Salvageable 1851?

[99whip]

I hope to turn this brass frame Navy model into a shooter. I knew it wasn't working properly, but for $30 what the heck. Guy said he bought it as a teen, shot it some, put it away and hadn't been fired in 30 years or more, dirty, rusty, etc. I believe it is a Pietta model, there is an FAP stamp under the loading lever. Will not cock. When you hear the first click the hammer has maybe moved a quarter of an inch and the cylinder will not spin as the bolt is still in the cylinder notch.

Tore it all down and cleaned it. The most obvious thing that looks bad is the hammer, photos below. The hand looks ok and the trigger/bolt spring look usable also. What do you guys make of the hammer and how worn it looks? It sure doesn't look like normal wear?

It is a brasser, so I looked for signs of heavy load damage, arbor is tight, pin is tight. Recoil ring looks ok too.

 

[hawkeye2]

The cam is trash and the half and full cock notches are history, replace it. Looking at the notches I would suspect the trigger may have issues too and would order one at the same time. The hammer may have been too soft as that wear is unusual. Take a close look at the hammer end of the bolt too, may be some problems there. Armature gunsmithing?

 

[Tinker2]

Pietta Replacement Pistol Parts Kit
And on sale
Link


William Alexander

 

[hawkeye2]

Go for it, you can't beat that price anywhere. I bought 3 of those parts sets for a Remington last year when they were on sale.

 

[99whip]

Thank you, parts are on order. I'm sure there'll be some fitting required, should be a good learning experience. I have a feeling there will be more questions...will keep you posted.

 

[99whip]

Update -

Replacement parts kit arrived and seemed to solve multiple issues. I basically ended up replacing all the action parts except the trigger/bolt spring as the existing one is a good fit. Hammer now gets to half and full cock and makes 3 clicks.

I do have an issue which I need help with - the cylinder stop does not drop completely out of the window in the frame when the hammer is at half cock. I could use a few tips for adjusting it?

 

[99whip]

Sorry, that should say that the bolt does not completely drop out of the frame window at half cock. Any assistance appreciated.

 

[denster]

It doesn't need to completely clear the frame as long as it completely clears the cylinder at half cock.

 

[Tinker2]

The cylinder is supposed to turn in the Half cock notch



William Alexander

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Sorry, that should say that the bolt does not completely drop out of the frame window at half cock. Any assistance appreciated.

Does the bolt drag on the cylinder at half cock when it rotates?

 

[99whip]

The cylinder is off the arbor. If I put the hammer at half cock, there is enough of the bolt showing that you cannot slide the cylinder into position on the arbor.

 

[denster]

If you replaced both the hammer and the cylinder stop/bolt and the bolt is still not being retracted then it sounds like the bolt leg may not be resetting over the hammer cam. You can check by looking into the action with the trigger guard off to see if the leg is snapping back over the cam when the hammer is fully forward. If it is not then friction between the cam and bolt leg is allowing the bolt to be only partly retracted.

 

[99whip]

Dennis, and others,

Thanks for the replies. I decided to go back and try the original bolt just to see what might happen and it cleared up the problems. I thought it would need to be replaced along with some of the other action parts that were worn out, but it seems to be fine. The bolt clears the frame and the cylinder will slide on the arbor and rotate at half cock.

I did create one new problem, however, I had also put in a new hand and h/spring but the spring broke, so I'll need to fix that before going any further. Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I have had the hand spring brake on my little Wells Fargo. It seems to be one of the more delicate springs on the Colt design.

The other part that controls the cylinder cycling is kind of a combination stop bolt spring and trigger spring (not sure of the exact name of this part) this is another part that you have to be careful with, but it is the part that controls how the cylinder stop works, this could be the area that might need a little adjusting but be careful, because moving it can weaken the spring. I assume if it is properly tempered it might stand for some adjustment without weakening.

If I am wrong about this anyone can go ahead and correct me, but I did have to do some adjustment on my Wells Fargo pocket pistol and it has been working well since I fixed it 20 years ago.

 

[Many Klatch]

A couple of years ago I had a broken hand spring on my Remington. I asked the question on this forum and found that you can make a better replacement hand spring than you can buy.

Simply, remove the existing broken spring, widen the slot for the spring. Solder in a piece of Bobby Pin and cut and bend to fit. My Bobby Pin repair has held up for hundreds of shots now.

 

[99whip]

You know, I have wondered why I haven't heard more folks mention using solder. It may be that it just isn't deemed necessary? However, if you were to use a drop or two of solder, I don't think you have to take so much care trying to remove the nub of broken spring without damaging the slot. You could dremel it out, fit in a new spring, drop or two of solder and done I would think. I am a newbie with revolvers so maybe there are other considerations that would make a difference there.

I also wonder if anybody has attempted to use 3d metal printing to copy the old hand and print a new one? I might give it a try.