Cylinder gap on a 58rem.
- Thread starter Eroc 51
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44 Dave
Member
Don't know the specifications, but the tighter the less fowling and burning on the cylinder pin.
Curator
Member
I try to keep a .005-.006" Cylinder/barrel gap on all my Cap & Ball revolvers. My 2 Remington '58 Arms revolvers have cylinder gaps of .005 and .006 as measured with automobile feeler gauges. My Whitney .36 Navy has a .007 gap. My Ruger Old Army has a cylinder gap of .004. Most of my Colt open tops can have the cylinder gap adjusted by driving the barrel wedge in a bit deeper.
Dog Soldier
member
Goon's Gun Works can make the B/P revolvers very dependable.
http://www.goonsgunworks.com/
http://www.goonsgunworks.com/
44 Dave
Member
If the cylinder/barrel gap, on an open top, can be changed with the wedge the arbor isn't right.The arbor should bottom in the barrel with the wedge "home".
The reason I ask is my 51 open top has almost no gap maybe .001 and my new 58 NM has around .006 just seemed like a lot to me but o e been reading & that seems to be normal .I hope it is anyway everything else on the gun is very good, timing perfect, wood grips fit very well
Panzerschwein
member
If Goon taught me anything, it's that tight is alright. 
Dog Soldier
member
Yes, I have been shooting B/P revolvers for over 50 years. I never knew how little I actually understood about them. Mike, explained everything that I always detested about B/P handguns. Mike installs a screw in the arbor that allows you to achieve the gap you need. He installs a cap retainer that works great and other things.
My problem with the Walker is it will lead up. Mike's improvement allows me to push a 225 grain LEE bullet up to 1,200 fps with T-7 powder. Problem is an alloy of BHN #5 can not sustain that much pressure and gas cuts. I love a problem like that.
Keep your loads with "Dead Lead" around 1,000 fps.
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm#grades
My problem with the Walker is it will lead up. Mike's improvement allows me to push a 225 grain LEE bullet up to 1,200 fps with T-7 powder. Problem is an alloy of BHN #5 can not sustain that much pressure and gas cuts. I love a problem like that.
Keep your loads with "Dead Lead" around 1,000 fps.
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm#grades
oldfogey4ever
Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2012
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The Remmy is a little different animal (and thus requires a different approach -) than the open-tops. The barrel-gap for a open-top is regulated by the arbor, but on a Remmy (whether Army [.44] or Navy [.36],) the barrel gap is regulated by the shoulder on the barrel itself, which nestles up against the frame.
To 'tighten' (reduce) the barrel gap on a Remmy you can go two very different ways. The best way would be to chuck it in a lathe and cut the shoulder back the correct amount to allow tighten up the cylinder-barrel clearance, as was done here.
Alternatively, should you find yerself lacking a lathe (as I did), you can still tighten up your cylinder gap (you do, however, take the risk of ruining your gun - it all depends upon your 'risk comfort level')!
What you need to do is simple, remove enough metal from the front of your frame so as to make your barrel (when seated to it's full depth in the frame again -) actually sit deeper within the cylinder recess or void in the frame. You need to first remove your barrel from the frame, and then you simply file or sand the front of your frame down the amount required to reduce your gap to your liking.
The bad thing is that you can remove to much metal (although, doing all this by hand, you'd really have to work hard at it - but still it could be done,) or (and this is what I feared I'd do when doing my gun -) "cant" the front of the frame to where the barrel would have a gap at either the top, one of the sides or the bottom of the barrel (you have to pay "anal" close attention to avoid this, as this would require taking your frame to a machine shop and having the whole front of your frame milled flat [expensive])!
Go slow, always stopping and re-screwing the barrel back in frequently (it's waaay to easy to remove too much, which opens another can of worms) to check the gap! If you have some experience cross-filing, you shouldn't have much problem (mine is a ss 1858 buffalo, had to both file and sand - all the way down to 3000 grit - to git it to my satisfaction, but it's a perfect fit now)!
To 'tighten' (reduce) the barrel gap on a Remmy you can go two very different ways. The best way would be to chuck it in a lathe and cut the shoulder back the correct amount to allow tighten up the cylinder-barrel clearance, as was done here.
Alternatively, should you find yerself lacking a lathe (as I did), you can still tighten up your cylinder gap (you do, however, take the risk of ruining your gun - it all depends upon your 'risk comfort level')!
What you need to do is simple, remove enough metal from the front of your frame so as to make your barrel (when seated to it's full depth in the frame again -) actually sit deeper within the cylinder recess or void in the frame. You need to first remove your barrel from the frame, and then you simply file or sand the front of your frame down the amount required to reduce your gap to your liking.
The bad thing is that you can remove to much metal (although, doing all this by hand, you'd really have to work hard at it - but still it could be done,) or (and this is what I feared I'd do when doing my gun -) "cant" the front of the frame to where the barrel would have a gap at either the top, one of the sides or the bottom of the barrel (you have to pay "anal" close attention to avoid this, as this would require taking your frame to a machine shop and having the whole front of your frame milled flat [expensive])!
Go slow, always stopping and re-screwing the barrel back in frequently (it's waaay to easy to remove too much, which opens another can of worms) to check the gap! If you have some experience cross-filing, you shouldn't have much problem (mine is a ss 1858 buffalo, had to both file and sand - all the way down to 3000 grit - to git it to my satisfaction, but it's a perfect fit now)!
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oldfogey4ever
Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2012
- Messages
- 61
Now just got to bead-blast the top of the dang thing along the top o' the frame and top 3 flats o' the barrel so's it'll quit blinding me when I go a'shooting (think might want to try my hand at etching it too, later!).
Sorry, forgot to mention that I used a piece of 20lb copy paper to set my gap (sorry, didn't have a mic nor calipers at the time, know that i took it down "2 threads deep", don't know what that is other than it was 2 threads on a Pietta 1858 Remington barrel)!
Snugged up the gap to the piece of paper (to where I could barely pull it loose from between the cylinder and barrel,) and called my modifications 'good e-nuff'!
Sorry, forgot to mention that I used a piece of 20lb copy paper to set my gap (sorry, didn't have a mic nor calipers at the time, know that i took it down "2 threads deep", don't know what that is other than it was 2 threads on a Pietta 1858 Remington barrel)!
Snugged up the gap to the piece of paper (to where I could barely pull it loose from between the cylinder and barrel,) and called my modifications 'good e-nuff'!
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