Adjusting Remington 1858 cylinder gap

[M. De Land]

The gap on my brasser.44 Bison is .035 according to my spark plug gauge. this seems like a heck of a lot but she shoots straight. I just got a new rear sight blade from Taylors and installed it, zeroed it and then superglued it. this one has a decent trigger pull and I was able to get pretty decent consistency hitting my 25yrd plate off hand. the two shots i tossed at the 50yrd plate were close misses... I wonder if this thing is getting looser??? no big loads just consistent diet of 25g T7 which = at least 30g of real black?

Does the arbor wiggle yet when the cylinder is removed and are some of the cylinder nipple ports imprinted into the recoil shield ?

 

[45D]

I say barrel cylinder gap because end shake it actually a term used for cylinders with a bushing on the front. End shake includes barrel cylinder gap but is a distinctly different measurement and is generally about .001 to .0015 . Most factory guns, cartridge or percussion, come with a barrel cylinder gap any where from .004 to .010 generally. Dan Wesson's were very tight factory set at .002.

Actually "endshake" is the amount of fore and aft movement of the cylinder regardless of a gap. It is determined by taking a measurement with cylinder pulled to the rear, minus the measurement with cylinder pushed forward (which IS the gap). A "gap" is a "dedicated" opening.
An open-top platform doesn't have a bushing to designate a dedicated gap ( except for some unmentionables) therefore, "endshake" is all it has since the measurement with cylinder forward will be zero.
A revolver with zero endshake just has the predetermined "gap".

Mike

 

[nick_1]

cylinder pin does not wiggle but the frame has an imprint from the back of the cylinder. notably the machining grooves that the thing that turns the cylinder rides in. the high point of those grooves is stamped into the frame. I did not document the gap when this gun was new but remember thinking that the whole action was nice and tight. now the cylinder rattles around in there with considerable noise when you spin it on half cock and there is enough daylight between the cylinder and the forcing cone to fly a C130 through there.. I knew better than to buy a brasser but when I was looking for an 1858 this was the only one available at the time and I have to admit I kind of liked the purdy colors... I bought my steel frame about a month later and it has about the same number of rounds through it and is tight as a whistle... I have her dialed enough right now that I should be able to take her out of the safe and run a refresher cylinder ortwo through her and be comfortable carrying her and knowing i will get good hits. she should last quite a while with that in mind but it is disappointing to reaffirm that these brassers are not in it for the real long haul.

 

[Relic shooter]

The barrel has to be removed , thread pitch determined and 1/8 less than one revolution must be removed from the barrel shoulder. You must cut it a few thousands short of top dead center so that the new shoulder compress fits the frame barrel hole into top dead center so it will be tight and will stay indexed.
Use a real barrel vice and flat bar frame clamp set up to take the barrel off so as not to warp the frame if seated real tight. A wood stick through the cylinder port is bad practice and asking for trouble.
Now the barrel cylinder gap needs to be determined and that amount removed from the breech end of the barrel. It can be done very well with a file if a person is patient but a lathe is much easier and faster.
I usually don't mess with the barrel cylinder gap unless over .008 then it's time to set it back. I say barrel cylinder gap because end shake it actually a term used for cylinders with a bushing on the front. End shake includes barrel cylinder gap but is a distinctly different measurement and is generally about .001 to .0015 . Most factory guns, cartridge or percussion, come with a barrel cylinder gap any where from .004 to .010 generally. Dan Wesson's were very tight factory set at .002.
Now the forcing cones needs to be checked and possibly re-cut to proper depth. We have gauges for cartridge guns but cap and ball revolvers usually do very well with ball or bullet when cut to half a ball diameter deep.
We use special forcing cone reamers on center bushings on a shaft turned by hand from the muzzle. The cone is first cut then lapped with a brass slug and lapping compound.
Do not round off the inside corner edge of a re-cut forcing cone only break the sharp edge to discourage lateral gas escapement.
Some times the loading lever and latch needs modifying depending on how much set back was required.
This stuff is a gunsmiths bread and butter work !

Excellent advice from M.De Land
I've corrected spacing on replica 58 Remington barrels in my younger days, there's a 85% likelihood of buggering the pistol if you don't have the proper tools & knowhow.
Correcting end gap spacing on open top Colts is much simpler.

 

[Relic shooter]

Tip for those those wanting extra backup cylinders;
Be cautious,, it's always preferable to have your revolver along to check for a proper fit & timing as there has been minor tolerance changes on some replica revolvers over past years.
Aside from ratchet timing differences most 1858 Uberti cylinders measure 2.00 " in length with same ratchet timing same as the originals.
Pietta cylinder run seventeen thousands longer.
Been awhile so I don't recall differences on other brands of replica revolvers..
Haven't experienced any factory cylinder swap issues with cylinders mfg by Ruger for Ruger Old Army revolvers

 

[M. De Land]

cylinder pin does not wiggle but the frame has an imprint from the back of the cylinder. notably the machining grooves that the thing that turns the cylinder rides in. the high point of those grooves is stamped into the frame. I did not document the gap when this gun was new but remember thinking that the whole action was nice and tight. now the cylinder rattles around in there with considerable noise when you spin it on half cock and there is enough daylight between the cylinder and the forcing cone to fly a C130 through there.. I knew better than to buy a brasser but when I was looking for an 1858 this was the only one available at the time and I have to admit I kind of liked the purdy colors... I bought my steel frame about a month later and it has about the same number of rounds through it and is tight as a whistle... I have her dialed enough right now that I should be able to take her out of the safe and run a refresher cylinder ortwo through her and be comfortable carrying her and knowing i will get good hits. she should last quite a while with that in mind but it is disappointing to reaffirm that these brassers are not in it for the real long haul.

My mistake I was talking open top brasser !

 

[M. De Land]

Tip for those those wanting extra backup cylinders;
Be cautious,, it's always preferable to have your revolver along to check for a proper fit & timing as there has been minor tolerance changes on some replica revolvers over past years.
Aside from ratchet timing differences most 1858 Uberti cylinders measure 2.00 " in length with same ratchet timing same as the originals.
Pietta cylinder run seventeen thousands longer.
Been awhile so I don't recall differences on other brands of replica revolvers..
Haven't experienced any factory cylinder swap issues with cylinders mfg by Ruger for Ruger Old Army revolvers

You'll occasionally see these bullseye percussion guns with shortened cylinders so filler does not need to be used with reduced target loads. Generally a new barrel is fitted with the breech extended back to normal barrel cylinder gap on the shortened cylinder.
I've re-barreled and set back a good many revolvers over four decades of gun work and have found precious few with absolute square and plumb barrel frame holes but most are reasonably accurate and allow a more or less straight and uniform barrel line up and shoulder seat.
It is rare to find factory guns that are equal distant around the clock in barrel cylinder gap uniformity, 12-3-6 and 9 o'clock in solid frame design and almost unheard of in open frame designs but the closer one can fit them the better.
Factory guns with CNC driven machinery kept well calibrated has greatly increased the accuracy of late years in new guns which is a real good deal for us all.
When folks say they have a .004 gap they are actually saying that is the tightest spot they found some where around the gap with a feeler gauge.
By the way for folks that have not been trained in feeler gauge use it isn't what locks the blade up but rather contact resistance felt while still moveable either side of the blade that is the true reading and takes a good touch and some practice to learn what it should feel like.