1862 police results after first time out... suggestions?

[Blackpowderart]

So today was the first time I got a chance to shoot my new uberti I received earlier this week. This is my first introduction to open tops and to pocket revolvers. I have been reading up alot while waiting for one to come back in stock so I knew most of what would be a problem. I had already gotten rid of any burs, fixed the "short arbor", I had a spare set of treso nipples already, and purchased a spring for a
Army/navy to custom fit if need be.
Well the nipples that came on the revolver are .285 cone length and the ones I installed are .300 neither of which the hammer touches the nipple. The fist 5 shots went off without a hitch. Couldn't ask for better. Shoots a little high of course but I had already cut the notch in the hammer deeper to help with that. All the caps busted 4 ways and just rode around the cylinder and never fell off. The next cylinder I wasn't so lucky. Not one time did I ever get any "cap sucking" or have any caps fall into the action or have the hammer blow back and move the cylinder. The problem I had was some caps would slide off the nipple ever so slightly and catch the frame on the way around. Some would catch in the frame where the hammer rides and some would make it passed there and catch at the side where you would put caps on. When I tried to remove them, there really was just no way they were ever going to just fall off on their own. It was hard for me to purposefully remove them. I thinkni should deepen the notch where it rotates the spent cap, but it's in the middle area where it would, if it could release.. and in my opinion, that isn't going to help in that part of the frame. Has anyone done this and it helped with that? Alot of the originals have a groove cut on the side of the frame which I believe is to help installing caps, could this also help them fall off? The has to be a solution to make this thing run. People bet their lives on guns just like this. Perhaps the "caps of old" were thinner so in return, softer metal and it just chewed it up if it caught the edge? Looking for a solution. Thank you for suggestions. I know alot people send them off to gun smith's to make them reliable. What are they doing to the pocket models thats you've seen work? Thanks again

 

[Uncle Miltie]

The groove on the side of the frame is to assist with capping. I use #11 caps on my revolver: they slide on and don't catch on anything as the cylinder rotates. #10 caps I don't use because they are too small and require too much effort to push all the way down on the nipple. I tilt the gun to the right a bit when cocking the gun to make it easier for caps to fall free of the action.

 

[ernbar]

You can try some Slixshot nipples and will be able to use both 10 and 11 size caps. You can deepen the channel in the recoil shield using a Dremel and a steady hand. Polish and cold blue the modified area.

 

[TDM]

Good advice from @Uncle Miltie and @ernbar. I highly recommend the Slix Shot nipples, especially for Colt replicas.

 

[Blackpowderart]

You can try some Slixshot nipples and will be able to use both 10 and 11 size caps. You can deepen the channel in the recoil shield using a Dremel and a steady hand. Polish and cold blue the modified area.

Done everything except cold blue....i even cut in the loading notch. I bought the TOTW and Slixshot. Also added an EXTRA, lightend, hammer spring. I was wondering what I was gonna do to make it "look" better. Personally I'm just wanting to make it reliable first then after I'm done doing any modification I will do the cold blue. Thanks...I have never done cold blue. My "case colors" are almost non existent on the frame...do you think it would blend well? The thought even crossed my mind that if I ever got it to run to my satisfaction I might have it professionally case colored sometime in tje years to come as I also want to silver plate the grip frame.
Any cold blue recommendations that would work good for this?

Also should the wooden grip be flush with the side of the frame?

 

[Gee Dog]

The finish looks great. Why would you cold blue it?

 

[ernbar]

Any cold blue works good at doing the touch ups on metal you filed or Dremeled out. Use a Q Tip and apply to blend in. Then a light wipe of Ballistol.
Yes the wood should blend into the frame and easily done by light sanding to get a smooth transition to the metal. I stripped the red plastic looking coating on my grips and applied boiled linseed oil. I think they look much better now.
Before

After

 

[45D]

Done everything except cold blue....i even cut in the loading notch. I bought the TOTW and Slixshot. Also added an EXTRA, lightend, hammer spring. I was wondering what I was gonna do to make it "look" better. Personally I'm just wanting to make it reliable first then after I'm done doing any modification I will do the cold blue. Thanks...I have never done cold blue. My "case colors" are almost non existent on the frame...do you think it would blend well? The thought even crossed my mind that if I ever got it to run to my satisfaction I might have it professionally case colored sometime in tje years to come as I also want to silver plate the grip frame.
Any cold blue recommendations that would work good for this?

