Colt New Line 22 Repair

[WestKentucky]

I recently won a penny auction on gunbroker for a neat old Colt. It’s a New Line 22, and information on these old guns is pretty scarce. Mine is a first model, 27xx serial range. It’s rough, but that’s to be expected from a 140 year old gun bought on gunbroker for the princely sum of $0.26. 20 bucks shipping, 20 bucks transfer.

I finally got around to taking a few pictures to document condition and to start figuring out what all needs done.

The good

It seems complete less the grips. The gunbroker seller told me he bought the gun specifically for the grips to finish another gun in much better condition. Everything tries to work, just needs some help due to really weak springs and crud inside the action. The mainspring is good though, hammer nose is nearly perfect, and the timing is good. Lockup will be good once I free and replace the broken cylinder pin.

The bad

There are realistically 2 important pieces with significant damage, and one more that I will likely destroy in the process of disassembly since it appears the gun has been in the hands of Bubba Smith at some point in which a flathead screw was either replaced and ground smooth, or was potentially filled with material prior to the nickel finishing and engraving. One of the damaged pieces is on the opposite end of said bolt holding the whole shebang together, and it appears to either be a handmade reproduction, or a grossly abused original. It will function though so it will be the last piece replaced assuming I don’t destroy the frame in the process. I will try to free the screw without damaging the frame, but should I reach the point of no return I will drill a pilot and use a broken bolt extractor to remove it and open up the action. The other part with significant damage is the cylinder pin. It is broken off at what appears to have once been the narrowed locking point. Not a huge deal since I can access it through the hammer slot and push it out, but it is currently rust-fused to the cylinder. It is pretty crusty, but has to come out because it is loose on both ends preventing solid lockup.

The ugly

This brass side plate is just downright fugly. If I reuse the part (doubtful if used long term) I will cover it with something decorative.

So the task list at this point is:

1. Sideplate removal to open action and clean it up
2. Cylinder pin removal
3. Cylinder pin replacement
4. Small spring replacement for the hand, the trigger, and the cylinder stop.
5. Fit all the new parts.
6. Find the elusive powderless 22 ammo, looks like it has to be shorts due to cylinder length.
7. Reassemble and final inspect
8. Build a test fire rig
9. Test fire
10. Produce grips.
11. Produce period correct (1870-1880) gamblers hideout holster, probably suspender style or shoulder blade carry rig....exaggerated yawn/scratch produces pistol once arms come down...

The pics below show the function of the bits, and current condition.

I will post as many pics as I can along the way. Time is not abundant, but I’m excited so once the kids are in the bed I will be working on this project to bring this little lady back to life.

 

[WestKentucky]

Just for size reference and to show that ugly part...

 

[LoneGoose]

Man, I'm gonna be following this closely. Good luck with it.

 

[Mauser lover]

Watching! Have fun!

 

[WestKentucky]

Baby step or huge leap forward, not real sure...but progress thanks to some ATF and WD40.

Cylinder is out, checks out safe, frame window checks out safe. BC gap is big but serviceable. I may shim the cylinder forward to fix that issue.

But this comes with a small setback. The brass frame is wobbled out at the rear where the cylinder pin locks in. It’s not bad, but will require fixing. I will probably just push the metal back into position since it’s a powderless ammo gun anyway. If I can get it secure at the rear it’s gonna be ready to fire VERY quickly.

 

[WestKentucky]

Some measurements I couldn’t find online...
I’m over typing this one to help Google find us...

Colt New Line 22 Cylinder Pin Measurements pin diameter .149”

Cylinder pin hole dims at .150”. There is either a tiny bushing in my cylinder or a tiny ring of rust. Very uniform if it’s rust, but I’m inclined to believe that it’s rust.

Colt New Line Cylinder Length overall 1.0005” with chamber portion dimming at .842. Front of cylinder nose sits proud of the chamber portion by .099. Ratchet star sits .051 to .053 proud of the chamber portion.

Dims may not match up perfectly, but this is the best I can do, digital and dial caliper match closely, and both are in calibration on a 1-2-3 block.

 

[WestKentucky]

Rear slot for cylinder pin.

If I had a better angle I would overbore this pin hole, tap it, thread in a very short length of bolt, and redrill this hole, but I don’t have any way to do it. I do have access to plenty low temp brazing material in case I need to build it up, but I’m trying not to alter the frame.

Pic added

 

[WestKentucky]

One more cylinder pin measurement that I can get right away, since the hammer face is the limiting point inside the frame I held hammer tightly down and dropped the tail down to measure and got this from hammer face to exterior face of the frame.

 

[WestKentucky]

.156 drill rod + drill press + metal file = this

I don’t yet have a lathe, but it’s coming soon enough.

