SAA light hammer after 30 rounds

[dashootist]

After 30 rounds or so of 45 Colt cartridge ammo, my SAA-clone will start having very high rate of light strikes. For example, yesterday I fired 30 rounds successfully, but after that half of my ammo failed to go bang. It seems the hammer isn't striking hard enough. If I clean the barrel and the cylinder, I can fire another 30 rounds before getting a lot of light strikers. Is this normal for SAA? Or do I need to get a stronger spring?

 

[Old Fuff]

1. Is this revolver new to you, or did you buy it used?

2. Have you removed the backstrap and stocks (as a single unit) to be sure the mainspring screw is tight?

3. Is there any cylinder end-shake (back & forth movement of the cylinder)?

 

[rcmodel]

In general, SAA clones have mainsprings that would fire a round without a primer!
Most every one I have seen has way to strong a mainspring.

Follow Old Fuff's advice and check to see if the screw that holds the mainspring to the bottom of the trigger guard frame is tight.

Also, that someone didn't put a leather or rubber shim between the spring & the grip frame to lighten the hammer cocking effort.

Here is a parts breakdown.
http://www.coltparts.com/pt_saa1late.html

If you don't find anything there, excess endshake is another possibility. That lets the cylinder slide foreward further then the firing pin can reach.

Another possibility is reloads that have less then complete primer seating.
The high primers cushin the FP blow on the first strike and generally will fire on the second strike.

BTW: The part about not working after 30 rounds, then working again after cleaning has me pretty baffled??
That certainly is not normal for a SAA, at all, ever.

rc

 

[dashootist]

(1) Yes, this is a new revolver. I've put about 500 rounds of smokeless thru it before shooting black powder. I did not have any problem when shooting smokeless.
(2) Yes, I've taken the whole gun apart for cleaning. Screws are tight. There's no leather insert.
(3) There's a tiny bit of cylinder end shake, hardly noticeable.

.

 

[Old Fuff]

This is an unlikely cause, but when you make black powder loads exactly what primer, powder, powder charge and bullet are you using. If these failure to fire incidents only happen when you are using black powder loads that would seem to be the thing to examine first.

 

[sonier]

do you handload these?

 

[dashootist]

I reload smokeless. But, the blackpowder rounds are commercial. The BP rounds are from Buffaloarms.com. The BP brass is Starline, and the primer is seated very deep inside the pocket. When I reload smokeless with Winchester brass and Wolf primer, I could never get the primer as deep as the ones on Buffaloarms' Starline. My guess is the deeper primers on the BP rounds is the culprit.

By the way, I can feel the hammer on my other revolver, a 22LR Ruger, strikes much harder than my SAA-clone. I guess I should try new springs. But it's just wierd that the first 30 rounds always have no problem at all.

 

[Old Fuff]

I have no good reason to suspect the commercial B.P cartridges, but you might try loading some of your own just to see. A charge of black powder should be slightly compressed when the bullet's seated, and using a magnum primer (not more powerful, but longer burning) might help. When you're done wash off the fired cases in soapy water.

There is also a slim possibility that the company that made the cartridges got some bad primers from their supplier. You might ask.

 

[BHP FAN]

with cowboy action shooting's growing popularity,rapid revolver fire is the aim,so everybody is touting the new light from the factory hammer springs and light trigger pull.There's a REASON the old SAA's had a ''two thumb'' hammer,and that was to set off any primer, especially in the days when even factory loadede ammo was not always reliable.Try some Magtech Cowboy ammo from sportsman's guide , I've had real good luck with thier cowboy ammo,it's not black powder,but it's very mild loaded smokeless equivilant,in a neat ''old timey'' box, or get a stouter hammer spring from VTI Gunparts.

 

[dashootist]

BHP FAN,

VTI Gunparts only shows a stock factory spring made by Uberti for my Cattleman. Is this a strong spring? Or is it another one of those reduced spring?

 

[Old Fuff]

Is this a strong spring? Or is it another one of those reduced spring?

It should be a stronger spring, but if you have doubts order a mainspring for a Colt 1873 Single Action Army. It cost's more, but is a better quality spring.

The problem with the spring you have may be in the way it was tempered, and as a result it's too soft.

That said, since some 300 smokeless powder loads went off with no issues, I think the misfires are more likely to have been caused by the primers the manufacturer used in the B.P. ones, not the hammer spring.

 

[Oyeboten]

Is the Hammer rubbing against the Frame?

 

[dashootist]

Is the Hammer rubbing against the Frame?

I don't think so. I don't see any scratch marks.

 

[BHP FAN]

I replaced mine with the VTI spring and so far it is 100%.I got mine used and someone had ''cobra'd'' the spring [reshaped it for lighter pull] and it resulted in about a 10% failure rate....replaced it with the VTI spring,and all is well.

 

[w_houle]

Out of curiosity: Who made the SAA clone?

 

[BHP FAN]

This one is a EMF ''Dakota'' 7 1/2'' with silver grip frame in .45 Colt.I believe it's a Armi San Marco.

 

[rcmodel]

Couple more things to check.

Assuming you have enough firing pin protrusion to reach the primer?
It may be rubbing on the frame just before it hits the primer.

The old style Colt FP was cone shaped and fixed solid in the hammer. Your clone may have this type of firing pin.

Later versions of the Colt have a radius cut behind the tip, and are free to move up & down slightly in the hammer to self-align with the hole.

With the old style FP, fit and hammer length from the hammer screw hole to the FP hole in the hammer, as well as the angle of the FP hole in the hammer, is very critical. (Also the frame screw hole to FP hole distance.)
If everything is not exactly right in either the hammer or the frame, the FP will hit the inside of the hole through the recoil plate and deaden the full force blow.

If you find wear marks on the top or bottom of the FP near the tip, it is not aligned properly with the hole in the recoil shield and will need some metal relieved to provide proper clearance.

rc