new uberti 1860 army jammed

[pandamonium]

*Noob alert *

Hi there. I'm a total noob to blackpowder and it seems that I've got myself into a pickle without even firing yet . So I just purchased an uberti rep of an 1860 colt army. A lovely piece to my eyes now only to get it to operate.....

Just checking the action out of the box, I cocked the hammer to half and the cylinder was able to freely rotate as it should. After, I went to full cock(I may have returned back to base before- I forget) and then tried returning to half and it now seems locked up with the hammer about half way. It is not at full cock as the trigger is stuck, and the cylinder will not rotate.

So fellows, what do you believe to have happened and how to rectify the situation? Thank you kindly. I obviously have much to learn but really want to get into this.

 

[kituwa]

Try hold the trigger back lightly while you turn the cylinder.May have to turn a little hard on the cylinder but that usually unlocks them.That happens once in a while if you dont fully cycle the hammer.

 

[BHP FAN]

try pulling the wedge, disassemble and re-assemble it. make sure there's a slight gap between the cylinder and the rear of the barrel. they shouldn't quite touch.

 

[Texas Moon]

It's broken. Totally unusable. Please send it to me for disposal.

Naaaa.......just kidding.
Try the trick listed above: light trigger pull while gently cocking the hammer. Don't force tho.

 

[pandamonium]

Thank you much folks, kituwa's response did the trick Phew, that was easy . And now on to spittin' some lead...

 

[kituwa]

Glad it worked out for you. What BHP FAN said was lagit too though, sometimes they will jam like that from powder fowling or if they suffer from what we call the short arbour syndrome.There are a few tricky things you will run up against with a cap and ball revolver but when you do the guys here can almost always walk you through a fix.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Just checking the action out of the box, I cocked the hammer to half and the cylinder was able to freely rotate as it should. After, I went to full cock(I may have returned back to base before- I forget) and then tried returning to half and it now seems locked up with the hammer about half way. It is not at full cock as the trigger is stuck, and the cylinder will not rotate.

Howdy

What you experienced is completely normal. You just don't understand how the mechanism works. Pulling the hammer back all the way allows the bolt to pop up and lock the cylinder, just as it is supposed to. From full cock, lowering the hammer any amount will keep the cylinder locked up. The bolt will not retract again until the hammer goes all the way forward and is cocked again. The bolt arm has to pop over the cam on the hammer, and this happens just as the hammer goes all the way down. Once the bolt arm pops over the cam, the entire process happens again.

What you did is lower the hammer to half cock. There is an overhanging ledge on the half cock notch. It traps the sear ( the top of the trigger) in the notch. This is so you can load the gun from half cock and not worry about accidentally tripping the hammer. But since you did not allow the hammer to go down all the way, the bolt did not reset. If you pull the hammer back again from half cock, it will lock up and pulling the trigger will allow the hammer to fall, again resetting the bolt. But don't pull the trigger and allow the hammer to fall on naked nipples, it can damage them. Also, don't yank too hard on the trigger while the hammer is at the half cock position. That overhanging lip on the hammer notch is very fragile, as is the tip sear. Pulling hard on the trigger with the hammer at half cock can easily break off either the over hanging lip, or the sear. Trust me on this.

As a general rule, with revolvers like yours that have the basic Colt style lockwork, it is never a good idea to lower the hammer from half cock. This helps cause a ring around the cylinder. ALWAYS pull the hammer all the way back to full cock from half cock, never lower the hammer from half cock. Pull the hammer all the way back, then pull the trigger and with your thumb on the hammer spur lower the hammer all the way gently.

When loading, set the hammer at half cock. Only load 5 chambers, not all six. Once loaded, pull the hammer all the way back, then carefully lower it onto the uncapped nipple.