Arbor Shimming

[whughett]

Fella's I have been following this thread with great interest , my Pietta 1860 doesn't have a big C/B clearance, mine is .004-.005.
I'm just having a lot of difficulty visualizing this whole "shimming process".

Does anyone here have any pics or video of the "operation" ?.
Sometimes the written word doesn't do it for me,,, I need pics..

I googled it but didn't really find anything that simply explained it.

I new those 5 years of collage were wasted on me,,,.

Thanks gents,,, &,,,, ladies..

Thank you for asking the question I did not want to. Any way just cleared up minor problems on both the 1860 and an 1862 Police. Using my set of wad punches I cut paper shims, actually on the 1860 I used waxed milk carton over powder wads until the correct clearance was achieved. Now Ill mike these and find some cooper sheet stock. the wad punches should work on that. Until then I'll just leave the paper ones in place and try the guns the guns with that.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Don't know why people have such a tough time with steel washers. They'll use brass, copper, split washers, after asking "what should I use?" If its important enough for you to fix it, why not use what's already there which is steel or, why even ask? Just do what your going to and let us know how it works.
The important parts of your revolver are steel and these shims are just as important!
I would never send a revolver out with anything other than steel shim stock so , do what you want and keep trying to reinvent what's already been done! I'm sure someone is working on square wheels for cars somewhere . . .

I know!!!! Kevlar!!!


Mike
www.great.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

 

[BCRider]

Mike, I think it's a case of so many of us thinking that anything used on a "gun" needs to be something exotic. We read about and fuss over precision fits and talk about ideal fits of this and that. It's so overwhelming that many of us don't realize that "simple is good" in a lot of cases.

In my case I made buttons only because the guns I've done so far needed shimming with thicknesses which were greater than the thickness/diameter of any washers I had on hand and I simply didn't want to use two of them stacked together. And given how much I like to focus on hand tools it was a matter of around 5 minutes to make up a suitable button in the raw and another 10 to 15 minutes to dress it down to a proper fit using a lot of trial and trim until it was right.

Ol Fuff, you suggested turning the barrel so the heel didn't line up with the frame and measure the overlap. For some odd reason it doesn't work in a lot of cases. One of them was because the arbor was not fully round for whatever reason. Or maybe the wedge had deformed the arbor at the slot over time. Whatever the reason it would not go on the arbor other then when lined up. In another case I measured and made a shim only to find that it was nowhere close in the final fit. Seems that any angle in the arbor sets us up for a bad measurement which doesn't work when that shim is in place and the arbor is pulled back into line by the pins on the heel. So I gave up on that and have gone with starting a touch over size and trimming to fit for the desired gap.

 

[Old Fuff]

Ol Fuff, you suggested turning the barrel so the heel didn't line up with the frame and measure the overlap. For some odd reason it doesn't work in a lot of cases.

I am aware of that, but it's the easiest way to show someone who is totally lost why shimming the arbor hole in the barrel may (and usually is with some makes) be necessary. I took a calculated risk that with the cylinder removed and the barrel turned sideways it would go too far and illustrate the point in question.

 

[BCRider]

True, and you're right that it's a perfect way to show why it's needed along with the companion description of what the wedge is supposed to do in a proper fitted gun.