[RAT76]

As there are a few of us that have these things I figured I'd start C&B thread.

My first C&B was a Ruger Old Army. Being essentially a Blackhawk of course it had no issues. OTOH Italian reproductions do sometimes have Manufacturing problems.

When I got my Uberti 1851 Colt I knew going in there were a few things that might be a problem. Per the intertube one of these is the cylinder hand. Since my gun has this issue it may be common.

The tip of the hand is too wide & hits the Cylinder Arbor which pushes the hand to the side & causes it to interfere with the receiver as well. The fix will be to clearance the hand (remove metal judiciously) to eliminate the interference.

While I'm at it I'll smooth up a few rough spots in the internals, aka fluff & buff. As a side note, my P11 experience really pays off. I'm not afraid to take a gun apart & tweak it.

Here are the pics;

The tip of the hand is actually the widest part

The side loading also impacted the pivot in hammer.

When getting a C&B repoduction it is a good idea to completely disassemble, clean & inspect. Mine had grit from the manufacturing process.

I think the hand problem is due to the smaller size of the 36 Navy. Piettas may not have this problem as I understand that they use the same frame as the 44.

I'll post the "after'" pics when I get the modifications done.

 

[lop]

Wow, I'm surprised. One thing that struck me about both my Uberti (would just one be an Uberta?) was the build quality. Fit and finish among the best I've had. My Walker has one of my best triggers. My only issue is getting the nipples to back out of the cylinder. Maybe I should have greased them to begin with.

Rat, thank you for the offer to make some conical bullets, but I'll pass. The only thing I can justify them with is hunting, getting a little more power down range.
I haven't hunted in years. Still get a sportsman license every year, just don't use it. Haven't fished in decades.

Have fun with the new toy.

Lop

Oh, and a happy new year to you and the Mrs, from both of us. Zop

 

[RAT76]

Thanks & back atcha Lop. Don't get me wrong, the build quality is top notch. Just a minor fit adjustment, a few thousandths off the tip & smooth the edges (NOT the tip) should do it. I'm used to that with a Harley.

I'm pretty sure that Walker doesn't have any tight spaces. LOL

I'm having a lot of fun with this thing. Fiddling with the hardware is more fun than using it sometimes.

 

[bcraig]

They are fun for sure.
I have a couple of the Pietta 1858 Remington revolvers, one is the Steel Sheriffs Model with the 5-1/2 barrel and the other is the Steel Army with the 8-inch barrel.
I also have 3 extra cylinders for them.

I did a general smoothing and trigger job on them.

The amazing thing about them is how fast they can be reloaded with a spare cylinder.

MUCH Much faster than reloading a Regular Single action Revolver !

Here is a guy that is pretty darned fast !
Remington 1858 rapidfire - YouTube

I also bought a big piece of Vegetable tan leather about 8-ounce stiffness to make a couple of holsters for them but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[RAT76]

Well I got it fixed. I had to remove material from both sides of the hand, more on the outside where it rides the curve in the frame.

The Hand is too wide to fit betweem the arbor & the frame. In addition the frame pushes the hand sideways into the arbor. I narrowed the tip just enough to clear the arbor when not sideloaded. I removed more on the frame side & relieved the radius quite a bit to clear the frame.

Of course I was extremely careful to not change the profile of the tip.

I reassembled & the drag when cocking is gone.

Before the tip of the hand bound up between the arbor & the frame.

I think someone in Uberti's engineering dept had the bright idea to cut costs & use the hand from a larger gun. The web between the hammer channel & the hand channel is paper thin for one thing & you can see how much I had to thin the tip to make it fit between the arbor & the frame.

Some guy on youtube with lots of subscribers had this problem with this same gun. He apparently ran it until he noticed metal being gouged out of the arbor.

His solution? remove more metal from the arbor & grind relief in the frame.

I went with modifying an inexpensive part & NOT repeat NOT messing with the frame.

It's too dang purty to be grinding on, especially where I'd see it every time I took the gun apart to clean.

There is good info out there on the intertoobs but sometimes ....

I like this gun!!! I particularly like the dark case color, it goes well with the dark barrel & grips.

The action feels just a nice as my Old Army, a little lighter maybe due to less mass. It still has that music box "ting". I was kinda afraid I'd lose that when I fixed the hand.

Range report to follow.

edit to add: Build date appears to be 2016, I not at all unhappy about that. I think I'd much rather have one that's been sitting on a shelf for 6 - 7 years than one that was made in the last 3.

 

[RAT76]

.... My only issue is getting the nipples to back out of the cylinder. Maybe I should have greased them to begin with.

