Correcting Uberti Short Arbors?

[D Yager]

Yep, cylinder locks up. Thanks, sometimes I need a crayon drawing to get something. So it's not an issue now but will become one as parts wear?

Yes it can become a problem. Frame stretch and loosening of the arbor are both very possible. If the wedge starts getting loose its a sure sign things aren't right.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

I meant drive the wedge in as far as you can and see if THAT locks the cylinder up. I wasn't talking about the bolt locking the cylinder.

View attachment 366945
Like this. This is a new 2024 Uberti. The wedge is fully in and the cylinder is locked up (out of battery). It's an Uberti . . . the arbor is short.
One of 3 I'm working on today (Some "tuners work 7 days a week!! ).
If this was a Pietta, you'd see a brighter "contact patch" on the end of the arbor and the bottom of the arbor hole.

Mike

gosh dang. I'm actually seeing now what yaw been talking about.lol it took me awhile lol. thanks for showing.

 

[Sorry Dude]

Using CC

If it pulls caps off that fall into the innards it could stand a cap post and action shield.

Using CCI #11 magnum caps, magnum the problem?

 

[Rap Scallion]

I can tell you from experience of working on these pistols that the arbor not being seated can turn a Walker or a Dragoon into a paperweight in short order. I have also corrected a few belt pistols as well that were shot with heavy loads and stretched the frame, it's a lot more common on the big horse pistols. Major Kudos to Bad Karma for finally bringing this into the light!! The stretched frame issue can be fixed but it does get a little labor intensive. I have yet to see a Walker wedge fail after the arbor is corrected. I do have one in a drawer in the shop that tried to fold itself in half, has a nice half moon shape in profile. The stretched frame issue shows up as an increased barrel/cylinder gap and a loose wedge that won't tighten no matter how much it gets pounded on. I just repaired a 2nd model Dragoon that all the classic signs of being shot with full house loads. The arbor was 3/8ths of an inch short, the wedge would fall out and it had a huge barrel to cylinder gap. It's a very accurate pistol and solid as a rock now that it's properly set up and the problems fixed.

Is that "fixin procedure" classified material???? I have a 1851 Navy Pieta with a 38LC conversion cyl in it.....can I expect this to happen to me???????

 

[M. De Land]

I'd like to not lock it either I have legitimate questions on the subject.

I use the leg of my 6 inch caliper to run down the arbor well in the barrel and measure the depth at the perimeter then with the cylinder slid on the arbor measure the length of the cylinder with caliper jaws+ the gap I want + the remainder of the arbor with the 6 inch caliper leg. Subtract the two measurements and that gives me the thickness of the well plug I need to make in the lathe. Make sure the cylinder in pushed back against the hand spring and contacting recoil shield to get the correct length needed. I like to make the solid steel plug a couple thousand over size in thickness for trial fit then draw file it flat the final few strokes until the wedge pulls the barrel up solid tight in the well. I then with a feeler gauge measure the barrel gap at 3-6-9 and 12 o"clock to see if the lower lug needs shortening. The barrel gap will be tighter at 12 o'clock than 6 o'clock if the lower lug needs trimmed. If the gap is tighter at 12 o'clock the revolver will tend to print high.
With the gap made as level as possible around the clock the sights can than be filed to establish final elevation regulation with the best load developed.
The gap at 3 and 9 o'clock depend on how straight/square the threaded arbor hole in the recoil shield is bored and tapped.
Some pictures of the lower lug being trimmed in the lathe and making it perfectly square to the bore being turned between brass bore centers.

 

[Dickydalton]

I use the leg of my 6 inch caliper to run down the arbor well in the barrel and measure the depth at the perimeter then with the cylinder slid on the arbor measure the length of the cylinder with caliper jaws+ the gap I want + the remainder of the arbor with the 6 inch caliper leg. Subtract the two measurements and that gives me the thickness of the well plug I need to make in the lathe. Make sure the cylinder in pushed back against the hand spring and contacting recoil shield to get the correct length needed. I like to make the solid steel plug a couple thousand over size in thickness for trial fit then draw file it flat the final few strokes until the wedge pulls the barrel up solid tight in the well. I then with a feeler gauge measure the barrel gap at 3-6-9 and 12 o"clock to see if the lower lug needs shortening. The barrel gap will be tighter at 12 o'clock than 6 o'clock if the lower lug needs trimmed. If the gap is tighter at 12 o'clock the revolver will tend to print high.
With the gap made as level as possible around the clock the sights can than be filed to establish final elevation regulation with the best load developed.
The gap at 3 and 9 o'clock depend on how straight/square the threaded arbor hole in the recoil shield is bored and tapped.
Some pictures of the lower lug being trimmed in the lathe and making it perfectly square to the bore being turned between brass bore centers.

But if I don't drive the wedge in tight it will still shoot high? And if I do it's a single shot?

 

[Smokerr]

I have shot pistols in competition and the Navy shoots very well. Give your pistol a chance and you may be surprised without worrying about what others "think" you need.

And I took a Cat Wagon over the pipeline pad at the Ice Cut I don't know how many times (see note).

It sure does not have anything to do with a short arbor. Granted, balls were involved but ........

note: The Ice Cut was a nasty little drop off a ledge down into the Sak River drainage on the AK Pipeline. The road had a standard slope. The Pad just went over the edge of that drop. With a Cat Wagon full of fill, you eased over the edge as slow as you could go, then as you hit the marbles (small rock) and began to loose braking, you eased off the brakes but kept it as slow as possible. At the bottom you had no brakes on at all and were hitting 50 mph. And then when level you braked like mad because a quarter mile ahead was a sharp turn on the pad.
Keep in mind that a Cat Wagon carried 25 Cubic Yards, pushing something around 80,000 lbs with rig and fill.

 

[Dickydalton]

And I took a Cat Wagon over the pipeline pad at the Ice Cut I don't know how many times (see note).

It sure does not have anything to do with a short arbor. Granted, balls were involved but ........

note: The Ice Cut was a nasty little drop off a ledge down into the Sak River drainage on the AK Pipeline. The road had a standard slope. The Pad just went over the edge of that drop. With a Cat Wagon full of fill, you eased over the edge as slow as you could go, then as you hit the marbles (small rock) and began to loose braking, you eased off the brakes but kept it as slow as possible. At the bottom you had no brakes on at all and were hitting 50 mph. And then when level you braked like mad because a quarter mile ahead was a sharp turn on the pad.
Keep in mind that a Cat Wagon carried 25 Cubic Yards, pushing something around 80,000 lbs with rig and fill.

Can you translate that to French?