Fitting a spare cylinder? - Navy Arms / Uberti 1858 Remington

[Capt. Thomas]

I picked up a spare cyl. for my 58' Uberti and I think it is a bit loose on the for aft play and a touch out on the lock up. What are the accepted tolerances for end play and the proper way to set it and the lock up? Any help or reference would be great!

Capt. Thomas

 

[Kansas Jake]

Is it a cylinder that was made for a Pietta or from another brand? It is my understanding that they are of slightly different dimensions from the Uberti. I don't know if one can be made to work with the other.

 

[Capt. Thomas]

It is a new unfired stainless Uberti cyl.

Capt. Thomas

 

[denster]

Not much you can do on the fore and aft play. There should be some in any case as long as your barrel cylinder gap is not too large I wouldn't worry. Not sure as to what you are referring to regarding the lock up. Regardless you wouldn't do anything to the cylinder the timing is controlled by the hand and the bolt.

 

[M. De Land]

You can bush the front of the cylinder to get rid of the end shake.
With black powder use your going to want at least .008-.010 gap to keep it shooting.

 

[AZbpBurner]

If you have a Navy Arms Uberti, it is old enough to be different dimensions of the newer Uberti's. I have a Navy Arms Uberti 1860 Colt, made in 1969, and needed some parts - the current production parts, from screws to frame & triggerguard are all of greatly different dimensions. Your new cylinder may likely won't properly time or fit your older Uberti - you may well need an old cylinder to make it work right.

 

[Capt. Thomas]

You can bush the front of the cylinder to get rid of the end shake.
With black powder use your going to want at least .008-.010 gap to keep it shooting.

Thanks M.D. I figured I could scrounge up a really close Smith / Colt / Ruger cyl. shim or kit. Mainly wondering what gap to shoot for and you were right close to what I was thinking in .010 area!

Capt. Thomas

 

[Capt. Thomas]

If you have a Navy Arms Uberti, it is old enough to be different dimensions of the newer Uberti's. I have a Navy Arms Uberti 1860 Colt, made in 1969, and needed some parts - the current production parts, from screws to frame & triggerguard are all of greatly different dimensions. Your new cylinder may likely won't properly time or fit your older Uberti - you may well need an old cylinder to make it work right.

That is exactly the type of info I was looking for, thanks AZbpBurner! Now I gotta call VTI or someone and start trying to verify what I have and if it will work?

Any way to tell age from serial number and how to ID the cylinders old vs. new?

Capt. Thomas

 

[crockett]

M.D. that sounds about right. I have a Colt SSA manual and if I recall .006 is the gap and the black powder with a lot of fouling ought to be a little more. As has been said a large gap really doesn't do any harm (to my knowledge) but velocity on the ball might drop slightly.
On the being out of alignment. There is a tool called a range rod that Brownell sells for .357 and 44 (.429 I think) but I don't know if there is a black powder revolver size. This range rod is fed down the muzzle into each chamber. If it passes into the chamber without a "bump" on the end of the cylinder- you are okay.
If one cylinder is off I think the only way to fix it is to peen hammer- dimple one side of the notch and stone (if needed) the other side- in effect moving the notch. HOWEVER today's precision manufacturing is such that I would be highly suspect that one particular cylinder is off. There might be a burr or fouling or some other thing causing the misalignment.

 

[garra]

I have a word document that has the manufacturing dates of replica arms made by Italian companies. Seems I am prohibited from pasting it on this forum. If you want a copy, PM me or give me the codes off your frame.

 

[M. De Land]

I have a set of range rods but have little confidence in their use as you can look down the muzzle of any revolver with a goose necked auto lamp and see misalignment that a range rod won't even pick up.
Works just like an aperture sight and is far more accurate. It also shows the difference between chambers that a range rod won't detect.
In practice each chamber is locked up at full cock and the goose neck lamp is introduced into the muzzle. Now revolve the barrel around your view while matching up the bore wall with the chamber mouth. You can see any misalignment on either axis, mark and record each chamber mouth in it's relation to the bore.
Try it and you will instantly see what I'm describing here.

 

[M. De Land]

Might want to stick on the shim busing with a bit of red loc-tite or even super glue so it will stay put when you insert the cylinder.
Probably have to clear the excess glue before it sets up in the cylinder bore with a pipe clearer and some acetone.
I'd use the base pin, oiled up good, to fit and glue the bushing shim to the cylinder face. It will then be perfectly aligned and the oil will keep the glue from setting up on the base pin.

 

[crockett]

Thanks on that- save a lot of trouble on range rods for odd calibers. I'll give it a try.

 

[old fogey]

I'd try to grab a 90 degree facing cutter from Brownell's and slowly trim the face of the barrel and frame until a new Pietta cylinder snugly fir in it (Pietta cylinders a tad longer as well as a lot cheaper)!