Wanted to see for myself.

[Crawdad1]

Reading some posts on here I wanted to see if my cylinder chambers are correct in size in relation to the rifled bore. So here is what I did.

Pulled the barrel and cylinder.
Removed the nipples.
Greased the inside of each chamber.
Reassembled the 1860 Army.
Using six balls I rammed a ball down each chamber.
Broke revolver back down.
Using tape I marked one cylinder.
Using a wooden 'stick' I pushed the ball out of marked chamber through the hole left by the removed nipple .
Only using thumb pressure I tried to push ball in the barrel at the breach and muzzle end. No way would the ball go into the breach or muzzle end of the barrel without a hammer.
In order to ensure the ball did not expend while being pushed out of its chamber I reinserted ball back into its chamber.
All fit back in easily.
Going in a clockwise motion from the marked chamber I did this for each ball until all six were finished.
Results, no ball would in any way unless hammered down fit into the bore either on the breach or muzzle end of the barrel.

Is this experiment good enough to learn that my chambers are all bigger than my barrel's bore and therefore correct in size?
All input appreciated.

 

[J-Bar]

You could have pushed one ball through the barrel and then tried to drop it into each chamber to get the same info...

 

[Crawdad1]

Yea, good idea, save myself some time and trouble!!

 

[whosyrdaddy]

Your test results show that the balls are larger than the land to land dimensions but tell nothing about the balls relation to the groove dimensions.

Try J-bars method and see if the balls drop into the chamber.
I always run the ball about half way into the greased barrel and then hammer it between two dowels before pushing it out.

 

[damoc]

boy you guys realy get serious about bore size


i just pulled a couple of balls from the target and they showed good rifleing
so i reckon it was good enough

 

[whosyrdaddy]

It's not about the rifling on the ball, it's about where the holes are on the target.

 

[Curator]

While it may be true that somewhat undersize balls will "slug-up" to fill the grooves on a C&B revolver, the issue is ultimately about accuracy. To determine if your revolver's cylinder chambers are correctly sized for best accuracy (.001 to .003 over groove diameter) you will need to push a larger than groove diameter slug through the bore then see if it will drop into each chamber. Soft lead balls will fill the grooves when fired into a slightly larger barrel but usually will not do so concentrically. Having the projectile's center of mass off-center of the center of rotation degrades accuracy, often substantially. Remember these fired balls are spinning at about 18,000 RPM. Think of loosing one of your car's front tire wheel weights on the freeway. Only a slightly oversize ball will maintain its center of mass when squeezed into the bore.

 

[damoc]

It's not about the rifling on the ball, it's about where the holes are on the target.

HE HE well have you got any tips to stop my hands moving or should i just blame the bore size for my lousy shooting?

lol

 

[whosyrdaddy]

I generally blame my wife.

 

[damoc]

I generally blame my wife.

LOL

thats good ill try it

 

[BullSlinger]

Me too, I will blame your wife.

 

[[email protected]]

damoc

I have taught several people how to shoot. I'm sure I could teach you. Two of
them have won 11 National Championships. I really can't teach you here, but
remember all of us our hands move. It is natural. You said hands. You mean
Hand. Revolvers are hand guns not hands guns. If my daughter heard you say
that, she would rake you over the coals. And she is only 15. If you can't stand
up on your two hind legs and hold a 2 1/2 lb object out in your hand you need
to start weight training. The key here is to hold in a area, not on a certain spot.
Let the pistol move around, that's normal. As long as the sights are in the holding area, which should be the black on a NRA pistol target, keep applying
pressure on the trigger until it breaks. This should not be more than 5 seconds.
If it is, lower the pistol down and try again. I'm assuming you know how to aim.
Most people I talk to don't. No question is dumb, only not asking is. End of lesson one.
Phil

 

[BowerR64]

Where is Driftwood Johnson when we need him?

oh watching the chiefs game!

