New Pietta (Cabelas) 1860, Return?

[huduguru]

New to C&B revolvers and just bought a Pietta 1860 .44 from
Cabelas. The timing seems to be good, but the fore and aft
play of the cylinder seems excessive. Couple of questions:

Is the front of the cylinder supposed to be able to touch the
forcing cone at the extreme forward part of travel? How
much end shake is acceptable for an 1860?

Is the hammer supposed to contact the nipples without a cap
attached?

Thanks

 

[junkman_01]

The design of C&B revolver is such that the cylinder is supposed to move forward and backward. In the forward postion they touch the barrel. When pushed backward, the barrel to cylinder gap s/b anywhere from about .006-.012 inches. Some say that the hammer should not touch the nipples, but I've found that very few reproductions are like that. All my reproductions touch the nipples. HTH.

 

[huduguru]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check the gap..

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

With any Colt 'open top' type C&B revolver the barrel/cylinder gap depends on how far the wedge is driven it. Tap it in a little bit farther and the gap closes. This also causes the barrel to point up ever so slightly, but not enough to matter for most distances.

I have a couple of the Pietta 1860s that I bought from Cabelas a couple of yeas ago. I just checked and the barrel gap on them is set to about .008. After cleaning I just drive the wedge in until the barrel gap looks about right, I don't usually get a feeler gauge out to check. After you get familiar with it you will probably do the same.

Yes, the hammer contacts all the nipples on both of my 1860s.

Shooters claim the hammer does not strike the nipples on the Ruger Old Army. I do not own one so I cannot verify this. Percussion caps are only a few thousandths thick. In order to have reliable ignition it must be tough to keep the tolerances just right so that the hammer does not strike the nipples but still sets off caps reliably. Couple this with the fact that many shooters substitute after market nipples in their C&B revolvers and the tolerance stack up might get even worse.

 

[junkman_01]

If the wedge influences the B/C gap, then the arbor is too short. The wedge holds the barrel on. It is not designed to adjust the B/C gap. That is a failing of a lot of reproduction Colt pattern revolvers.

The ROA is built like a modern revolver. It doesn't have any noticeable 'end shake. The hammer also does not contact the nipples.

 

[buttrap]

Doubt the arbor is the issue in this case as Pietta seems to be pretty spot on with the arbor spacing.

 

[Hellgate]

To set the gap fold a piece of typing/copy paper in half and place it between the barrel and the cylinder as you tap in the wedge. As soon as it grabs the paper stop tapping in the wedge and you will have a .007" gap. Most copy paper is .0035" thick. Folded it is .007" which is the gap I have used for many years to my satisfaction on my many poorly made Italian repros.

 

[junkman_01]

Doubt the arbor is the issue in this case as Pietta seems to be pretty spot on with the arbor spacing.

Only recent Piettas have a proper arbor length. Older ones are short just as Ubertis are.

 

[huduguru]

Just checked the gap, it is .008, which sounds acceptable.
Guess I was a little concerned about the end shake though..

Oh ya, how loud are the caps alone when they are fired?

I need to get some caps, powder and lead and go make some smoke.

 

[junkman_01]

Caps are pretty LOUD.

 

[Noz]

jinkman is 100% correct.


"If the wedge influences the B/C gap, then the arbor is too short. The wedge holds the barrel on. It is not designed to adjust the B/C gap. That is a failing of a lot of reproduction Colt pattern revolvers."

 

[Hoof Hearted]

The pre 1873 (1871/72 also) designs, commonly referred to as "opentops" utilize a ONE stage hand which has to have a certain amount of "space" in order to be able to comlete it's arc without trying to climb over the ratchet tooth or it will bind.

Because there is no "gas ring" at the front of the cylinder in this early design the total amount of headspace and cylinder gap presents itself as "endshake" to the un-initiated!

No I am not trying to pontificate......I just put my thinking cap on this morning!

Regards, HH