Advice on newly acquired Pietta 1861 Navy

I was at one of my favorite local places yesterday in the "Trading Post" section and came across this beauty:

It appears to be a steel-framed Pietta 1861 Navy in .36 caliber. Date code is 1999. It's in pretty good shape - It wasn't abused too badly, with only a tiny bit of rust and no pitting. The battering about the wedge slot wasn't from me. I spent a few hours last night cleaning it out thoroughly and thinking I did pretty good for the song I paid for it.

On to the questions: I have a Pietta Remington Army in .44, so I've never had to deal with "the wedge"... It doesn't go in as far as (I think) I understand it should. Below are pictures with it tapped in as far as it'll go without being a brute:

Another point to note, is that with the wedge seated, I can't even fit a 0.010" feeler in between the cylinder and the barrel. I've heard that 0.05-0.06 is appropriate. Looking for suggestions as how to get everything copacetic.

Also, there are some small burrs on the cylinder bolt lead in on each notch on the cylinder, but the bolt itself is nice and smooth. Not sure what would cause that. Timing is good, however.

I assume it's been fired a few times (bits of debris in chambers and barrel, and a minute bit of rust) as is. Looking for advice.

Thanks in advance!

TheOutlawKid said:

.005-.006 is good but .002-.003 is best. Also the wedge should go all the way in so that atleast the lip of the wedge spring comes out the other end. Now depending on ur actual cylinder gap it will mean that you either have to adjust ur arbor length or not. I doubt you do...pietta is good about that. So you may either have to slim down the wedge or do a little sanding in the arbor wedge slot. I slick colts up quite a bit due to prefering to have a wedge that comes in and out with ease using finger pressure and i like guns with your type of fitment issue because i can adjust it just right where the wedge slides in just enough so the spring lip passes the barrels body edge and locks but can easily be pressed out. Have you tried gently but firmly tapping the wedge in to see if it goes any further?

Click to expand...

I have tried tapping it in with a non-marring screwdriver handle. It's in all the way.

Also, I'm glad the cylinder gap is what it should be. I guess I was off by an order of magnitude...

Mauser lover said:

If you can't fit a .010 feeler gauge, that's good, because .05 - .06 is definitely NOT copacetic! .005 - .006 is probably what you are thinking of. Some even go for less of a gap. I'm sure the Colt guys will be along shortly to help with the other issues.

And congrats on the new gun! If you were asking what I'd do with it... Convert it

Click to expand...

Not quite ready to convert it yet. I'd like to see what I can do once I get some .375 round ball and some range time. I've found that shooting the cap and ball is great fun if you don't have anywhere to be.

I guess I need to figure out which side of the wedge needs to be worked on to achieve a good fit - the barrel side or the arbor side. As mentioned, I'll wait for the Colt guys to wander over - always lots of good advice on this forum!

expat_alaska said:

Pettifogger wrote "Tuning The Pietta" in two parts. Click the link and download the .pdf version.

The four-part Uberti series is interesting, also.

Jim

https://archive.org/download/PettiFogger_Files/TOR Posts pdf/

Click to expand...

Exactly what I'm looking for! This is golden stuff, right here. Thanks so much!

After some stoning of the wedge, I'd say the fit has become "acceptable". Much better than before, and still plenty of wedge left. Barrel to cylinder gap is still tight, and the wedge spring is doing its thing. Next step will be tearng it back down and polishing the bolt, pivots, and removing any burrs.


Then on to the shooting! Thanks again for the help and suggestions. Updates as they come along.

OutlawKid, while I do very much appreciate the offer, I think I shall forge on with the good advice the forum hath provided.

I am, at heart, a tinkerer more than anything else. Part of the appeal to me of firearms and other machines is figuring out how they work, fixing broken parts, improving smoothness, etc... Finding this latest mechanical device in need of tuning and reading about how and why certain things are done has been most enjoyable. Even though my results aren't perfect (and I did manage to bugger up a screw or two - they were in there tight!) it's been great fun. Especially when I think about how mature this technology is...

I will most likely come back asking for more help, but I also have a retaining wall project I've started today... Ain't no rest for the wicked (or me), but I'll work on it here and there as I find time.

Thanks again all for the good, reasoned advice!