Colt 1860 Cylinder Questions

[sabretech]

I recently got my mitts on an 1860 Colt 4 screw model made by Armi San Paolo/Euroarms in 1981. I've fixed/adjusted everything else, lockwork, shoulder stock, etc, and now it's time to fix that huge gap between the cylinder face and the barrel. As I write this, there are 6 cylinders that are or might be OK on sale on eBay. I've gone through the older posts, and the consensus is that Uberti parts will fit Euroarms. Am I right, or did I misread something? Can I make a Pietta cylider work? One of the items offered is claimed to be a Colt part from the 70's, which, if I read correctly, was at least rough forged by Uberti, and another is what looks like a cylinder for a percussion SAA, although the base/center pin is of the older 1851/60 diameter. It's obviously not rebated, but it looks as though it might be a go. Any comments, including pointed suggestions to keep my money in my pocket, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Robert an saa fan]

I have encountered two different diameter ratchets (what the hand engages to turn the cylinder) in common colt replicas.

ebay is mostly an auction; ebayer's generally want stuff sold & gone... even if someone will take a part back they generally will not refund shipping... cylinders often sell for more than you can buy them for from the usual suppliers on the internet.

Another big ebay problem is that many folks list stuff not really knowing what it is and list it incorrectly.

I would recommend buying from a reputable local gun shop or a gun show where you can have your gun in hand and try the cylinder in your gun.

You could also post a wanted ad on this site's free classifieds.

 

[rebel727]

Cylinders generally need to be fitted to a particular gun.

 

[sabretech]

The different ratchet diameters is something new to me: thanks for letting me know.

I'm well aware of some folks inability to accurately describe what they're selling. I regularly search the listings for exactly those ones, as I have gotten really good deals that way.

FYI, S&S, the Euroarms importer, has replacement cylinders for $70 for the 'normal' one and $75 for the fluted one, so I have a bit of wiggle room as opposed to the $40 Uberti and Pietta ones commonly available from Cabela's (to name one). And yes, there any number of things that end up costing more (and frequently used) on eBay than a new one would.

I know the cylinder has to be fitted. I just finished doing that for the extra cylinder I picked up for my 2002 Pietta Remington.

 

[sabretech]

UPDATE: An Uberti cylinder fits the Armi San Paolo/Euroarms revolver. What fitting I needed to do was to remove some dings in that particular cylinders face (dropped, probably) so that it wouldn't hang up on the back of the forcing cone. After that was done, it worked without problem.

Next, I'll ream out the chambers, and then I hope to post a range report.

 

[peashooterJoe]

I recently picked up two cylinders for my ASP/Euroarms.36 Navy (AF) 1980 and (XX8) 1972 sheriffs models. The 80 Navy model uses the smaller diameter (.6630") cylinder.The 72 uses the larger diameter rachet(.6920") on my sheriffs model and cylinder was new in box. No fitting was required for either one, other than polishing up burrs. Both was in time and chambers lined up with the bore's perfectly(was I ever so lucky). I've had to fit Uberti, ASM and Pietta parts on the my other toys.The ASP'S have better fit and finishes than currently made today with a side by side comparision. Sidenote:I have used some ASM parts on them with minimal fitting. Some of the Uberti parts were too large, like the hand, and trigger, cylinder stop spring. So far the replacemnts parts seem to vary in quality,fit ,finish. They are suppose to go by ISO
standards acccording to the propaganda.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Remember Tuco in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"? He "made" a SAA revolver from several guns as if the parts were completely interchangeable :shocked2: .

Safety being a primary concern, I would only deal with a reliable source in this situation. The "take it to a gun show" is probably what I'd do too. Maybe you'll have as much luck as Tuco . All the best, Dave

 

[Jdzara]

Here's my example of pure dumb luck. I bought an ASM cylinder for a New Model Army Remington on ebay. It dropped right in to my original NMA,it indexes, locks and fires just fine. That shows that sometimes even a blind pig finds an acorn.
Jerry