Colt 1851 question

[wayne64]

I own a Italian repro of a Colt 1851. the gap between the barrel and cylider is a bit wide to my liking. Anyone know of a way to close it up a bit?

 

[TANSTAAFL]

If the wedge too narrow or is bottomed out, might be preventing it from closing gap. Could try another one or tig/meg weld build up the existing one and dress it to size. There are other things I have done to address the problem, but won't go into them, for what has worked for me, may not for others.

IMO, most of the reproductions inherently have too large of a cylinder/barrel gap and I think this contributes to the overly resulting fouling and jamming.

 

[Colt 4pounder]

IMO, most of the reproductions inherently have too large of a cylinder/barrel gap and I think this contributes to the overly resulting fouling and jamming.[/quote]

How big is your gap? I fit mine to .004 to.006. Large gaps can also cause chain firing. I had a Colt Navy that had a .016 gap and after chain firing twice at one range sesson, I reworked it so the gap was more to my specs and its been fine since. Sometimes you can get lucky and just change the wedge. sometimes you have to work on the hole in the cylinder pin, filing out one end and welding up the other, and adding or subtracting metal from the end of the cylinder pin. Its a bit of a job but well worth the effort. Adjusting the gap is just one of the many things I do to a Colt when I get a new one.