Need to fix missing pins on 1849 Colt pocket revolver

[Ballistics in Scotland]

While it wouldn't be unusual for the pins to be forged and machined as part of the frame on a piece from this time period especially since the holes arnt 100% ( flats on top of pins matching the frame). drills and reamers were expensive to make and maintain. The set up with a plug cutter in a multiple spindle machine would cut both plugs to size and depth in one pass, then the exess can be removed easily with a simple mill set up or files. Manufacturing wasn't near what it is today with the horizontal mill shapers and hand tools being state of the art. Even in production skilled craftsman ran these machines. A lot of these shops were still running on flat belt driven machines from ceiling mounted jack shafts.

It is possible to locate drill and tap then turn studs with threads and correct dia ends easy enough. turn outer ends long so the driver can be taken off and length set after installation. THe partial hole can be taken care of by drilling with a end mill slow and easy or clamping a piece of steel to the frame to allow drill to cut full dia 100% hole.

Fortunately it is Clark who needs to replace his complete pins, not me and my partial ones. Drilling and tapping (or even drilling and solder, epoxy or force-fit) should be fine for him. If I needed it, I think it would have to be silver solder. You suggestion of clamping a piece of steel to make a complete hole (shaped I suppose to fit the revolver-cylinder concavity of the frame) is a good one. I think I would turn it with a flange, or have a piece of sheet steel fixed to the top, drilled to accurately locate the holes.

Dickens makes it plain that in the London factory, presumably copying US Colt practice, all a few skilled craftsmen did in the machine shop was the setting-up of what were mostly basic machine tools with specialised tooling. The work was done by people recruited from other jobs, and mostly very glad to be. The belts from a single overhead layshaft were usual in Victorian factories, and a great source of accidents. But some workers preferred them to V-belts when they came on the scene. The flat belt might pull you into the machine, but more likely just crush or disclocate your finger, while the V-belt would chop it off.

[country gent]

B.I.S.

The old timers also learned that the flat belts would slip or "jump" the pulley before breaking or damaging the tooling most times. The vee belt added grip would break tooling meaning more work in setting. I have an old flat belt drill press that does that pulleys still show the crown to a flat edge. But work it to hard then it slips the belt off

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Just to complicate matters, however, someone has just supplied me with this picture. This appears to be an unfinished 1849 receiver, never stamped with "Colt's patent", and with the axis pin unslotted. I can see no sign of the locating pins on the front of the receiver, so it seems as if these were inserted in drilled holes at least some of the time.

[country gent]

Is this an original period forging or from one of the many reproductions being made today? Would be interesting to measure it out on the lower frames length and see if the stock is there for the pins. Could it have been forged long enough to have pins machined from it

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I don't know, and even the owner didn't know. It is certainly fairly old, and I know Pocket replicas came along some time after the first modern ones. It could even be that it's from a European copy contemporary with the original Colts. The bevelled edge in front of where the trigger guard will be appears to be of the usual length.

If I had to guess about how anybody would choose to make one of these, I would say forged or inserted pins are both more attractive propositions than machining from a flat-ended receiver.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Curses! that receiver I illustrated was in a French internet auction. I asked and got the seller's agreement to send it outside France, but the website blocked my bid at the last moment because he hadn't changed the conditions of the listing. So someone in France got it for eleven euros! I hope it will grow the rest of the gun again soon, like an amputatee lobster.