Also should the wooden grip be flush with the side of the frame?

Question, did you "replace " the main spring with a lighter one or "combine" 2 springs?

The reason I ask is I'm always lightening the main for ease of operation. Since I always install a cap post, hammer blow back isn't a problem.
The greatest detractor of reliable ignition is the inability of the left bolt arm to pass by the hammer cam. The cam is too tall, the arm is too stiff . . . "Adjusting" these things to allow easy passage allows almost all of the main spring energy to be delivered to the cap.

Mike

 

[M. De Land]

Question, did you "replace " the main spring with a lighter one or "combine" 2 springs?

The reason I ask is I'm always lightening the main for ease of operation. Since I always install a cap post, hammer blow back isn't a problem.
The greatest detractor of reliable ignition is the inability of the left bolt arm to pass by the hammer cam. The cam is too tall, the arm is too stiff . . . "Adjusting" these things to allow easy passage allows almost all of the main spring energy to be delivered to the cap.

Mike

Good point Mike !

 

[Blackpowderart]

Question, did you "replace " the main spring with a lighter one or "combine" 2 springs?

The reason I ask is I'm always lightening the main for ease of operation. Since I always install a cap post, hammer blow back isn't a problem.
The greatest detractor of reliable ignition is the inability of the left bolt arm to pass by the hammer cam. The cam is too tall, the arm is too stiff . . . "Adjusting" these things to allow easy passage allows almost all of the main spring energy to be delivered to the cap.

Mike

Well I have been trying different things, trying to get something that will work. I tried treso,totw,slixshot....added the additional spring that was lightend as to not make to double strength. The pull went from 7lb to 10... when using the treso the stock spring worked fine, but the ones
I already had were a little longer than need be. And only
Fit rem10s I have another set same part
Number on my 1858 and they fit cci11 hunting tight. Also opened the spent cap channel. After all this I decided I am going to order the proper length treso with one spring that has been my mileage. Slixshots were a somewhat close second, but as others have stated ypu need to cock hammer vigorously because caps explode so much that they catch the frame. Even the TOTW blow back the hammer without added spring tension with 15gn charges.

Nipples from left to right...smallest flash hole to large.
Treso, TOTW, Uberti, Slixshot

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Well I have been trying different things, trying to get something that will work. I tried treso,totw,slixshot....added the additional spring that was lightend as to not make to double strength. The pull went from 7lb to 10... when using the treso the stock spring worked fine, but the ones
I already had were a little longer than need be. And only
Fit rem10s I have another set same part
Number on my 1858 and they fit cci11 hunting tight. Also opened the spent cap channel. After all this I decided I am going to order the proper length treso with one spring that has been my mileage. Slixshots were a somewhat close second, but as others have stated ypu need to cock hammer vigorously because caps explode so much that they catch the frame. Even the TOTW blow back the hammer without added spring tension with 15gn charges.

Nipples from left to right...smallest flash hole to large.
Treso, TOTW, Uberti, Slixshot

I have mine double sprung, with slick shots.
I also bought a labret ring "lip piercing jewelry" with a long cone on one end and replaced the frontnsight on my pocket police with the cone to bring point of impact down to point of aim.

 

[ernbar]

I also bought a labret ring "lip piercing jewelry" with a long cone on one end and replaced the frontnsight on my pocket police with the cone to bring point of impact down to point of aim.

I slipped a K&S piece of brass tube to bring down the POA and works just fine but it’s not coned shape as you can see in the picture.

Your mod sounds like a great alternative that looks correct. Could you post a picture of how yours looks like and how you installed it? Also a link to the piercing cone will be great.

