what are the revolver jobs?

[theboyscout]

watching wild west Alaska, a gun show, and they sold a revolver and did a trigger job and a cylinder job. they said the cylinder job was for accuracy.my questions are:

what are those two jobs?
how do they affect the revolver?
do they need to be done to better the gun?

thanks for they help
boy scout

 

[tomrkba]

Google around:

Grant Cunningham:
http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/Measuring_chamber_throats.html

Others grabbed off a google search:
http://www.alphaprecisioninc.com/revolver/default.htm

http://www.castbullet.com/misc/accrsa.htm


The trigger work smooths and likely lightens the trigger.

http://www.grantcunningham.com/good_trigger.html

 

[Certaindeaf]

I think in Alaska they regularly remove the front sight. joke

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

They probably fandoogled with it for no good reason!

Just avoid trigger jobs that involve replacing factory strength springs with lighter ones.

A trigger job in the classic sense involves de-burring the action of the revolver with a stone or sandpaper and smoothing out the rough edges.

Not sure what a cylinder job is, but I imagine it involves chamfering the cylinder throats and evaluating/removing the endshake, or what is scientifically called the wiggle.

Neither are necessary. I wouldn't pay for them and I don't want anyone messing with my guns if they ain't broke.

There is some value in tuning up old revolvers, and a good gunsmith can make a near-custom piece for a few thousand bucks if that is your thing, they could also fix some of the ruggedness of new factory revolvers, but that is part of their charm.

If you do get any of it done, hire a real gunsmith with a reputation - avoid your local gunshop's armorer or shop-guys like your life depended on it.

I'd also advise against doing it at home, unless you have a gun you want to learn with. If you take one apart, put it in a giant ziplock bag first to catch all the flying springs and get a shop manual

Beware purchasing used firearms with stripped or damaged screws on the sideplate... it is a mark indicative of kitchen table gun-smithing and should be evaluated carefully.

 

[CraigC]

Just avoid trigger jobs that involve replacing factory strength springs with lighter ones.

Nonsense. Most guns are oversprung from the factory to overcome the inherent roughness in the action. Slick up the action and you don't need the heavy springs.

I wouldn't pay for them and I don't want anyone messing with my guns if they ain't broke.

Paying for it is certainly a personal choice but most factory guns can benefit from minor tuning and adjustments. They just don't receive the hands-on attention they once did. That's where the professional gunsmith comes in.

 

[Skylerbone]

^^^^^ +1. I wouldn't concur with all of the information contained in the posted links but what CraigC wrote sums things up well.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Craig I respect your input. I advise against changing springs due to the negative impact it could have on primer strikes. Get too light of the spring in there, and you risk having some FTF's. So I suppose it is not always a bad thing as long as you test thoroughly after the change to make sure the firearm meets the parameters you need it to for defensive use, which for me is 100% reliability.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Leave the dang springs alone. It's your life however so knock yourself out if you wish though. If a gun don't go "bang", it's not a gun.. it may well be your little memorial to stupidity/folly.

 

[osteodoc08]

I'm not familiar with the particular episode, so I can't comment to the gun in question, however....

Trigger work includes polishing the trigger group and reworking the lock work to get rid if creep, heavy trigger pulls, etc. A nice trigger makes all the difference in the world in hunting and target work. Anyone whose had a slicked up older S&W would understand. I use this as an example.

Cylinder work includes adjusting the cylinder gap to desired spec. This can be a source of discussion. There is also reaming the cylinder throats. Certain rugers especially can benefit from this. Their 45LC cylinders are known to be undersized. This is especially important when shooting primarily lead. There is also polishing to make extraction that much easier and chamfering to make loading easier.

While these aren't necessarily a necessity, anyone whose shot a polished revolver will come to appreciate the little things these services can provide. At least I know I do.

 

[osteodoc08]

Forgot to mention, much of this is something I'd have a qualified gunsmith perform.

 

[beag_nut]

Was Phred in that episode?
Hee, hee.

 

[Sam Cade]

watching wild west Alaska, a gun show

Ken is a THR member though I haven't seen him around in a while.

wildireckonheisbusywiththeshowalaska

 

[highlander 5]

I've 2 Ruger revolvers that had horrendous trigger pulls and I'm talking trigger pulls that nothing short of a tranquilized gorilla could manage. Sent them both to a local gunsmith to be worked on,he cleaned up the actions and installed new springs that were 10% less than factory. Both have the same action a GP 100 and a Super Redhawk in 454. The action job and the reduced power springs made a world of difference. On the other hand I've a Redhawk in 45 Colt that has a factory spring and it takes 2 hits on some of the primers to get the pistol to fire. Springs in the 2 revolvers are Wolff reduced power sets.

 

[CraigC]

I advise against changing springs due to the negative impact it could have on primer strikes.

Leave the dang springs alone. It's your life however so knock yourself out if you wish though. If a gun don't go "bang", it's not a gun.. it may well be your little memorial to stupidity/folly.

Like I said, slick up the action and you do not need the heavy springs. I've got 27 single action revolvers, I've sold or traded a half a dozen and given a dozen away. Most needed tuning, some did not. They all have lighter hammer springs and they ALL go bang every single time. Until recently, I've used CCI primers almost exclusively, which supposedly have harder cups than any other brand and they always light.

All four of my custom Rugers are tuned around light springs. All work.

All five of my tuned S&W's have light springs. Bob Munden narrowed the factory spring, the rest are replacements. All work.

Factory guns are oversprung to overcome the inherent roughness in the action and ensure total reliability. They do not care about crisp triggers or how the action feels. Smooth the action and you do not need the heavy springs. Despite those who have never done it telling you it won't work.

Stupidity??? I don't think so.

 

[Old Fuff]

Single Action revolvers of the Colt pattern have large, heavy hammers that travel in a long ark when compared to double-action hand ejectors. Because of this it is quite possible to lighten the hammer spring. Also because of the design the trigger spring is so light as to not add anything noticeable to the hammer cocking effort.

This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the negative side the hammer can land with a blow hard enough to disturb the aim.

 

[icanthitabarn]

I have a new, reduced power, mainspring, for my Colt clone. The reason its not in the gun is because it didn't fire when I tried it with a primed case after replacing other springs.