Colt Magnum Carry question

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juneau803

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My bolt timing is giving me fits. It picks up instantly but as soon as it is out of the groove it drops and rides the cylinder until lock-up. It almost looks like it's supposed to do that. It has a similiar bolt timing mechanism as the J/V/AA frame but is on a D frame. The only similarity to the D inards is the mainspring.
I know the J/V/AA bolt timing mechanism is supposed to pick up and not drop until the next groove, but the Magnum Carry is puzzeling to me. Did Colt do this on purpose?

I can't find much information about the magnum carry on the web and
Kuhnhausen doesn't seem to address the SFVI.

Any advice will be appreciated.
 
Your Magnum Carry is in proper adjustment.

Colt's design for the "SF" framed guns like the Magnum Carry is a modified Colt Trooper Mark III/King Cobra action, BUT for some reason Colt changed the timing to drop the bolt even earlier than on those guns.

One concern I had about the "SF" guns, was that if the bolt assembly wore any amount, the cylinder might fail to unlock at all.

The timing is VERY close, appearing to drop almost instantly after unlocking.

Only time will tell how well the bolt assembly will wear, but since Colt timed it so close, I'm assuming that it'll wear OK, and not cause problems.
 
Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear

dfariswheel,

Thank you so much for that info!!! I was hoping I wouldn't have to mess with it as the bolt and trigger mechanism seemed fine and the gun is not that old.

I'm wondering if the fact that the magnum carry is stainless that Colt said the heck with drop timing , the cylinder won't wear very much. Still, to have the bolt actually riding the cylinder goes against all logic.

I do my own work on my colt's, primarily D and I frames so this problem just threw me.

Thanks again!!
 
Still, to have the bolt actually riding the cylinder goes against all logic.
Click to expand...
Never seemed to be a problem these past 100+ years with S&W revolvers.

But I admit that I do admire the looks of a nicely broken in Colt revolver with a cylinder without the drag line.

But sooner or later you get a line on a Colt DA just from closing the cylinder.
 
Still, to have the bolt actually riding the cylinder goes against all logic.
Click to expand...

I'd say not -- here's why. If the gun is set up so the bolt drops as late as possible, there's the chance that it may not lock the cylinder in time under some circumstances (rapid fire, for example). Since the consequences of that could be disasterous, it's better to design and manufacture the gun to be fail-safe.
 
good point!!!

Thanks for the comments. Upon hearing them I realize that I've been too focused on getting my colt's working well that I've been neglecting my Smith. I just dusted off my Model 29 and saw what you mean. Makes sense.

I do appreciate the expertise on this forum. I live in Alaska and the nearist revolversmith is over 900 miles away. But I have been enjoying working on my own guns. My wife owns two Diamondbacks and I've had my trusty Python since 73. Over the years I have shot many deer with it.

I started tinkering with the Diamondbacks when I noticed they were not as smooth as my Python. I've managed to improve them greatly but had to read the Kuhnhausen books like they were good novels.

Anyway's, thanks for the advice gentlemen, I'm sure glad I found this forum....
 
With the old Colt actions like the Python, in double action fire, it's possible for the cylinder to rotate TOO far, and actually rotate past the locking notch.

This is known as "cylinder throw-by".
Throw-by is possible to induce in even a properly tuned older Colt, especially if the trigger is pulled with a jerky, or hesitant pull.

Colt pretty well solved this problem with the new action first used in the Trooper Mark III series and continued into the King Cobra and Anaconda.
In these actions, the method of operation is closer to the S&W than Colt system, and the cylinder bolt rides on the cylinder for most of the rotation.

However, the "SF" frame went even farther, allowing the bolt to ride ALL THE WAY.
This works quite well, but, again any wear or mis-timing and the cylinder may get caught by the bolt before it rotates.

The old Colt actions did have an out-of-time condition where the bolt failed to retract far enough, fast enough.
In this condition, the cylinder was attempting to rotate while still partially locked by the bolt.
This would cause a "hard spot" in the trigger pull, and damage the cylinder locking notches by pulling metal out of the slot.

Something similar COULD happen to the "SF" frame if the trigger nose or actuating surface of the bolt wears slightly.
This would allow the bolt to drop back onto the cylinder TOO quickly, and before the cylinder has rotated enough to prevent the bolt from dropping right back into the same locking notch

I recommend checking the bolt operation on the Magnum Carry and other "SF" guns regularly.
 
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