 

[Blackpowderart]

I have mine double sprung, with slick shots.
I also bought a labret ring "lip piercing jewelry" with a long cone on one end and replaced the frontnsight on my pocket police with the cone to bring point of impact down to point of aim.

Yes how did you install the sight?

 

[Bunk]

So today was the first time I got a chance to shoot my new uberti I received earlier this week. This is my first introduction to open tops and to pocket revolvers. I have been reading up alot while waiting for one to come back in stock so I knew most of what would be a problem. I had already gotten rid of any burs, fixed the "short arbor", I had a spare set of treso nipples already, and purchased a spring for a
Army/navy to custom fit if need be.
Well the nipples that came on the revolver are .285 cone length and the ones I installed are .300 neither of which the hammer touches the nipple. The fist 5 shots went off without a hitch. Couldn't ask for better. Shoots a little high of course but I had already cut the notch in the hammer deeper to help with that. All the caps busted 4 ways and just rode around the cylinder and never fell off. The next cylinder I wasn't so lucky. Not one time did I ever get any "cap sucking" or have any caps fall into the action or have the hammer blow back and move the cylinder. The problem I had was some caps would slide off the nipple ever so slightly and catch the frame on the way around. Some would catch in the frame where the hammer rides and some would make it passed there and catch at the side where you would put caps on. When I tried to remove them, there really was just no way they were ever going to just fall off on their own. It was hard for me to purposefully remove them. I thinkni should deepen the notch where it rotates the spent cap, but it's in the middle area where it would, if it could release.. and in my opinion, that isn't going to help in that part of the frame. Has anyone done this and it helped with that? Alot of the originals have a groove cut on the side of the frame which I believe is to help installing caps, could this also help them fall off? The has to be a solution to make this thing run. People bet their lives on guns just like this. Perhaps the "caps of old" were thinner so in return, softer metal and it just chewed it up if it caught the edge? Looking for a solution. Thank you for suggestions. I know alot people send them off to gun smith's to make them reliable. What are they doing to the pocket models thats you've seen work? Thanks again

Better luck than I had.
1st shot cap jam
take completely apart and dig cap fragment out of frame.
2nd shot repeat above
3dr shot This is getting rediculious repeat above
4th and 5th shot went OK.

The next time out the hand spring broke.
Followed by references to the male child of a female dog
Ordered and replaced the hand and spring which promptly broke.
Followed again by references to the Deity and a water retention structure
Found a smith who installed a cap rake a and a Ruger style hand spring for a rather healthy sum.and employed an exorcist to do his thing
It is kept in isolation just in case..
So good luck Pardner
Bunk

 

[ernbar]

Better luck than I had.
1st shot cap jam
take completely apart and dig cap fragment out of frame.
2nd shot repeat above
3dr shot This is getting rediculious repeat above
4th and 5th shot went OK.

The next time out the hand spring broke.
Followed by references to the male child of a female dog
Ordered and replaced the hand and spring which promptly broke.
Followed again by references to the Deity and a water retention structure
Found a smith who installed a cap rake a and a Ruger style hand spring for a rather healthy sum.and employed an exorcist to do his thing
It is kept in isolation just in case..
So good luck Pardner
Bunk

Geez!!! Sounds as bad as "Talking Tina” from a Twilight Zone episode.

 

[Griff093]

