A tale of two Remington replicas

[HisSoldier]

Today I finally got my new Uberti stainless target revolver. and was comparing it to my 15 year old Pietta stainless replica. Some time ago I bought an extra cylinder for the Pietta but found that the locking lug recesses were considerably wider than the original cylinder's recesses, that was probably 10 years ago.
The extra cylinder did fit however and fit was good against the rear of the barrel.

Then about two years ago I got a Uberti blued replica at a garage sale for $85, and found that that extra cylinder fit it much better than in the Pietta as the locking lug was wider. All three cylinders measure 2.117 to 2.118" front to back.
I figured the new Target Uberti would accept the extra cylinder just as the blued Uberti did, but the cylinder of the newest revolver measures 2.102", so the extra cylinder won't fit without alteration.
I can face the forward end of the cylinder off to fit the gun or just sell it with the Pietta, it does seem to fire well enough in the Pietta though I suspect it must be spitting lead out of one side or other.
I guess it just seems amazing to me that so many changes have taken place over such a short time in the production of all three of these replicas.
It's a bit scary facing the extra .015" off since I won't know how closely the extra cylinder clocks until it fits.
Perhaps I can figure out a way to measure the locking recess locations by fixturing with inspection tools, have any of you done that?

 

[arcticap]

Folks have done it in the past but finding such posts is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
However I did locate one post where Old Dragoon described facing off an R&D Pietta conversion cylinder to fit an Uberti revolving carbine.
He had to face off about .018.
And an Uberti revolving carbine uses the same replacement cylinder as the standard Uberti Remington 1858.
Old Dragoon posted:
"I would alter the cylinder face if I had a lathe.

I refaced a Pietta Cylinder(R & D) to fit an Uberti revolving Carbine. I took about twice what you are taking off. I did it with a flat file and Dial mic's to assure flatness of the face. I checked the cylinder at all the hour numbers of a clock face to insure I kept it flat. had I had a lathe it would have been much simpler. I say mill the face of the cylinder on the lathe and cold blue,(Birchwood-Casey Super Blue is good) and apply several coats per instructions, it will wear faster than the original blue, but the original blue wears pretty fast as well. I took off .018 on mine.

This worked for me and the cylinder then fit the Uberti and my Euroarms Remy's as well. The Uberti Conversions fit the Euroarms Remys anyway.
Could be you got a Pietta cylinder for an Uberti gun?? Uberti's cylinders are shorter than the Pietta's by about the amount you need to remove."

See post #2. --->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...er-fitting-on-1858-remmy.298284/#post-3661751

 

[HisSoldier]

"Uberti's cylinders are shorter than the Pietta's by about the amount you need to remove."

Thanks, as mentioned the replacement (Additional) cylinder fit the blued Uberti frame perfectly, I suppose it's possible the owner I bought it from opened the frame up slightly, but he had only the Uberti cylinder originally so it had to have been open at the factory to accept the 2.117" cylinder.
I do have an abundance of machine tools but a serious lack of risk taking mentality, and I know the extra cylinder can be easily faced to fit the new frame but what I don't know is whether or not it will be timed correctly if I do that.

I did fire the replacement cylinder in the Pietta even knowing the locking lug recesses were over width, side to side of course. Since the Pietta locking lug is narrower I was concerned that the timing would be off but it could not be discerned from shooting it. I should have shot it with cardboard on both sides to show lead spitting.

But facing the cylinder will not change the timing of the extra cylinder and I wouldn't know until doing it, or, perhaps as I suggested, I might be able to set up test equipment that could check the timing, not an easy task. It would amount to making a simple frame with a test gage pin hole that would fit the cylinder's chamber, and another gage that would test the recess position relative to the new revolver's original cylinder.

After all that, if the recesses were in the exact same positions it would be safe to face the cylinder to length without any concern for timing.