Revolver Cylinders

[B R Shooter]

So, I do rifle work, not much on pistols. I was watching the show Wild West Alaska, ad they were selling a new single action revolver of a big caliber. They take the revolver back to the "smiths" to have the barrel shortened and "align the cylinders"? Or something like that, they used a slang of some kind, like "align the jugs" or similar.

So my question is, how would you do this? The notches are already machined in the cylinder walls, the lock is already machined in the frame, so how would they be worked on?

[KCSO]

The Home shop[ Machinist, Steve Acker, inline boring and fitting a Ruger Revolver, I think it might even be on line.

[kywoodwrkr]

This leaves a 'few' of the details out.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=54775
But overall you'll get a pretty good picture.
You'll notice most of the work is on manual gear.
I was considering using CNC mill and lathe.
If you go manual, pay attention to the co-axial indicator portion.
Kuhnhausen's book on Ruger Black Hawks has some information on
re-barreling and etc etc.
Between the two you may get enough information to get off the ground.

[btroj]

That guy knows his way around a machine shop.

[B R Shooter]

Very nice link to making a new cylinder. But, back to the original question, what could be done to a factory cylinder since all the "timing" is already done?

[KCSO]

If it's a ruger you can bet the holes are not to spec with the barrel and they will need to be checked for perfect alignment, the forcing cone will need to be polished. Basicly tune up work.

[MBTcustom]

If you are talking about tuning the cylinder for proper rotational alignment, it can be accomplished several ways by manipulating the cylinder stop, and the notch it rides in, as well as the hand.
George C. Nonte jr. Details most of these teqniques in his book "pistolsmithing".
That should be required reading for anyone who wants to learn how to work on handguns.