timing question

[Gabriel Law]

Fellow single action cranks...

What causes the bolt to snap up against the cylinder a little too early?  Revolver is a Uberti single action army '73 clone in .45 Colt.  The result is a nasty ring around the cylinder.

[Gabriel Law]

After I posted this, I read the thread immediately adjacent to mine about the 'cam'.  I will try to increase the tension of the bolt's 'hook' side.  It appears to be a little collapsed.  I'll use heat, then re-harden and temper to spring temper.

[Pettifogger]

You don't need heat.  Just spread out the legs a bit.

[Gabriel Law]

hanks Pettifogger for the advice.  Having read the post on the hammer cam, I simply heated the spring arm dull red, spread it til it was parallel to the other side, hardened it with red heat and oil...became file hard.  Tempered in in my lead pot.

Works perfectly...thanks again.  The bolt stays with the hammer long enough to snap up right in the 'approach' notches.  But you are also right, in that I need the book described in the other post, because I've been pretty much winging it for the past fifty years.

[Fox Creek Kid]

You don't need heat.  Just spread out the legs a bit.