Arbor Problem?

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I've got three Ubertis. Two are new. Mike is correct - they haven't fixed the ubiquitous short arbor problem.
 
I like Ubertis a lot more than I do Pietta (that is not knocking Pietta quality).

It takes only a few minutes to fix the Uberti short arbors.
 
I like Ubertis a lot more than I do Pietta (that is not knocking Pietta quality).

It takes only a few minutes to fix the Uberti short arbors.
It takes me a good 1-1.5 hrs if I have to make a series of shims to figure out and lathe turn the proper solid steel plug thickness to semi permanently install. Also if the lower lug needs trimming in the lathe to get the barrel gap even around the clock takes some time.
When this is required to accomplish circumferential barrel gap evenness, it occurs at the same time as the arbor end plug fitting is done.
I'm kind of anal about precision and not worried about speed so things tend to take me longer than if I had turn around to contend with.
If a new tool steel wedge needs made that can take me a full day including machining, fitting and heat treating.
 
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It takes me a good 1-1.5 hrs if I have to make a series of shims to figure out and lathe turn the proper solid steel plug thickness to semi permanently install. Also if the lower lug needs trimming in the lathe to get the barrel gap even around the clock takes some time.
I'm kind of anal about precision and not worried about speed so things tend to take me longer than if I had turn around to contend with.
If a new tool steel wedge needs made that can take me a full day including machining, fitting and heat treating.
I remove the cylinder, cock the barrel, measure the frame overlap, chuck a stainless panhead screw in a drill, spin the head to the correct thickness on a piece of sandpaper on a glass table top, cut the head off the shaft, and install.
Easy Peasy
 
I remove the cylinder, cock the barrel, measure the frame overlap, chuck a stainless panhead screw in a drill, spin the head to the correct thickness on a piece of sandpaper on a glass table top, cut the head off the shaft, and install.
Easy Peasy
Well, there's arbor end fitting and then there's precision fitting of all tolerance's involved. If good enough works for yah then anything beyond is a waste of your time. If your happy then so am I.
 
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Well, there's arbor end fitting and then there's precision fitting of all tolerance's involved. If good enough works for yah then anything beyond is a waste of your time. If your happy then so am I.

Only if the rest of the build was held to the same tolerances.
You don't need a milling machine or a lathe to make these revolvers mechanically excellent as well as accurate.

Mike
 
Only if the rest of the build was held to the same tolerances.
You don't need a milling machine or a lathe to make these revolvers mechanically excellent as well as accurate.

Mike
True,it was all done by hand with files and stones originally but both mills and lathes make precision much easier to obtain and repeat.
I view precision as steps or building blocks with each block adding a percentage of accuracy,functionality and longevity until the law of diminishing returns is reached. Each addition of precision generally speaking will add to the over all performance until reaching it's maximum efficiency potential. This of course is subject to personal opinion,experience and prejudice .
This is the reason I often use the saying that their are solutions in search of problems that have already been addressed adequately.
 
"If good enough works for yah then anything beyond is a waste of your time."

Yup, that's me. I do it pretty much the same way Mike does. Good enough is good enough. Somehow, buying $400,000 worth of machining equipment seems like overkill for a gun (Centaure) that cost me about $100 new.
 
"If good enough works for yah then anything beyond is a waste of your time."

Yup, that's me. I do it pretty much the same way Mike does. Good enough is good enough. Somehow, buying $400,000 worth of machining equipment seems like overkill for a gun (Centaure) that cost me about $100 new.
I can assure you my ancient lathe, mill, drill press and hand tools didn't cost 400K but have most certainly returned much more value in enjoyment than that over the last 45 years since gun school.
I'm a glazier (glass cutter and installer) by trade but use the long AK winters to work on my ideas for muzzle loading and black powder cartridge guns. I don't do commercial gun work so have no dead lines to keep or bean counters to satisfy.
Actually in these later years I've taken up wood bow making and flint knapping along with the muzzle loaders.
Wood bow making is so fascinating and interesting I should have taken it up as a young man. Ah well , to soon old , to late smart ! 😄
 
Well I will chime in with a very new Urberti Walker and Mike is right again.

I won't say they all are short, beyond my ken to know if their tolerances let a right length slip through.

But from what I am seeing, the short is .120-.130 area.

That is well above any mfg variation though it is possible you could get a stacking affect.
 
Well I will chime in with a very new Urberti Walker and Mike is right again.

I won't say they all are short, beyond my ken to know if their tolerances let a right length slip through.

But from what I am seeing, the short is .120-.130 area.

That is well above any mfg variation though it is possible you could get a stacking affect.
Mine was .092 short and needed a steel plug made up to that thickness to get the lower lug to close up on the level.
I'm going to shoot it for a while after I get the new loading lever latch and front sight made and installed before possibly opening up the front of the chambers to match the groove diameter. It seems to like the 200 grain truncate nosed bullet of the current .45 ACP mold I tried.
I found that the chambers on my gun are partially tapered on the ID and so will probably ream them cylindrical eventually nearly or clear to the bottom if I open the chamber mouths. Probably gain another 6-8 grains ( WAG guesstimate) of capacity which is really not needed in this gun.
I won't have to swage the bases of conical bullets to get them seated if the chamber diameters are opened a bit to the .0532 groove diameter of the barrel.
The current chamber mouth diameters are .449.
 
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It takes me a good 1-1.5 hrs if I have to make a series of shims to figure out and lathe turn the proper solid steel plug thickness to semi permanently install. Also if the lower lug needs trimming in the lathe to get the barrel gap even around the clock takes some time.
When this is required to accomplish circumferential barrel gap evenness, it occurs at the same time as the arbor end plug fitting is done.
I'm kind of anal about precision and not worried about speed so things tend to take me longer than if I had turn around to contend with.
If a new tool steel wedge needs made that can take me a full day including machining, fitting and heat treating.
If you trim the lower lug in the lathe, what kind of cut are you taking? Thanks,
 
I can assure you my ancient lathe, mill, drill press and hand tools didn't cost 400K but have most certainly returned much more value in enjoyment than that over the last 45 years since gun school.
I'm a glazier (glass cutter and installer) by trade but use the long AK winters to work on my ideas for muzzle loading and black powder cartridge guns. I don't do commercial gun work so have no dead lines to keep or bean counters to satisfy.
Actually in these later years I've taken up wood bow making and flint knapping along with the muzzle loaders.
Wood bow making is so fascinating and interesting I should have taken it up as a young man. Ah well , to soon old , to late smart ! 😄
Careful! Wood bow making is every bit as adictive as muzzle loading. I'm here to testify!
 
If you trim the lower lug in the lathe, what kind of cut are you taking? Thanks,
I make up two brass barrel centers to fit the bore diameter and both the crown and forcing cone taper. I use lathe centers between head and tail stock and then take "VERY" light back gear slow swing cuts so as not to bend/distort the lug leg. This insures square, flat and plumb lug fit up to pins, bore and frame. The pin holes will need a bit of radial chamfer to clean up the openings. Take a couple of thousands off remove and trial fit until you get it dialed in dead nuts on all axis.
 

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