Shot Out Brass Frame

[hawkeye2]

A silver soldered or brazed joint, whether with silver solder or brass is in shear in this case and with no mechanical locking of the parts. Brazed joints have little resistance to shear forces, regardless of the tensile strength of the alloy, and they are not recommended for applications where they are subjected to only shear loads.

The top of the bolt and the locking notches on the cylinder are rounded and any forward or rearward movement of the cylinder would tend to push the bolt down against its spring pressure so little longitudinal load would be transmitted to the frame here.

The abrupt and violent, if I may use the term, rearward movement of the cylinder batters the soft brass vertical face of the frame and displaces metal here leading to more cylinder slop and increased battering. The hand does nothing to counteract the cylinder movement.

The barrel is attached to the frame at the arbor only and is free to slide (sometimes with some difficulty) on the two pins which serve only to align the barrel assembly so there should be no stretching of the horizontal portion of the frame forward of the trigger.

I have no doubt that an amateur machinist could successfully rebuild a brass frame and quite possibly improve it at the same time and probably for only a few dollars worth of materials however given the time involved and the cost of a new revolver I would question putting forth the time to do so. I would perfer to watch reruns of "NCIS" :grin:

 

[M. De Land]

Good post an appreciate the discussion.I was referring to horizontal stretching of the bolt widow making it wider not longer.
If I ever can find a shot out brass frame I will do as I suggested just to see if it will work.
I think the silver solder radial sweat joint of a bushing will hold personally if closely fit.I used the term shear but that is not actually what would be happening as the barrel is off center and the bushing would actually be under angular pressure not parallel shear.
Good point about the cylinder moving back against and battering the recoil shield that I had not considered.
On my 60 I set the barrel back on the arbor by tighten the gap between the cylinder and the barrel face to limit this movement. Big job to spot mark,remove the alignment pins and file back the lower barrel lug, make a new wedge and elongate the slot. Sure reduced the end shake though and doesn't tie the cylinder up with fouling. MD

 

[hawkeye2]

I set the barrel back on a '51 30 years ago and haven't forgotten how much work was involved.

I do remember someone posting about installing a steel insert in the face of a brass frame as a repair and to take the recoil forces of the cylinder. I don't remember whether it was here or over on the CAS City forum and I believe it was a suggestion and the poster hadn't actually done it.

I guess I worry too much about brazed joints as I often see people trying to fill large gaps with the brazing material while the gap in a properly prepared joint shouldn't exceed the thickness of a sheet of paper.

I have never been scared off by a brass frame and I have 4 brass revolvers but I do believe that a little common sense will greatly extend the life of one. If you decide to try any of your ideas on a worn out gun let us know the result. I know I'm interested and I'm sure many others here are too. If they don't work you can still bury it in a pile of horse manure.

 

[M. De Land]

I will actively look for one just so we can find out. Been looking for a good 51 at the local gun shows and will run across both someday.
Years ago I fixed and ole wreck of a brass framed gun for a friend, He was into quick draw and fanning and that was were I learned about inertia and bolts wallowing out knocks and windows. Interestingly enough it still shot but he had torn off all the knobs on the creeping loading lever. I welded hard rod on to each chewed off point, refiled them, refit and hardened them to there seats in the barrel and he was back in business, sloppy cylinder lock up and all. I think he shot blank loads( probably caps a small amount of powder and a wad) but it still was a wreck after his treatment of it. MD

 

Wall hanger.

New brass framed sixguns are cheap, often not much more than a hundred dollars. Fingers and eyeballs are not.