Well, It looks like I had the same problem. Brand new, never fired. Could not budge them with the tee handle wrench. Buggered up the wrench in fact.

However, all is not lost. I took a 4.5 mm socket & a set of needle files & "Voila!"

I has to use a 4.5 mm as the nipples on my gun take a slightly smaller wrench than your Walker. The tool on the right should fit the Walker. It's headed your direction in the morning.

I found a five 44 mag cases in some 45 Colt range brass I bought. I'll throw them in. IIRC you have a Super Blackhawk in that caliber.

 

[dracer]

I got to shoot mine today , I found some treple 7 got the last of anything in the area , could not find any caps in number 10 , I have number 11 for my rifle and shot gun went threw them and found what apears to be nummber 10 that I got by mistake about 45 years ago and they work , they fit nice and tight , mine by the way is a 1850 navy in 44 I know that the real navys where 36 , but thre price was wright , I wish my tupper ware pistols had as good of trigger

 

[RAT76]

When I got my Old Army I decided to go with 777. I didn't want to get into the whole soap & water cleanup thing.

777 doesn't leave a corrosive residue & cleans up with regular gun cleaning chemicals. It cleans up with soap & water as well. Apparently as long as you don't get ammonia near it It works with anything.

Ammonia on the other hand turn it into something resembling "Darkwriter Alien Sweat" & eats up your gun.

As I add more revolvers to my collection I'm making sure to get good quality & steel frames. The other two I want are the 1858 Navy 36 & the 1858 Revolving Carbine. I can probably live without an open top 44.

+1 on the trigger. The best triggers I've got are on the 1851, the Old Army & the Old Model 30 Carbine Blackhawk. Not a transfer bar in the bunch!

 

[lop]

Rat,
I finally got by the post office. Got your package. Tanks man. I owe you a few now.

Lop

 

[RAT76]

LOL! I figured you only got into town every couple of weeks or so. Owe me nothing, pay it forward.

You guys take care.

Jim

 

[lop]

Rat, you da man.

Got rained out today. My p3at was an embarrassing clump of pocket lint and neglect. So I got to cleaning. Did the p3, then the 1911 that was on my hip. Since I had the 45 brushes and jags out, I started with the.45's.
Your jig was on the kitchen island and I put it to use. Four came out easily, two said unuh. Some penetrating oil, then time on the cast iron dog (wood stove) and ...nope. So, a thick piece of leather, bench vice (pipe clamp side), and some kind words to deities I don't claim, and out they came.

A little choke grease and we should be good.



Lop

 

[RAT76]

Cool! I really don't know why someone doesn't make nipples with hex instead of double flats.

The smaller Uberti nipples are 4.5 mm across the flats, Walkers are 3/16 & the Ruger Old army has 3/16 hex.

I see the ring in your chambers, I've got the same in my Uberti but not the Ruger. Any idea what they are for?

 

[lop]

idk, they might not be functional. It might be a 'non-critical' manufacturing savings to not worry about the smoothness in side the bore there. No bullet is traveling, only powder and wad in that area.

lop

 

[RAT76]

After getting my feet wet with the Colt I decided to pull some long over due cleanup on the Old Army. The action was getting gritty & it had a cylinder ring from the bolt dragging at half cock. As that is when I'm loading I decided to fix it.

The internals were filthy. The original owner had shot BP & apparently had never taken it apart.

These are befor & after pics of the hammer / trigger areas that needed polishing outlined in yellow. Idid not make any changes in the sear contact areas. Before on the left. The bolt area to be changed is outlined in red. I removed only a small amount before reassembling.

After reassembly & try, remove metal, check fit, remove & repeat multiple times I finally got to the point where there is no drag.

The Ruger now is smooth, not as smooth as the Uberti but not at all bad for a mass production product. I now need to go thru all my Blackhawks & check them out.

The Buckeye Special & the 32 cal Single six were both new when I got them, feel great & don't have many rounds thru either. The 1976 357 & the old model 30 carbine do need a deep cleaning. The 30 also needs the chambers polished. I've got extraction issues in at least one of the chambers.

I now have the experience to dive into that project. 😁

 

[lop]

Ain't it grand? The trick to keep from becoming an old dog is to keep learning new tricks. I'm jackhammering concrete. Not a great trick.

Lop

 

[RAT76]

Lop, I'd completely forgot the joys of using a jackhammer. I learned that skill somewhere around 1970 I think. Installing chain link fence when I was 19, summer job. Have not done it since! LOL

 

[dracer]

just recieved a 1858 Rem in 44 cal , these are so much fun to shoot I had to get another , now if I could find some # 10 caps