Bonehead goof leads to another question.

[fishmusic]

Took my Pietta Colt Navy to the range today. No real problems at the range other than the range officer mentioning (jokingly) that they make semiautomatic pistols now, Got home to do the cleaning and when I reassembled all I couldn't get it to half cock except on a few cylinders. DUH!! Remember to tighten your nipples or the hammer will not be let down enough to complete the action cycle.

OK, I got that one figured out but it raises a question about how far must the hammer go to complete the cycle? So I put caps on the nipples (not loaded with ball and powder), pushed them down on the nipples. Gently let the hammer down on the unspent cap and the hammer would not complete the cycle (that final little click) and would lock up the action.

Normally this would not be a problem when shooting because the hammer hits the cap with force enough to complete the cycle. However I have been in situations where this lockup occurred with loaded chambers and was not happy to have to remove the cylinder to free up the action.

I think that the cure is to enlarge curve on the bolt where it contacts the cam on the hammer. Anybody have any input on this?

 

[45D]

Your thought is the correct solution. You need earlier "reset". Also, make sure you don't have any burrs along the edge of the cam that may impede the bolt arm from snapping over the cam.
I set reset to occur when the hammer face breaks the plane of the recoil shield.

Mike

 

[fishmusic]

Your thought is the correct solution. You need earlier "reset". Also, make sure you don't have any burrs along the edge of the cam that may impede the bolt arm from snapping over the cam.
I set reset to occur when the hammer face breaks the plane of the recoil shield.

Mike

Thanks, Mike, I have been slowly grinding that section of the bolt to do just that. I am doing it conservatively since I don't have a second bolt.

 

[45D]

Also, watch and make sure the arm is falling off the front of the cam instead of sliding off the side.

Mike

 

[fishmusic]

The cam on this hammer is an integrally machined part and not a press fit part. I have not yet observed the cam falling off incorrectly. I think that Pietta had a good idea on that upgrade, My pistol originally came with a press fit cam and one day I noticed the action acting fiddly and being intermittent. Low and behold the cam had come loose and was spinning in its hole. It was chewed up so I ordered the new hammer. I also asked Pietta to send some cams so I could play with them on the old hammer.

 

[45D]

The cam on this hammer is an integrally machined part and not a press fit part. I have not yet observed the cam falling off incorrectly. I think that Pietta had a good idea on that upgrade, My pistol originally came with a press fit cam and one day I noticed the action acting fiddly and being intermittent. Low and behold the cam had come loose and was spinning in its hole. It was chewed up so I ordered the new hammer. I also asked Pietta to send some cams so I could play with them on the old hammer.

Sorry fishmusic, reread my post.
Make sure the arm (of the bolt) is falling off the front of the cam instead of sliding off of the side.

 

[1950DAVE]

I don't know about any other person"s Pietta, but the cam on my 1860 is definetly pressed in. I was having trouble with cycling the cylinder. Lock up in particular. I found that the cam had come loose. Repaird it and it works fine.

 

[fishmusic]

I don't know about any other person"s Pietta, but the cam on my 1860 is definetly pressed in. I was having trouble with cycling the cylinder. Lock up in particular. I found that the cam had come loose. Repaird it and it works fine.

My Pietta was made in 2019 and Pietta has, sometime after that date, started making the cam and integral machined part of the hammer. No more loose cams, Yay!. Glad you were able to get yours working again. Mine was beyond repair. If y'all ever need a new cam I have five.

 

[fishmusic]

Sorry fishmusic, reread my post.
Make sure the arm (of the bolt) is falling off the front of the cam instead of sliding off of the side.

I misspoke and inserted cam instead of bolt. I think that the arm is falling off correctly. And, I finally got the arm cutout to the size needed to complete the action cycle before it falls on the unexpended cap.

The next thing I would like to do is to tune the bolt / trigger spring for reliability. I did purchase a wire one from Heinie but it is very fiddly to fit it easily. I have managed to fit once but reproducing that has been a PITA. I have heard the recommendation of shimming the regular spring to give it more longevity. What are your thoughts?