How do you lengthen a hand?

[Niederlander]

Hello! 
    The hand in my Uberti 1860 Army is too short.  How do I lengthen it?  Would it be better to weld the tip or try to peen it from the sides?  Any other ideas?  Thanks!

[Raven]

Hands are cheap!!
Start by lengthening the one you have. Lay a pin punch across the hand and smack it with a ball peen hammer. You can do this on each side with evenly spaced grooves.
Italian hands are very soft it will stretch quite a bit. Don't try this on a modern design of revolver as they are very hard and will break.

If you buy a new hand it is quite likely it will be the same length as the one you started with and will need to be welded or stretched.

Other methods though not the prefered route are. Raising the hammer stop to alow the hammer to rotate further (most italian guns do not have the hammer stop) or removing metal from the front of the grip strap that stops the hammer from rotating.
Short of welding this may be your option.

Raven

[Fox Creek Kid]

I put one in a vise once and used a buddy's 45-70 barrel that had been through a fire as a "cheater" bar on the vise and boy did it stretch!! 

[Abilene]

...Start by lengthening the one you have. Lay a pin punch across the hand and smack it with a ball peen hammer. You can do this on each side with evenly spaced grooves....

I've seen a stretching groove across the hand on a new Uberti gun, so I guess if it is good enough for the factory... 

[Niederlander]

Thank you, Gentlemen!
     I'm going to try the pin punch method.  I'd never thought of that method!

[Raven]

I wouldn't neccesarily recomend a lot of things the factory does.

Raven

[Professor Marvel]

Thank you, Gentlemen!
     I'm going to try the pin punch method.  I'd never thought of that method!

The basic process is not complicated, blacksmiths do it all the time with the hammer known as a "cross peen"

Since you are trying to gently spread the metal, a somewhat flat pin punch will do but a rounded, old, dull cold chisel
will substitute nicely for a cross peen.

Make sure you have an "anvil shaped object" or  good large chunk of steel as a work surface, and go slowly. These little hands aren't all that big and it is easy to mis-shape them if one gets carried away with the 3 pound hammer....

You may also want to try the process first on a small piece of cold rolled stock so as to get the hang of it

yhs
prof marvel

[Niederlander]

I wouldn't neccesarily recomend a lot of things the factory does.

Raven
I agree!  It reminds me of the factory "action jobs" which seemed to consist entirely of installing really mushy springs.  Not a great idea.

[Montana Slim]

I put one in a vise once and used a buddy's 45-70 barrel that had been through a fire as a "cheater" bar on the vise and boy did it stretch!! 

Similar....I have used a vise with a smooth steel jaws insert (homemade)...but I needed no cheater bar. But that might have been before I lost 60-90 lbs.

Slim

[Niederlander]

I was in luck!  I found a new generic hand I'd bought years ago, and it was quite a lot longer than the original.  After adjustment, the pistol runs perfectly now.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to shoot it today.