I sat the drill press table near the bottom of the steel dowel right against the dowel so that it wouldn’t deflect much while working it. Used the corner of the file to turn it down to .149 and once close I started checking it in the gun for fit. It’s very tight, but not press fit. Polished with 220 sandpaper after I was happy with fit.

 

[WestKentucky]

Used a hacksaw on the drill press table to cut grip grooves and part off the pin. It looks almost professional. This tremendously helps lockup. Now I realistically just need springs and proper ammo....grips to come later. Function before finish is my M.O.

 

[Mauser lover]

Here's the top option from Ammoseek!

https://www.laxammo.com/cci-cb-22-short-29-gr-lrn-100-rds-0026-detail

These are CB Shorts. Somewhere I heard that they don't have powder... Although I can't see it on the page.

Here are BB shorts here...

https://www.foundry35.com/products/...ead-bb-low-noise-150-pack?variant=46488430154

But they are more expensive...

 

[WestKentucky]

I have a small gun show locally this weekend, free admission and cheap tables. Should be interesting. I will take stuff to trade off. Possibly some case knives and 25acp ammo from the early 1900s with decent boxes, might catch a collectors interest. Only thing I’m looking for is colibri ammo and reloading stuff, but a cheap gun might get the best of me again.

 

[WestKentucky]

This is what I’m after. https://www.cabelas.com/product/Aguila-Colibri-LR-Subsonic-Rimfire-Ammunition/2324179.uts

 

[straightshooterjake]

Yes, Colibri rounds seem like the right choice to have some fun with an antique of unknown metallurgy. They are the only low power rounds I am aware of with no powder, only priming compound. They are also the only rounds which I have found to be pretty quiet from pistol length barrels.

CB shorts are low powered, but they are very different from the Colibri rounds. CB rounds do have powder, and while they are very quiet from rifle length barrels, they are surprisingly loud from a pistol. If we compare the foot pounds of energy, the CB rounds have about 33 foot pounds and the Colibri rounds less than 8, so there is a big difference. I know that people do often use CB rounds in very old guns, and I am sure they do not make too much pressure, but still a lot more than the Colibris.

I would also mention that for all of these rounds, one should be aware of ricochets. These low power projectiles ricochet very easily, sometimes off surfaces that would not deflect a normal bullet. These rounds can also bounce back in the general direction of the shooter more easily than most stronger rounds. Using the normal cautions for firearms will largely alleviate these issues, but even these low power rounds do require respect.

 

[Mauser lover]

What about the BB Shorts from RWS? The Aguila looks like it is LR length, or at least .22 Long sized. Don't you need shorts?

Just don't trade off this Colt! We want to see the range report!

 

[WestKentucky]

Cylinder on this colt is .84" the Colibri ammo as measured by other THR users is .80 so it works.

And this is the oldest gal in my safe at the moment, and the smallest, and the cutest, and the only colt...So I reckon it will stay for a while. I will definitely put a bunch of rounds through it before I pass it along.

 

[WestKentucky]

The action. Pretty simple but I know I’m missing 3 springs. I am assuming they were simply destroyed by age and rust as I had to do some destructive work on both screws to get them loose as they were badly corroded. Sadly the screw through the frame had to have an easy-out used on it since the screw slot was filled at some point.

 

[WestKentucky]

Made springs. Things kinda work, needs tweaked. This brass frame SUCKS. It’s corroded thinner than the originally thin wall at the hammer pivot screw hole. I ripped through that paper thin wall with 2 finger tension. Not a huge setback since this ones collector interest is toast anyways. I will go back with a slotted buttonhead screw on it which will be supported by the thicker portion of the frame, and which will stress the frame less. I don’t understand why they didn’t do that from the factory as it would have been a quicker, easier, and therefore cheaper method than this cluster-you-know-what that was used.

 

[Jimkounter]

Any update? I've got a first run
32 rimfire New Line in the first 500 made in 1873 which I'm currently restoring. Unusually it uses a different bolt and cam setup, more usually found on the 1873 SAA and earlier revolver like the 1851 Navy.

As soon as my gunsmith is done reforming the cam on the hand I'll post some pics

 

[WestKentucky]

Not really much to update. Life has gotten busy and I haven’t touched the little gun in a while. I have worked on it and got it to a point where it either rotates the cylinder properly, or allows for hammer travel properly, but not both. The problem there being that the brass frame has worn at the slot where the hand comes through the frame and it has been deformed. I have fired the colibri ammunition in it with the hand removed and it shoots well, but it is truly a pain in the butt to rotate that tiny cylinder by hand for each shot. I’m pretty close to calling it quits on this one. The frame is just too far gone from use and from corrosion. It would not be very difficult to reproduce a much better frame (using hardened aluminum even would be better than the original brass). I may take that on when time permits, but if I’m doing that I will probably buy a commercially heat treated cylinder for a more modern 22 cartridge and lengthen the window in the frame to accept the longer case.

It’s a neat gun, but it’s too far gone to do much more with it.