1860 cocking - rotating cylinder problem

[jbhower]

I have a Euroarms 1860 colt revolver and I have had an ongoing issue with it. When the gun is levelled and you pull back the hammer, it wont rotate the cylinder. But if you point the gun down and cock the hammer, it rotates fine.

I take the cylinder out and pull the hammer back a few times and you can see that the "thing" that engages the cylinder goes up every time you pull back the hammer but when the gun faces down when you cock it the "thing" goes up and out to engage the cylinder, but when level it doesnt stick out when it comes up so it never engages.

Is there a spring or something back there that is broken? I'm a little intimidated to take it all apart and figured I should probably order parts before taking it apart. That way I can buy the part and have it ready so I can reassemble the same day I take it apart so I dont have to remember later.

 

[bpd303]

Not hard to take them apart and yes the hand has a spring built in...take a look at this schematic number 10. There are several parts suppliers for the replicas.
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufa...volvers-35751/FFrame-38001/1860Army-36123.htm

 

[necchi]

Yup, what bpd303 said,
It's a part called the "Hand" and it has a little spring.
Some guy's will remove the hand, open up the slot the handspring fit's in and replace it with a section from a Bobby Pin.

You can't just buy the Hand Spring, it comes as one piece, aka: Hand With Spring

 

[MacRob46]

If the hand spring is broken, or even if it is just bent, then you have to replace the hand, which will require fitting to the action. These are not usually drop in parts.

Black powder corrosion can cause a broken hand spring as can shooting a revolver which is heavily fouled, causing the action to be difficult to cock, which puts a strain on the hand. Unless you are adept at gunsmithing I would find a gunsmith who is because you are sure to have problems trying to make the repair yourself.

 

[Dphar]

The casting are sometimes very rough and sharp in the advance hand gallery and this will eat the spring in a short period of time. 15 20 shots in some cases.
I suspect it needs to have the gallery stoned and a new advance hand, its its been eaten too, or at least a new spring.
I used to make tools to polish the gallery, I think Brownells sells a stone set for this now.
Dan

 

[jbhower]

Thanks guys. This helped a lot. After figuring out what the piece was called I could search the Internet and see that this was pretty common and there are some good write ups and 1-2 YouTube videos on it so feeling a little more comfortable trying to swap it out and file it. Will get 2 from Dixie gun works in case I screw the first one up or will have a spare for next time.