Colt new army timing issue

[troyboy]

I have a colt New Army 1895 model that had to have the hand replaced. Lots of fitting then file work followed by further fitting have resulted in a reasonably fitting hand and cylinder. The hand needs some further fitting and file work but a little guidence is called for. Where are the places that need fitting to get the cylinder to start turning sooner so it advances further. I am still about 5-10° early. Thanks Troy

[Mk42gunner]

Troy,

As I remember from armorer's school, you need to stretch your hand by peening it with either a straight or a cross peen hammer. Lengthening the hand allows it to contact the ratchet earlier, causing it to rotate more. You shouldn't file or stone the top of the either notch until the cylinder rotates into alignment with the barrel.

It has been more than twenty years since I last worked on a Colt, so verify this before doing anything.

Robert

[rintinglen]

Troy,

As I remember from armorer's school, you need to stretch your hand by peening it with either a straight or a cross peen hammer. Lengthening the hand allows it to contact the ratchet earlier, causing it to rotate more. You shouldn't file or stone the top of the either notch until the cylinder rotates into alignment with the barrel.

It has been more than twenty years since I last worked on a Colt, so verify this before doing anything.

Robert
Absolute truth--this is the bane of the Colt V-spring action.
When I shot PPC, for the first two years I used a Colt Python. Three 35 dollar action jobs--a lot of money in 1976--convinced me I had to learn to do it myself. The best way I found was to lie the hand on a smooth anvil, pin facing up and using a dull cold chisel in the channel that the rebound bar slides in, give it a moderate hit with a one pound mallet. Then assemble the revolver and try the action, repeat as necessary, changing the point of impact each time to avoid "U-ing" the hand. IME, you'll be re-visiting this operation in 3,000-6,000 rounds.

[troyboy]

Thanks for the information. Makes sense. I'll give this a go. This one won't be shot much but it's important then when it does it is functioning as designed.

[MtGun44]

Not just a "dull cold chisel" - file/grind/sand a 1/16" radius (1/8" diam) on the end of a cold chisel
and bring it up to a high polish. Clamp the chisel end up in a vise and "shoeshine" the end
with finer grits of 3M Wet or Dry (black) sandpaper down to 600 grit, so there are no
microscratches stamped into the hand. If there are significant scratches impressed into the
hand these can lead to a fatigue fracture down the road. A perfectly smooth, shiny surface is
what you need and the backer needs also to be smooth.

I had three small parallel dents in my hand by the time it was stretched enough to
bring it back into time. Check by cocking the hammer as slowly as you can. The
cyl lock needs to drop before the hammer releases. They will go fine by inertia
with a short hand if cocked quickly, but the hand has to be long enough to lock up
ahead of releasing the hammer at slow speeds.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

You could also silver solder a tiny piece of 1/16in square high speed steel toolbit into a notch in the top of the hand. This would retain its hardness through the silver soldering, and can be worked with diamond hones or Dremel-sized discs, which are inexpensive on eBay nowadays.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Wanna really know about Colt double actions???