1860 Army problems

[whummell]

Ok heres the problem. I have an 1860 Army .44cal I have used #10 and #11 caps. When I go to fire most of the time it will not fire the caps. I have to cock and fire 5 times. A Complete rotation before it will fire the caps then after that it will fire the rest of the caps. I do not believe the hammer is catching on anything I think its a weak hammer fall. I do own two other cap and ball 1851 navy and a dragoon 3rd model. So i do have some experience will c&b. This is the first time I have had a problem with any. Id rather fixed it myself then send it to someone else to fix. I want the experience of doing it myself. Could this be a problem in the mainspring? Any suggestions please reply. Ive had it a yr put about 300 balls through it and its a pietta.

 

[Tight_Wad]

I had a similar thing happen on a Colt Dragoon. It may be you are not tapping the barrel wedge in tight enough. You should tap it in until you get a gap of about five thou (0.005") between the barrel and cylinder face. If you don't have a feeler gauge use a couple of sheet of writing paper. If you have too large a gap the cylinder will be driven forwards by the hammer drop and absorb the blow - resulting in a misfire. There probably isn't anything wrong with the gun itself.

Tight Wad :thumbsup:

 

[chuck-ia]

I have the same exact problem with mine, 1860 Uberti. I ordered a different main spring, did not fix it. I think tight wad has the answer. I have also tried differrent caps. flinch

 

[Jerrond]

Hi I had the same problem with an 1860 by pietta but it was only on one chamber had to shoot it twice to get it to fire. I replaced the nipples and its been ok since..

 

Ok heres the problem. I have an 1860 Army .44cal I have used #10 and #11 caps. When I go to fire most of the time it will not fire the caps. I have to cock and fire 5 times. A Complete rotation before it will fire the caps then after that it will fire the rest of the caps. I do not believe the hammer is catching on anything I think its a weak hammer fall. I do own two other cap and ball 1851 navy and a dragoon 3rd model. So i do have some experience will c&b. This is the first time I have had a problem with any. Id rather fixed it myself then send it to someone else to fix. I want the experience of doing it myself. Could this be a problem in the mainspring? Any suggestions please reply. Ive had it a yr put about 300 balls through it and its a pietta.

This is a nipple problem, quite often your hammer will fall on the cap and nothing happens. The first thing many people will tell you to do is to replace your main spring. This may help and again it may not. The most likely cause for this mis-fire is not the mainspring, but an over sized nipple cone.

To cure this problem, you will need masking tape, a power drill, a fine grain knife sharpening stone, dishsoap, a deaden percussion cap [put a drop of sewing machine oil in cap and let sit over night.] and a small amount of water. I generally do this job at the kitchen sink when the ole lady is not at home.

First wrap the threads of the nipple to be honed with masking tape. Two to three wraps should do the trick. Once that is done, chuck the threaded end of the nipple in the power drill. Now put a small amount of dishsoap, mixed with a couple of drops of water, on your stone. Making sure you match the original angle of the cone and with the drill on low, careful not to overheat your nipple, slowly turn the cone side of the nipple on your stone. Don't over do it, keep stopping every so often to use the cap as a guage to ensure a proper fit.

Once you are sure that you have a proper fit, be sure to clean the nipples thoroughly and that the vents are clear of debris. Remove masking tape, dry, oil and re-install fitted nipples on your cylinder. I use a little plumber's teflon tape to install mine. If you try this, make sure you don't cover the vent hole.

Like I said, it entails a little effort to get it right.

CP

 

[mec]

My Uberti Army has an extremely light hammer fall and continued that way with a different Ubert main spring. It is not reliable with CCI caps but will set off remingtons every time.

 

[whummell]

I appreciate you'll comments. When I get home from Iraq Ill try them all. It happened right before I left and is still bothering me. I do use cci and remington caps. I have not tried winchesters as its not readily availiable where i live. Think ill replace the nipples first then do the honing after that just to try even if the replaced nipples work first. thanks

 

[kenneth strickland]

Claypipe is right about the caps not seating on the nipples. The Ruger old army nipples are oversize for most nipples and cause misfires. I found a small nut which the nipples thread onto so I could hold the nipples well without worrying about the threads. Honed them down slightly and they work everytime now.I hope you and ALL your fellows return safely. Good luck.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:bow: Claypipe is correct, the reason for that condition is usually the nipples are slightly oversized for a #11. Therefore the cap willnot usually seat properly and after the first merry-go-round, they are now seated and will shoot. I take all nipples off and chuck them into my Unimal and with a small fine file I will carefully file the nipple down until a #11 fits easily and can be removed. Pleased do not attempt to "tap" the cap on the nipple---this technique can lead to some exciting things---such as a chain fire or the exposed cylinder releasing it's contents on your hand or finger(s)---ouch!!!! :hatsoff:

 

[hornetk4]

One more thing about those nipples is that the hammers don'talways come down onto the nipple squarely , they hit a little off center and the nipple tends to mushroom . this prevents the cap from fitting down properly thats why you have to fire more than once to get it to pop the first hit pushes the cap down upon the nipple and the second or third trigger pull sets off the cap . I've had this happen a couple of times the fix is just what some of the other guys said put nipples in a drill motor and clean them up with a file or a stone , I prefer a file . When you buy new nipples most people check to make sure the threads are the same so they will fit naturaly but also make sure they are the same highth or length thats where you can develope that hammer to nipple mismatch and end up with mushroomed nipple surfaces .

 

[paulvallandigham]

use a dremel tool with a small grinding bit to grind down the high sides on the inside of the hammer. Just use lipstick, or inletting black, or some other kind of soft marking medium on the top edge of the nipple to mark the inside of the hammer. Only the high spots will be marked. Grind those away, in a trial and error sequence until you have a complete " donut hole" showing on the hammer. That means the hammer is contacting your nipple fully around the entire rim of the nipple. Obviously do this with a new nipple. When ou buy new nipples, try to buy the same brand, or at least take along a machinist's ruler so you can measure the height of the nipples, from the end of the threaded portion to the top.

Unless you are shooting a .58 cal, or larger gun, I recommend using stanard primers. The magnums sometimes work better is you are shooting conicals, but with a PRB, the standard primers are hot enough. ( For those larger caliber guns, I think a musket cap may be in order.) Borrow a chronograph, or buy your own, to test out primers. It will save you a lot of frustrations, and help you develope consistent loads quickly, without all the guesswork so many people insist on doing.