Pietta 1860 Army bolt fitting

[Kent Shootwell]

Although the bolt fits the cylinder well it drops at the very beginning of the lead. On closer inspection the radius of the bolt is much less then the cylinder notches. I ordered a new one from Taylors and it's the same radius but had a bit more metal on the leg. There were burrs to touch up and rough surfaces to stone then the radius was addressed. A bit of filing on the stop surface in the front then the hook needed a recut to drop over the cam and it now drops into the middle of the lead and there's .005" of clearance under the stop. Lock up is very good so I'm happy, well except now I'll have to polish the cased parts and see if I can make them harder and prettier.

[Pettifogger]

On Piettas you also need to check the bolt head width and the width of the cylinder notches.  On many the bolt head is a little wider than the notches.  (Or a notch as they vary a bit from notch to notch.)

[Kent Shootwell]

Yes, you're right and this one did fit the notches width. That makes one in a row!   Maybe new fancy wood will make it work even better. Too bad I'm at the age that not having a job makes me look for the fly sh## in the pepper.

[Pettifogger]

Good hobby.  You just need to make sure your tweezers are sharp.