 

[damoc]

Thanks Phil

yes i do know how to aim it is realy hand movement causing me trouble

hands is probably applicable because i do shoot left and right handed
and even both at times. Ive had some elbow problems in my right going on a couple of years now where i honestly could barely lift and shoot the larger
revolvers.(thats what got me using my left as well)

ill try holding an area

what is a decent shot? all in a pie plate at 10,20,30 yards?

 

[[email protected]]

Well this isn't too bad. It's 10 shots at 25 yds by my daughter when she was 10.
She uses a 32 caliber pistol shooting 14 grs Black Powder. The black area here
is 8 inches dia.




One of the wife's many targets 10 shots 25 yds. The black area is about 5 1/4 inches , the 10 ring
circle is about 3 1/4 inches dia.




This is out of the reach of most people. 10 shots 25 yds


Another 10 shots 25 yds. Out of reach for most people

 

[BowerR64]

Ill tell you what helped me the most with these guns the trigger pull.

When i went over to Phils he let me try a few of his guns and his match guns have a trigger pull where you just barely feel pressure of the trigger on the skin of your finger and they drop.

His revolvers had no creep in the trigger pull.

All of mine had huge trigger creep, the pull was super heavy and they felt like there was 80 grit sand paper between the hammer and trigger.

I never really put any focus on the trigger even when i cleaned them!

The 2 parts where the tip of the trigger and the little hook on the hammer i never cleaned those 2 little exsposed steel areas. Once i cleaned them up my shots improved. Then i started to grease them and my shots got even better. Light polish my groups got smaller now im in a rut where i cant get any better.

 

[damoc]

very cool

but now im going to have to go out an see if i can shoot as well as your 10 yo
daughter im going to be distraught if i cant

LOL

 

[[email protected]]

I really do wish you the best of luck. Just try to improve, don't worry what somebody else did. Just
try to improve upon you.

 

[BowerR64]

very cool

but now im going to have to go out an see if i can shoot as well as your 10 yo
daughter im going to be distraught if i cant

LOL

I bet you could come close if you use all Phils equipment.

 

[damoc]

I bet you could come close if you use all Phils equipment.

got some cool gear has he

well its official i cant shoot as well as his daughter i went out and put 2 cylindars through the 58 and i think (being generous) i got most in the 6 ring at 25 yards
not to many in what would be the black.

on the positive side my target is reusable

 

[[email protected]]

Well think of it this way, it will only get better. You paid for the whole target,
might as well use all of it. h

 

[[email protected]]

Just measured my old made in 1974 Euroarms Remingtin. it is stock except for
a surberb trigger . I use it in competition. Won two gold medals last summer
at the Nationals. I pushed a .465 dia ball down the barrel. My barrel has 6 lands and grooves. The groove dia. is .450 It is just a sliding fit in all 6 chambers. I measured the chambers by pushing a .454 dia ball in and taking the nipples out and pushing the ball back out. They measure .450-.451 dia.
This is how they were made in 1974. No wonder the gun shoots so well. It is
the small frame also. Fits me to a "T".

 

[BowerR64]

Just measured my old made in 1974 Euroarms Remingtin. it is stock except for
a surberb trigger . I use it in competition. Won two gold medals last summer
at the Nationals. I pushed a .465 dia ball down the barrel. My barrel has 6 lands and grooves. The groove dia. is .450 It is just a sliding fit in all 6 chambers. I measured the chambers by pushing a .454 dia ball in and taking the nipples out and pushing the ball back out. They measure .450-.451 dia.
This is how they were made in 1974. No wonder the gun shoots so well. It is
the small frame also. Fits me to a "T".

!!! 1974?

I think ill stop using your cleaning technique.

what did you use muriatic acid?

 

[[email protected]]

I only use it in the "As Issue" matches. "As Issue" means a revolver that was
issued from 1862-1865 in the Civil War. I wanted it to look As Issue.

 

[BowerR64]

I only use it in the "As Issue" matches. "As Issue" means a revolver that was
issued from 1862-1865 in the Civil War. I wanted it to look As Issue.

Wait i dont get it, if its a 1975 gun how can it be used in the as issue match from 1862-1865?

It just needs to look old?