Loading Lever woes

[ak-kev]

Hello guys, Im so enjoying the black powder part of my shooting. It seems that I always take a BP revolver out when we go. I alternate my other guns, but at least 2 BP guns go out with me every time. In fact I cant make my powder as fast as Im shooting it. Im having to buy powder now and man, its expensive. Thats topic is for another day though.

I need advice on my loading lever on the Dragoon. Its the vertical style and I cant seem to get it to stop dropping. I've had issues like this before on '51's and I fixed them without much trouble, but this one just wont stop. I've lightly refiled the angle and put a spacer in the spring hole to compress the spring a little more putting more pressure against the latch but it still keeps dropping. Do you guys have any secrets that would help me out? I would really appreciate it, Kevin.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Put a rubber band around the barrel & lever, and then shoot away, If that's not period enough for you then make it a leather thong.

 

[Pulp]

Someone much smarter than me posted here a couple of years ago with the simplest solution of all. If it bothers you that much, then take it off before shooting. Heck, it's only one screw.

 

[ak-kev]

I appreciate it guys but I just like things to work the way they were designed to. I cant expect anything more, but nothing less either.

 

[72coupe]

Take a hack saw blade and deepen and square up the notch on the end of the catch.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Unfortunately the design just wasn't all that it was intended to be, hence the later models utilized an improved and better design.

 

[J-Bar]

Can you have as much fun shooting somewhat lighter loads? Reducing recoil a bit should help.

Or maybe gumming up the hinge in the loading lever itself, getting it tacky so it won't fall so easily? Or putting a thin shim in the hinge to increase friction?

 

[kBob]

If I understand you, you have the lever lock from the earliest models of Dragoon. As Colt replaced that with the design seen on the 1849/51/60 et al I would not expect it to work as well.....that would be why they changed it.

That said I think I would go over to the Walker Club and look at their solutions for dropping levers. I rather like the copper/brass clip some of them use. It appears to be two diameters of copper tubing slit and sodered together and slipped over both the barrel and the lever.

Over the weekend near G'ville every time I got ready to go stink up the back yard and annoy the neightbors it rained, despite the weatherman saying zero percent chance of rain.....oh wait, we washed the cars Saturday morning, my fault.

-kBob