1851 Navy arbor

[stephen cockerham]

is there any way to tighten up the arbor (cylinder pin) on an 1851 Navy it feels tight but the barrel has a teeny bit of play in it, and I dont know if its the arbor loose, or the arbor worn down to a slightly smaller diameter or if the hole for the arbor in the barrel assembly is wallowed out.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Pull barrel and cylinder. Put barrel back on but miss the pins on frame. Turn barrel and see if the mating surfaces overlap, meet or has gap. Typically if there is an issue the surfaces overlap. And affixing a shim in the arbor hole equal to the overlap fixes it. If all fits but wedge is not holding correctly a new wedge may be in order. On one pistol I have I purchased a used wedge and put a weld bead on it and shaped it.

 

[stephen cockerham]

skeeter I dont think I can find a shim that thin it overlaps less than 1/64 of an inch I put a piece of a business card in there an it worked but with it out the amount of play is negligable but I would think that if something made a difference in barrel moving or not they would have gotten it right but when shooting its pretty accurate at 50 feet.

 

[Mike 56]

You can buy a feeler gauge from an auto parts store to make shims.

Mike

 

[skeeterfogger]

skeeter I dont think I can find a shim that thin it overlaps less than 1/64 of an inch I put a piece of a business card in there an it worked but with it out the amount of play is negligable but I would think that if something made a difference in barrel moving or not they would have gotten it right but when shooting its pretty accurate at 50 feet.

I use a piece of plastic from a cigar package on two. A tad of grease and it sticks to the bottom of the hole very well.
Aluminum foil and a dot of glue.

 

[stephen cockerham]

yes I have several feeler gauges never thought of that they are hardened tho and will probably break rather thanallow itself to be cut

 

[stephen cockerham]

I just dont want to jam something downin that hole and not be able to get it out if the revolver wont work after wards

 

[skeeterfogger]

All you need is something that won't compress. Some even put jb weld in the hole and grease the arbor and assemble loose till set. I've done it with a shim and epoxy. Best to test with various material to get exact thickness.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Fit shim material then glue. It will work. Just don't over apply glue. Only need it on the underneath of the shim material. Just a dot. If ot turns out wrong use a pick to clean it out and you can also spin steel wool in it to clean.

 

[Mike 56]

I have glued shims in place in the past. You only need a little, I sprayed the arbor with pam cooking spray to be on the safe side. Use the barrel and wedge to hold the shim in place while the glue sets. Another fix is to countersink the front of the arbor and drill and tap for an adjusting screw.

Mike

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Wait...im confused...or just plain dumb. But are you saying the arbor is a lil bit too small for the barrels arbor hole? Like its loose and has play? Cuz ive had one revolver like that and i degreased it well, lightly sanded and placed a thin smear of jb weld on the area that seemed to be thinner...that made the arbor "thicker" and then i sanded it down just enough to give it a tight fit to the barrel. Worked great. At first i used a thin .002 inch copper sheet...cut a small shim and let it stick to the side of the arbor when i would put the barrel on, this made a tight fit but i didnt want to mess with it everytime i took it apart. So thats when i came up with the jb weld solution. But again...this only works if im understanding the problem youre explaining correctly

 

[arcticap]

Wait......this only works if im understanding the problem youre explaining correctly

That sounds like a good idea.
Now you've got me wondering since I thought that a short arbor caused the barrel to to be forced upwards, but usually not loose or wobbly.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Seems very unusual for the arbor to be under diameter but then anything possible. Worse I ran into on diameter was some burrs and the arbor hole had some rough spots. Other than that hole depth was deeper than the arbor length.

 

[stephen cockerham]

that is the problem the hole for the arbor is deeper than the arbor is long, if I put the barrel on but dont line up the assembly pins and turn the barrel assembly around to where it meets the frame there is a small overlap tiny tiny tiny but enough the barrel wouldnt slide into position if the pins for assembly didnt exist that tells me the arbor will go in further than its length meaning the hole is deeper than the arbor is long. but only by a miniscule amount

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Well that seems like a common issue with Uberti guns. If its a pietta then it's a very very rare issue. You can use thin washers or any of the above options...i fixed a friends uberti by punching out coins from thin aluminum sheeting thay i used to use for making percussion caps...i think i used some of my .005 inch thick sheeting, but we also used .002 copper and aluminum can, not sure which he settled on. Just used a punch and shoved the "coin" down the arbor hole. He says hes never had to take it out or adjust.

 

[stephen cockerham]

yeah soda can sounds about the right length. its a genuine Colt neither uberti or pietra. and I have an ancient euro arms 1860 army that has the same problem I can use it to get it right before doing anything to the Colt. the Colt is a gen 2 its 42 years old and looks like it just came out of the box the action is so smooth that its on a level above any of the other four Italian guns two of which were manufactured around 2012