It's hard to pull back the hammer on my Colt Dragoon

[Sixgun Symphony]

For some reason it's really hard to pull back the hammer on my reproduction Colt Dragoon revolver. The wedge is barely through the other side of the slot, so I don't think it's too far in. Maybe I need to shave the wedge pin down for a looser fit?

[Mk42gunner]

Before I did that, I would take the barrel and cylinder off and try cocking it. If it cocks easily then, you know it is one fo those or the wedge causing problems. If not then it is something inside the lockworks.

Have you checked for cap debris in the hammer slot?

What brand is it?

Robert

[Ragnarok]

My new Dragoon's wedge just barely sticks through. I've had other Colt clone BP revolvers..and the wedge sounds normal

Can you turn the cylinder with the gun assembeled..I mean do you have any cylinder gap at all?

If you drive the wedge too tight..can bind the cylinder.

My first outing with my new 3rd Model Dragoon..I had the wedge driven really tight. The gun rotated good until I shot it a couple times..then it got too tight! I had to tap the wedge loose..and tap it back in less tight.

[John Taylor]

You should have .004-.006" space between the barrel and cylinder when the wedge is in. A piece of paper is close to .004"( most paper) if you don't have a feeler gauge.

[44man]

That wedge is a pain. The big problem was it always changed the barrel angle as it changes.
The solid frame is always better. The Remington is better but chambers are so close together flash from the gap can ruin a boolit in the next chamber so the RB is better.

[Sixgun Symphony]

I took off the barrel and cylinder and yes, it's a problem with the wedge. Is there a trick to getting it right every time? Maybe I should get a feeler gauge?

[Ragnarok]

Just tap it in until it's tight enough...should be able to see daylight between the cylinder face and the back of the barrel...but not much.

Barrel assembly must be tight to the frame too. Drive the wedge too far and the gun will get tight(sounds like what happens to your gun). Drive the wedge a little bit too far and have cylinder gap..but not enough gap..a couple/three shots will make the gun tight.

If it's a brandnew gun..I would shoot it a bunch..and seat it all in. The wedge itself will wear in..as will the cylinder-pin slot and barrel slots.

My 'new' Dragoon came off the used rack..but I don't think it was ever fired. I had a few issues the first time out...but I've noticed subsequent shoots have been trouble-free for the most part. I'm learning what the big revolver needs..and the revolver itself is breaking in.

[NickSS]

The original colts had the hole that the cylinder pin goes in the barrel lug drilled only deep enough to properly fasten the barrel to the frame. Most replicas have the hole drilled deeper so the wedge can force the barrel to be too tight. You can fix this by using a feeler gage when putting the barrel on the gun. You can also permanently fix it by use of a plug and some good epoxy compound in the barrel lug. First measure the depth of the hole and then measure the depth that the cylinder pin enters the barrel lug with a .004" shim between the barrel and cylinder. I then cut a plug from a suitable piece of steel round stock the difference in the two lengths. Take the plug and put some good epoxy on it and push it down the barrel lug till it is firmly seated and let the epoxy cure. You should check the plug before epoxying it in place to make sure its the right depth. Once done you never have to worry about over tightening the wedge again.

[Omnivore]

What Nickss said. The cylinder arbor should bottom out against the inside of the hole in the barrel, such that the wedge cannot be forced in enough to tie up the cylinder. Ubertis seem to have a tendency to have too deep a hole in the barrel (or the cylinder arbor is too short) and pushing in the wedge can force the barrel against the cylinder. Shim it.

My Pietta '51 Colt had the opposite problem-- the cylinder gap was .015" no matter how hard you drive in the wedge, so I shortened the arbor by .010" and now the gap is the desired .005". Of course I had to shave the barrel where it contacts the frame under the cylinder by the same .010" AND I had to make a new, wider wedge, but it makes for a nicer revolver.

Once you get them fit right, the open top design is plenty strong and it shoots consistently and reliably.

[Omnivore]

Here you go, Sixgun, and all. I found the original "Tuning the Pietta" a couple years ago, but he's since added several pages of "Tuning the Uberti Open tops". Very good stuff and both sets of articles hit upon your problem. Digest it all and you'll have a very good understanding of your Colt replicas. Enjoy.

For the Piettas (and Uberti owners will benefit also);

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Pietta_Part_One.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Pietta_Part_Two.pdf

and for the Ubertis;

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_1.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_2.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_3.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_4.pdf

[Sixgun Symphony]

:guntootsmiley: Thank you much!

[IridiumRed]

Lots of good info above - I've heard about the issues with the depth of the arbor hole causing cylinder drag.

I had a house fire a while ago, lost my whole gun collection (about 45 guns) and a ton of parts. Thankfully I have good insurance, so I got a pretty good settlement, so I have slowly started rebuilding my collection.

I had a couple of cap'n'ball guns, including a Uberti Walker.

After reading everything about the arbor hole depth, if I get another cap'n'ball gun that will be one of the first things I check out, and possibly fix (I like working on things, and am not afraid to make some changes to a gun if it makes it work better!)

As someone mentioned before, I WOULD be concerned about the lockwork as well, it might be OK, but it could be causing problems as well.

Make sure you check the timing, IE, at a simplistic level, as you pull the hammer back, the bolt should be dropping down & releasing the cylinder, lets say in the first 1/3 of the pull, and the bolt should stay down until maybe the last 1/3 of the hammer pull when it is released to come up and be ready to stop & lock up the cylinder when it is inline with the barrel (firing position)

Those are really rough explanations, but what should NOT be happening is having the bolt drag hard around the cylinder, which will soon cut a deep groove. Basically, if there seems to be a lot of drag & binding in the lockwork, separate from the barrel drag, I would be wondering about the timing.

One way to test this might be to take the barrel off, and leave the cylinder on, and then work the hammer (you will need to use your fingers to keep the barrel pushed back, since the barrel is off). If everything works smoothly, I'd guess that your lockwork is fine, that the problem is at the front of the cylinder.


Dont know if any of that is your problem, but just wanted to mention it. One thing I dont see above, is - is this a brand new gun to you, or have you been using it a while and this problem has just come up?

One reason I mentioned timing is that about 10-12 years ago I picked up a Uberti clone of an 1873 Single Action Army Colt, in 44 mag. I put about 200 factory loads through it, and the lockwork developed a big problem. The spring broke on the back of the hand, and possibly the interface between the bolt & hammer had a problem (both of these are common in these guns from what I understand now).

Basically it was completely out of time. The Cylinder rotation was not consistent at all, nor was the bolt going in and out of the cylinder. The action was really rough to use, and the bolt stop started cutting a deep groove in the cylinder. I certainly stopped using it of course!!

I put the gun in a box, and was planning on getting parts to fix it (and lost it during the fire). Anyways, at least with those Uberti replicas, I hear that this isn't an unusual problem, and the centerfire guns are supposed to have better parts in them than the cap'n'ball replicas.

I noticed on my Uberti Walker (and had a Uberti 1860 as well) both of those guns had pretty soft parts for the cylinder & some of the lockwork. Never had a problem with them, but the soft metal always concerned me a bit for long-term use....

Anyways!! Sorry to ramble! Good luck with your gun. Report back what you find :)