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[Seth Hawkins]

 

[Hoof Hearted]

Seth

Is this on one of the new to you Howell RM's?
If they have a two stage hand, I'd be careful trying to "stretch" it. Odds are it doesn't (most of the BP revolvers don't).
This index issue is why the RM's had a two stage hand as part of the conversion. As the ratchet gets narrower (from machining for conversion) the hand has a harder time, and less leverage, rotating fully. Does it index all the way if you really rack the hammer back?

To answer your JB weld question, no it wont work on the tip of the bolt. I have used it to widen the bolt to the frame side (opposite the arbor). Sometimes this will keep the tip of the bolt on the ratchet longer and allow the cylinder to index a bit farther.  I do not consider JB weld to be a long term fix as it will wear in the hand channel faster than steel.

Best thing to do is determine who (Pietta, Uberti, etc) built the revolver and order a couple extra hands.
Second best is to tig or mig a small berry on the end (be careful to observe the orig shape) and file/stone to work. Then harden with Kasenite. Or heat and water quench (also second best).

If that wasn't the problem................nevermind
HH

[Sagebrush Burns]

I got entirely the wrong mental picture of this question...

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Sage-burns;  Yeah! Me too.  What about carrying some weights around?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

You can use a machinist's center punch to stretch the hand a little bit. You make a dimple on the sides of the hand near where you want to stretch it. This creates a little crater that upsets the metal enough that a little bit of it flows and stretches the area around the dimple. You can't stretch it by very much, and you are only lengthening the sides a tiny bit, not the main body of the metal, but in a pinch if you just need a tiny bit more length this can be made to work.

[65bsaA65]

Keep a couple Aces up your sleeve----oops, thats how you STRENGTHEN your hand!!!

[Pettifogger]

Unless its some exotic that they don't make anymore, I'd just order a new one and a couple of spares from VTI.  The Italian hands are SOFT and the springs are crummy so the spring is gonna break sooner or later anyway.  Best keep a few spares.