In mid-1986 I bought an EMF imported ASM 1851 built from left-over Uberti parts for the Colt 2nd Series. 10 days before the 1987 EOT it broke the handspring. Went to a gunsmith who got it back to me the day before the start of the match. Ruger hand spring & plunger with a "Manhattan Conversion"... with is basically narrowing the hammer & channel to about the width of the nipple, ala the Remington 1858... So named for the Manhattan revolvers that employed this feature. For the next few years the only problems I encountered with the "soft" nipples from Uberti and their mushrooming... along with the occasional freak bending of the spent cap catching on the frame and being tough to rotate the cylinder. I tried lightening the mainspring, but found that blow back made caps catch the frame more. Went back to a stock spring, but from a better source... Colt. in the interim I've collected 5 more 1851s, 4 2nd Series Colts and one Signature Series. Have had the Manhattan Conversion & Ruger hand spring install of 3 of them, 2 to go. They are my cowboy action handguns of choice. Bought TOW nipples and didn't find much difference except for the lack of mushrooming... went to SlixShot nipples when they came out and never looked back. Use Remington #10s , but supply is getting thin, and looking at alternatives now. With the Rem#10s, I have a few instance of a recalcitrant cap making rotation problematic, but... if I simply use the off hand to assist rotation, it only takes that one sixth rotation to clear the way for the rest. I'm not a fast shooter, so have very few "wins" under my belt... but I am consistent. I like that my mods are period pieces, (except for the Ruger handspring, but since it's not visible, who cares?)!

I once shot a 3-day match in two categories, totally 24 stages without cleaning or otherwise doing anything except shooting and loading the guns. One of the categories was shot "gunfighter" style, or a pistol in each hand, alternating shots from left to right, unaided.
This wasn't that instance... but...

 

[M. De Land]

I slipped a K&S piece of brass tube to bring down the POA and works just fine but it’s not coned shape as you can see in the picture.
View attachment 205520

Your mod sounds like a great alternative that looks correct. Could you post a picture of how yours looks like and how you installed it? Also a link to the piercing cone will be great.

I have a dovetail cut on my 62 in the place of the pin on the front of the barrel and a partridge type sight installed I milled from bar stock. Makes a real nice front sight that looks and works great.
Click on photo to enlarge.

 

[Blackpowderart]

@Griff093 very nice, do you mind letting us know who does the gunsmithing? I may be interested in this mod on mine or some future revolvers. Looks promising and atleast worth a shot, pun intended.

 

[Griff093]

@Griff093 very nice, do you mind letting us know who does the gunsmithing? I may be interested in this mod on mine or some future revolvers. Looks promising and atleast worth a shot, pun intended.

The guy that did mine is retired. I'm still interviewing 'smiths to do my next pair. A couple want to do things that I don't want. I'm leaning toward a local guy, and while he's not worked on cap guns before... isn't necessarily a detraction.

 

[M. De Land]

So today was the first time I got a chance to shoot my new uberti I received earlier this week. This is my first introduction to open tops and to pocket revolvers. I have been reading up alot while waiting for one to come back in stock so I knew most of what would be a problem. I had already gotten rid of any burs, fixed the "short arbor", I had a spare set of treso nipples already, and purchased a spring for a
Army/navy to custom fit if need be.
Well the nipples that came on the revolver are .285 cone length and the ones I installed are .300 neither of which the hammer touches the nipple. The fist 5 shots went off without a hitch. Couldn't ask for better. Shoots a little high of course but I had already cut the notch in the hammer deeper to help with that. All the caps busted 4 ways and just rode around the cylinder and never fell off. The next cylinder I wasn't so lucky. Not one time did I ever get any "cap sucking" or have any caps fall into the action or have the hammer blow back and move the cylinder. The problem I had was some caps would slide off the nipple ever so slightly and catch the frame on the way around. Some would catch in the frame where the hammer rides and some would make it passed there and catch at the side where you would put caps on. When I tried to remove them, there really was just no way they were ever going to just fall off on their own. It was hard for me to purposefully remove them. I thinkni should deepen the notch where it rotates the spent cap, but it's in the middle area where it would, if it could release.. and in my opinion, that isn't going to help in that part of the frame. Has anyone done this and it helped with that? Alot of the originals have a groove cut on the side of the frame which I believe is to help installing caps, could this also help them fall off? The has to be a solution to make this thing run. People bet their lives on guns just like this. Perhaps the "caps of old" were thinner so in return, softer metal and it just chewed it up if it caught the edge? Looking for a solution. Thank you for suggestions. I know alot people send them off to gun smith's to make them reliable. What are they doing to the pocket models thats you've seen work? Thanks again

These little jewels feel and sound like bigger calibers when shooting them. I get a lot of enjoyment out of just looking at and handling them!