Uberti 1861 range report

[jgh4445]

I bought this one from via a GB auction. It was described as "unfired by me and as far as I know, unfired by anyone". "Has very light turn line on the cylinder". It was further described as having been a gift and having sat in a glass case for a couple of years. Like new. Now the rest of the story.

I got it and the first thing I noticed was one of the studs for the shoulder.. stock was missing. Not really a big deal as I could get a replacement. The " light turn line" turned out to be some pretty deep marks where the bolt was gouging the notches. It would not go to half cock. I posted about this and got a lot of good advice from the members here. Upon tearing it down, I could not find any evidence of it ever having been fired. No powder residue anywhere. The bolt was worn down and the half cock notch appeared to have been "mashed" closed, for lack of a better term. The top of the trigger was messed up a bit too. I think someone had treated it roughly at some point. Anyway...
I bought a new trigger, filed the half cock notch open again, bought a new bolt and a new trigger spring. Got them all installed and everything seemed to work fine.

Took it to the range and started with Rem #10 caps. On the third shot it locked up completely. Hammer would not go back, cylinder would not turn etc. Didn't have the correct screw drivers with me so I took it home expecting to find a broken trigger spring as everyone at the range is always telling me to replace those flat springs with the wire kind!..Anyway...
I got it home pulled it apart and everything looked fine. No broken springs. I did find a cap jammed way down in the hammer shroud. Cleaned that up and the action worked fine. Took it back to the range yesterday and tried again, this time with Rem # 11's. Jam on the first shot, locked up. I was prepared this time and tore it down and found another cap in the innards. Put it back together and changed to RWS No. 1075's. They worked better, only jammed about every 3 shots. Tried Swiss 3f as opposed to Goex , Swiss worked much better. Tried 20 gr as opposed to 25 gr. 20 worked much better. Have a very limited supply of the RWS caps. Might have to buy some different nipples that match no. 10's or 11's. Although with only less than 30 rounds. I love this little 36. Shoots fist sized groups at 25 yds which is good for me. With practice, it will get better. Just gotta wait till Goon finishes my 60 so I can get this one to him fore the cap rake etc.

 

[J-Bar]

One possibility to check for: if the clearance between the nipple and the face of the hammer is not right, then the hammer may not be able to go forward far enough to reset the leg of the bolt on the hammer cam when there is a cap on the nipple. In other words, the presence of a cap on the nipple, even if it has been fired, may prevent the hammer from moving forward enough to unlock the bolt. Cap fragments falling into the works can certainly cause problems, but are not the only thing that can lock up the gun.

You can check for this by putting a cap on an empty chamber and letting the hammer down gently. If you can then cock the gun after the hammer has been all the way down on the cap, then you are good to go. But if you cannot cock the hammer after it has rested on the cap you may need to dress down the nipple. Remember the hammer still has to make the cap go bang.

Welcome to the wonderful world of tinkering with percussion revolvers!

 

[Willie Sutton]

That one was never shot, but was dry fired enough at the TV "night after night after night" that it was worn-out from abuse without ever having been loaded with powder.

You need nipples likely, and as was said before check nipple to hammer clearance once new nipples are installed. Try to get a good set of premium nipples if you can.


Willie

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