R&D Problem 1860 Pietta

Patrick Henry Brown · May 22, 2008, 02:53:52 PM

Cylinder is locked by the bolt and will not allow the hammer to cock, nor the hand to rotate cylinder. I'm thinking of shimming underneath the bolt a little and see if that corrects things rather than filing the bolt. Any thoughts? Was going to send it back for a refund to Midway, but thought I'd tinker before I do anything.

Frenchie · May 22, 2008, 03:22:36 PM

My advice is to send it back for a replacement. Tinkering with it shouldn't be necessary in the first place, and if you can't get it working they'll have reason to refuse to refund or replace it.

Major 2 · May 22, 2008, 03:39:49 PM

I'm with Frenchie... they should replace it or may even offer to fit for you.
I know Taylor's (if one buys the Cyl. from them) , R&D and Fall Creek offer the service.

I assume you mean shim the spring at the screw away from the frame $:-\$
I know the weakest part of the two finger bolt spring is were it is drilled for the screw. That is were mine two have broken
I'm thinking a shim here might lose some of the springs seat and lead to premature failure...just a thought.

Good luck , but when it's right, oh baby it's fun

Montana Slim · May 22, 2008, 05:07:42 PM

Could be the width/shape of the tip of the hand - You're problem sounds like the situation I encounter when fitting new hands to M1860's.
If you don't know what you're doing with the tools, where, and why, I wouldn't recommend you fool with it.

Best,
Slim

Patrick Henry Brown · May 22, 2008, 05:13:15 PM

Quote from: Montana Slim on May 22, 2008, 05:07:42 PM
Could be the width/shape of the tip of the hand - You're problem sounds like the situation I encounter when fitting new hands to M1860's.
If you don't know what you're doing with the tools, where, and why, I wouldn't recommend you fool with it.

Best,
Slim

Well Slim:

I think I know what I'm doing, but wisdom dictates that I just return it, so that's what I will do. Funny thing is that I just got in an Old Style Kirst for my Remington Navy .36 1858 that required minor fitting only. Fits and operates like perfection. Thanks, River City John. I could be wrong, but my first impression is that R&D has lost a customer and Walt Kirst has one for life -- especially since R&D could not be reached or chose not to respond while Walt Kirst has been kind enough to return my emails and be informative.

Scattered Thumbs · May 23, 2008, 07:28:27 AM

Quote from: Preacher Clint on May 22, 2008, 02:53:52 PM
Cylinder is locked by the bolt and will not allow the hammer to cock, nor the hand to rotate cylinder. I'm thinking of shimming underneath the bolt a little and see if that corrects things rather than filing the bolt. Any thoughts? Was going to send it back for a refund to Midway, but thought I'd tinker before I do anything.

The hand seems to be too big, it's already engaging the cylinder before the bolt drops.

Deadeye Don · May 23, 2008, 07:44:44 AM

I would never buy RandD cylinders from anyone else but Taylors. They will make sure the cylinder fits the gun you are buying it for. I agree with Major regarding http://www.fcsutler.com/ Fall Creek also. Fall Creek does alot of business with Taylors and the owner of Fall Creek wants to make you happy as well. I bought an 1849 pocket from Fall Creek with an RandD cylinder that was purchased separately from the gun. Well the cylinder did not fit right so Fall Creek sent it back to Taylors with the gun at no charge and within a week I had it back and now it works just fine.

Black Powder · May 23, 2008, 04:14:00 PM

Quote from: Deadeye Don on May 23, 2008, 07:44:44 AM
I would never buy RandD cylinders from anyone else but Taylors.

Heard that said often. Believe when the finances allow, I'll contact them and hopefully will send them my Pietta to get it done right. It needs some adjusting anyway. Thanks for the recommendation.

BP

Pettifogger · May 23, 2008, 05:07:56 PM

Had this same problem with some new Kirst converters. The problem isn't the hand. If the gun was properly timed to start with, shortening the hand will merely cause the cylinder not to rotate far enough to lock up the cylinder. The problem is that the new cylinders are manufactured to closer tolerances than the Italian cylinders. The cylinders I got were about .003" larger in diameter. The solution is to very CAREFULLY polish the top of the bolt so it is just a tad lower. Once done, it will work with the conversion cylinders and the original cylinders. Took the same Kirst converter and put it into a 2nd Gen Colt and it dropped right in. The guns just vary a little from year to year and gun to gun.

Jubel · May 26, 2008, 09:20:24 AM

I bought my R&D from Taylors I had the same problem you describe and they fixed it. My pistola is a Pietta and
it locked up tight and wouldn't rotate the cylinder with the R&D in it, that is until Taylors fitted it,
this was a short turn-a-round and I now have a BP hand for my cap and ball cylinder, and another hand for the R&D.
The R&D is of course a 5 shot and the cap n ball a 6 shot so I guess it stands to reason there would be a need for
modification.

Off topic I also purchased an additional barrel 5 1/2 that I can use when the mood inclines me to to use my Huckelberry rig.

While I'm off topic have ya'll seen this?

I might just need another 1860!!!

http://www.riverjunction.com/kirst/konverter-colt-Army-44.html

Montana Slim · May 27, 2008, 12:22:58 PM

FWIW, My pa has a pair of Pietta 1860's with R&D cylinders and he had no fitting issues with them. He also had a pair of 1851's installed by R&D a couple years ago and the service was performed within 2 weeks, I recall.

Slim

Andrew Quigley · May 28, 2008, 12:07:41 PM

Bought a new R&D cylinder last month from Midway. Have 3 Pietta 1851's and the 1860 snubnose I bought the conversion for. Tried it in them all and it would only rotate in the 60. Had to work on the hand a little to get it to work. Figure the hands are to fat in the others. Thinking on getting more of the R&D's for the 51's but figure all will have to be fitted.