Help! with a 1851 Navy

[k1mri]

I just bought a 1851 Colt Navy made by Uberti. I never owned this type of firearm before so I'm a real newbie. I do not have any powder or anything else to fire it as of yet. I was just tring to get he feel for this gun but I already have a problem. When I pull the hammer back, it won't move unless I turn the cylinder slighty. It will then go to half-cock, then if I line up the hammer with an empty chamber I can put he hammer into full cock position and I can pull the trigger. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Is something out of position? The manual that came with this gun was not at all helpful. I thank you for any and all help.

 

[mothernatureson]

51 navy

try to tap the barrel wedge back out a bit, sometimes if the wedge is in too far, it binds the barrel to the cylinder.

 

[Josey]

I would tap the wedge out with a wooden mallet. Remove the barrel, cylinder and clean everything up. When new, Ubertis are usually full of gunk. Lube and reassemble. Don'tinsert the wedge too tightly.

 

[Jim K]

Hi, k1mri,

Is this a new gun? It sounds like a problem with the hand or ratchet or both. If it is new and cleaning and some oil does not work, return the gun. A percussion revolver should work just like any other single action revolver; when the hammer is cocked, the cylinder should rotate to bring the next chamber under the hammer. Then pulling the trigger lets the hammer fall to fire the gun, after which the hammer is cocked again for the next shot.

If the gun is used, the previous owner may have had the same problem and traded off his trouble or may even have caused the problem with some attempt at "smoothing up" the gun.

Jim

 

[Cap n Ball]

I agree with Jim and the others. Too tight of a wedge can bind the cylinder and there may be a problem with the hand or the ratchet. If the gun is used take it all apart and check the rear of the clyinder for worn or broken places. Look at the cylinder stops to see if they are not worn down from some dork spinning it at half cock. Actually, there could be several other reasons for the problem but start with wedge adjustment first. The gun should function very smoothly and with no binding or slippage. If you can't determine the problem either take it to a gunsmith that knows cap and ball revolvers or hang it on the wall and count it as a lesson learned. Don't pass it on to someone else to get hurt with or cause hard feeling. One of the first revolvers I owned was a brass framed Remington and I finally had to retire the piece when the brass got so worn that the cylinder pin hole in the frame became oversized and as a result the cylinder stops became worn and it wouldn't line up properly with the barrel when cocked. There was no way I would pass that on to someone else. What goes around comes around and I don't need no bad karma with guns.

 

[CR_OPSO]

I had a Uberti 1860 Army

My Uberti had similar problems. I don't remember exactly what it was doing (it was at least 10 years ago). I took it to a guy that knows cap and ball revolvers. He took out a small file and worked it over for a few seconds, put it back together, and it's been fine ever since. He didn't charge me either.
If the wedge being too tight isn't the problem, definitely take it to a smith that knows revolvers.

CR

 

[Dave Markowitz]

SELECTING, SHOOTING, AND CARING FOR
THE BLACK POWDER CAP AND BALL REVOLVER

Here's an article I wrote a few years ago which should help you out.

http://www.building-tux.com/dsmjd/tech/cap_ball.htm

(I know, I need to get the formatting cleaned up. Real soon now.)