I agree with you, one of my six-guns does the same thing. Go shoot and enjoy, its not rocket science.
How Do Y’All Break In Your New C&B Revolvers?
- Thread starter DevilsLuck
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I agree with you, one of my six-guns does the same thing. Go shoot and enjoy, its not rocket science.
DevilsLuck
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Tons of fun! I need to work on my dual-wield, single hand pistol craft though. I gotta perfect that twitch\flip that helps eject the spent caps. But all in all not bad. The new pistol is only hitting about2 inches high at fifteen paces. Running 25 grains of black powder. Even got 4 out of 6 on a 10” steelgong from 43 yards. Rested of course. But tons of fun! I need more shooting supplies. The weekend approaches.
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Rat
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Glad you are aware of the flip while cocking the gun, to throw spent caps clear. So many guys drive themselves nutz trying to figure out why they get cap-jams, handling/shooting/cocking the pistol like a modern revolver. Some even make mechanical modifications to "fix" the "problem". !!! I bet the old timers who actually used the cap-n-ball pistols would be amazed to see modern shooters neglecting to flip the pistol back, while cocking. Having said that, I'm sure there are many range officers who would go into a panic, seeing someone flipping the pistol up and back while cocking, and would take issue with it.
DevilsLuck
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Yeah it didn’t take me long to realize that I had to handle this thing differently than my cartridge revolvers. I wasn’t sure if that twitch was “correct” form, or a sanctioned method of handling the pistol; but it definitely works.
As for the range officer? That would be me... I have shooting ranges on my property. One of my porches has been modified into a shooting bench. 0-250 yards.
When I was very young and watched a lot of the western series on television, I always wondered why one of the characters portrayed by Andy Devine always flipped his revolver up after firing. Took a long time and experience with a cap and ball revolver to realize that he was mimicking the procedure to clear spent caps.
Now I point the pistol up and flick the spent cap off. Sometimes it works. Sometimes I can feel the cap jamming up. I just have to be aware of what is happening with my revolver.
Now I point the pistol up and flick the spent cap off. Sometimes it works. Sometimes I can feel the cap jamming up. I just have to be aware of what is happening with my revolver.
DevilsLuck
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In addition to the flip up and slight twitch helping to eject spent caps... I’ve also found that the inertia of the down stroke facilitates the cocking procedure.
Me too.
Amen, Bros. Same with modern pistols. All seem to need stoning and polishing. Exception might be Ruger stainless steel. That steel seems to 'wear in' very nicely with use.
I use a ceramic stone that will only polish parts. But Yes you can just shoot to make it better. You can lube with JB bore paste to shorten the time. It is like jewelers rouge. Clean it off and use a good grease like Action Lube. Single actions are touchy so do not remove metal or the trigger will fall into the half cock or safety notch and can break. I soft solder shim stock on the full cock notch to get rid of creep. Soft brass that can be filed to get the right feel. Never lighten the trigger spring because if your finger is kicked the trigger will fall into a notch.
Move on to the modern Ruger and BFR's with the transfer bars. Some bars are short and if you lighten the trigger too much the bar will drop off the pin for a misfire or nick it for a hang fire. I hand make my own bars longer to cover more of the firing pin at full cock and get a trigger to 1-1/2# to 19 oz. Since there is no half cock or safety notch, metal can be removed from the hammer. Not so with the Colt SA designs. The original Colt had a good trigger, better then repros but cowboys fooled with them too and carried parts to replace.
Move on to the modern Ruger and BFR's with the transfer bars. Some bars are short and if you lighten the trigger too much the bar will drop off the pin for a misfire or nick it for a hang fire. I hand make my own bars longer to cover more of the firing pin at full cock and get a trigger to 1-1/2# to 19 oz. Since there is no half cock or safety notch, metal can be removed from the hammer. Not so with the Colt SA designs. The original Colt had a good trigger, better then repros but cowboys fooled with them too and carried parts to replace.
WRustyLane
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I thinned my trigger spring and got it a little too thin 'cause now it has a "hair" trigger. In the future I want to replace the spring with a wire spring as I've heard that these piano wire springs are superior to the flat springs. And I want to experiment with the wire springs. I can always reinstall the original flat spring.
I had a friend in Ohio that thought he knew all about BP revolvers. He removed all blue to white first. Then he tinkered with internal parts and broke so many he had boxes of extra parts from every maker. Italian guns he thought he could make better but he ruined most. The guns were fine before he started and just needed shot to smooth. OF COURSE YOU DO NOT DRY FIRE A PERCUSSION with nipples in. But a Ruger OA can be dry fired. Just load and shoot.
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Make good smoke!!
After inspecting a new/new to me bp revo to make sure fit and function are correct, I fire 3 or 4 cylinders worth of low charge (15-20 gn) shots through it and decide what needs done from there. For me, I will often upgrade nipples, trigger spring, and do a little buffing on contact surfaces to slick things up. Occasionally I can get away with a lighter hammer spring as well, but that limits you to the brand of caps that your gun ignites most reliably
