any other way to shoot these revolvers? I have fairly large hands, and I have to reach a bit further to cock the hammer of a #3 Top Break than a Colt. Then there is the surprise you get if you forget the bolt on a S&W Top Break is trigger actuated, not hammer actuated. My Smith Top Breaks will usually remind me at least once during a match to keep my finger completely off the trigger when cocking the hammer. It you restrict the trigger from popping forward a little bit when cocking the hammer on a #3, you cannot cock the hammer. Always takes me by surprise at least once. The other thing to bear in mind is all the S&W #3 Top Breaks had very short front sights. That means they tend to shoot higher than a Colt with its tall front sight. Sometimes I forget to hold low on the target with my Top Breaks and I shoot right over the target.
