Jim, no "ill will" ment but asking if the gov. bought Colt sounded a little juvenile ( borderline SA
). Following that question with why would they want a government contract / why not submit more open-top revolvers ( again, they already HAD a brand new '71 Open Top) seemed like more of the same so I reacted to it as such. 
Thank you Sir the pistol did the work I just pointed and pulled the trigger plus wearing a cowboy hat probably helped.
Pete453's quote says it all !It always ends with an arbor measuring contest
I really think that my test of pulling the barrel off an back on after each shot and to hold a group like that proved the arbor fixed helped 10 fold. Before the fix I would always get a flyer or two.Pete453's quote says it all !
Ball Shooter's tite-group & 45D's replica tuning expertise wins the arbor debate contest
If replica revolvers held the same specs & tolerances' used on original Colts & Remington's there would be little need to make any corrections.
offhand? with a cap and ball with the worst sites ever put on a weapon? old guys shooting them half blind with cataracts then after surgery? would you have to shoot a one hole group off a horse at 100 yds to be a champ?
A wedge head gauge can be the size of a nickle and kept in a possible bag pocket or on a lanyard around your neck and takes maybe two seconds to use when bumping in the wedge at reassembly.
No offense but why not just fix the short arbor and use your tooled wedge. Personally I want my weapons to be as accurate as can be and take out any possible short comings no pun intended. My Uberti shot pretty good with the short arbor but not what I would call exceptional. BTW I would love to have a tooled wedge but I do not have the means to make.
I have on my guns but the thread is for those who have not made the fix and shoot short arbor guns.
I would like to see it too. As to how it would not tie up the cylinder, I would set the gap with a feeler gauge as you do. Then, drop the spacer back in and shoot l again.
This is my thoughts also. It didn't take long to fit the spacer, now it's done forever. I adjusted the front sight to conicals and my hunting load. This spring I found a brand new barrel assembly on eBay and fit that to the gun sighted in for round balls, complete with it's own personal spacer. It's not that big of a deal to fix the problem, so I did it. On my own guns I want them the way I want them, it only cost me my time. Your guns, your choice.
Seems like a lot of effort for something the occasional shooter can basically ‘fix’ with a little glue or epoxy and a washer or two. Or maybe they drill and tap a hole for a screw ‘locked’ in place with some Loctite.
Well, it's more complicated than just fitting the end of the arbor as the lower lug needs to be addressed as well or you will make a gun shoot high or low. If you pull the barrel back this includes the lower lug.
So putting a shim on the end of the arbor or in the barrel hole that sets up the barrel and frame relationship exactly as your gauge does causes a ‘high or low’ POI problem? Please explain.
Don't be so humble, you know the hat helped! I catch more fish when I wear mine
Any time one moves the barrel rearward via a shim, new wedge or wedge adjustment screw to tighten up barrel/cylinder gap, the lower lug must be shortened what ever amount is needed to maintain a uniform cylinder gap. If you only tighten the gap by wedge pull and do not adjust the lower lug height it cantilevers the barrel from the frame, pressuring the arbor upward and making the eylinder gap tighter at the top than at the bottom. This misaligns the chambers with the bore axis making guns shoot high.
Appears we have a failure to communicate. The shim I am talking about just fills the gap/space between the end of the arbor and bottom of the hole in the barrel. If the shim isn’t there, driving the wedge in further pulls the barrel closer to the frame, closing up the distance between the barrel and frame. At some point there is no clearance between the barrel and the frame to allow the cylinder to rotate. Not good or desirable in my opinion. With the correct shim in place you can pound on the wedge with a mallet if you like, and the cylinder still turns freely with no binding or change to the cylinder gap. There are more concerns to consider, but let’s start with what is the purpose of your gauge, if not to set the cylinder gap on a gun with a short arbor gun so the cylinder is not jammed up? Not being rude, just curious. May be something to learn here.
My arbor is bigger than your arbor…It always ends with an arbor measuring contest
The rear of the" barrel" slot draws the barrel rearward via the wedge cam-ed against the "arbor" slot but the front of the "barrel" slot limits how deep the new wedge can go plus limiting the rearward travel against the front side of the wedge. The barrel can only move to the rear as much as the clearance between the front of the "barrel" slot and the front side of the new wedge contact allows. This is the reason the front of the "barrel" slot must be elongated when a wider wedge is made. The wider wedge needs a wider barrel slot to go deeper and pull the barrel rearward. To go deeper it needs the slot made wider at the front. I say deeper but actually increased width on a five degree taper is whats actually occurring.
