First 1873 Single Action

[RetiredUSNChief]

Howdy Again

I never meant to imply that simply working the action will normally cause a screw to loosen. That is certainly a problem.

And I certainly did not mean to imply anything untoward in my previous posting.

You bring up a good point about standards, Driftwood. Even by today's standards we occasionally see fastener issues, though the majority of them are often due to not following the standards themselves.

Maintaining fastener tightness is a function of several things, of which thread tolerances are only a part. The material itself, the various locking devices, and torquing pretty much comprise the remaining.

The washers you mention were one solution. Unfortunately, by your description, they were inadequately maintained, likely due to errors on Colt's part, either due to omission or ignorance. The washers likely would have been perfectly adequate had they understood, and passed it along to Colt owners, that they are a "use once, then replace" item. In otherwords, if you every remove the screw, replace the washer with a new one.

Sometimes engineering requirements are dictated this way, and with good reason. For example, in my world, there are some multi-position electrical rotary switches which come with a screw used to limit switch position to a specified number of positions. If this screw is ever removed, the technical manuals require that the screw be replaced with a new one in order to prevent it from backing out. Likewise for used self-locking nuts.

There's absolutely no reason to slather it all over the threads! Just a dab under the head of the screw is all you need.

Mike

You're right...there is no need to slather locking compound all over the threads. That's WAY too much. All it takes is a small dot on the threads and no more. Take a look, if you ever get an opportunity, at small screws that come with locking compound on them. Not knowing better, you'd swear it's nowhere near enough...but it is!

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

The washers likely would have been perfectly adequate had they understood, and passed it along to Colt owners, that they are a "use once, then replace" item. In otherwords, if you every remove the screw, replace the washer with a new one.

Well, my 2nd Gen with the washers was about 40 years old when I bought it. But I doubt if Colt was making those silly little plastic washers available. They were in the guns when new, but after the screws had been removed a few times the little washers were torn to shreds. I simply threw them away and got used to tightening the screws every few hundred rounds.

The gun at the top of the photo is the one that had the silly plastic washers. As I recall, they were only under the heads of the backstrap and trigger guard screws. The trigger, bolt, and hammer screws did not have the washers. The one at the bottom is a little bit older, it left the factory in 1968. It was a parts gun, and before I bought it somebody had removed all the blue in an effort to 'antique' it. So there were no plastic washers that came with it. Interestingly enough, of the two of them, the short barrelled one is more prone to screws backing out than the long barrelled one. Particularly the three screws that hold the trigger guard on.

 

[38riverrat]

Bicycle mechanics use Linseed oil as a non curing threadlocker, on spoke nipple threads, to keep the spokes from loosening under vibration. It works because it gets "gummy". Natures own loctite! I have heard of beeswax being used for the same purpose. Sailors would use Pine tar.

Best,
Rick

 

[dbldown74]

Finally had a chance to break it all down today. Mechanically everything is fine.
I'm not sure if this was assembled by Uberti or Taylor but there was some type of thread locker on a few screws particularly the trigger guard. Putting a dab of loctite on the bolt screw should solve my problem.
Thanks for all the information.

 

[Fishslayer]

Perhaps this is the "norm". But the engineer in me does not accept screws loosening under design loads as something that is to be considered "OK". Fastening hardware should come loose only when someone actually loosens them and not before.

You probably wouldn't enjoy an older Harley Davidson.

Took awhile for somebody at Smith & Wesson to figure that a left hand thread on the extractor rod might be a good idea. As I understand it those were usually gun specific. Some would loosen up spontaneously, some wouldn't.

 

[Speedo66]

You probably wouldn't enjoy an older Harley Davidson.

If only it were screws backing out and not parts breaking from nothing more than vibration. I had to replace the tail light bracket on my '77 XLCR Cafe Sportster three times before I sold it. The last time the tail light assembly lodged itself between the rear tire and the swingarm.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

You probably wouldn't enjoy an older Harley Davidson.

Indeed, I would not! I read too much about their quality suckage of years gone by. There was no excuse for that. They're very lucky to still be around...they had to take a serious turn of events to survive, and I'm glad they did.

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, too much of HD's reputation is based on the long-gone AMF days.

 

[Speedo66]

IMHO, too much of HD's reputation is based on the long-gone AMF days.

I had a new Evo Sportster that stranded me twice within two weeks of ownership, nothing to do with AMF. It was quickly gotten rid of. I flew it over to Sweden, toured around Europe with it for a few weeks, and finally sold it in Germany. Probably set back German-American relations for years. lol

Thankfully, H-D doesn't make guns.

 

[Red Cent]

Stroll through a cowboy match and watch the Marlin lever gun owners checking the screws. The Uberti 1873 lever screw is notorious for coming loose. The loss of an ejection housing off a single action along with the rod, screw, and spring is not surprising. I use three screws, Uberti 1873, and a real Winchester 1897. The shotgun screws never get loose.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Stroll through a cowboy match and watch the Marlin lever gun owners checking the screws. The Uberti 1873 lever screw is notorious for coming loose. The loss of an ejection housing off a single action along with the rod, screw, and spring is not surprising. I use three screws, Uberti 1873, and a real Winchester 1897. The shotgun screws never get loose.

One thing we have failed to mention is that Uberti uses screws that are made from very soft steel. Much softer than the steel Colt or S&W, or anybody else uses. It is very easy to bugger up the screw slots on an Uberti screw because the steel is so soft. Uberti also torques their screws in very tight at the factory. Years ago I made up a story about Bongo the gorilla who wanders around the Uberti factory at night, torque driver in hand, over tightening every screw in sight. Try removing the magazine cap screw from an Uberti 1866 or 1873 some time without clamping the magazine in a vice, a risky proposition because it is easy to crush the magazine.

My point is, upon thinking about this for a few days now, I'm surprised the OP's screw backed out so easily. Perhaps it was Bongo's night off.

 

[dickydalton]

And here I thought I was the only one that stole the wife's nail polish!

 

[CraigC]

I had a new Evo Sportster that stranded me twice within two weeks of ownership, nothing to do with AMF. It was quickly gotten rid of. I flew it over to Sweden, toured around Europe with it for a few weeks, and finally sold it in Germany. Probably set back German-American relations for years. lol

Thankfully, H-D doesn't make guns.

Seems to me that your experience is the exception, rather than the rule.