Miracle in Houston

Grouchy Spike · April 30, 2009, 07:28:38 AM

My new .44 Open Tops have just been returned from Alan Harton's gunsmith shop in Houston. These work like jeweled actions now, whereas before he worked on them, one wouldn't work out of the box and the other was rough.

These Open Tops have been polished and deburred; have heat-treated hands and trigger sears; have tool steel welded onto hammer cams; have new springs;have a new front sight and widened rear sight; and are sighted in so point of aim is the point of impact. He didn't change to the Smith Shop firing pins because Uberti has reshaped their firing pin on these (Serial # 17XXX). Time will tell whether the Uberti pins are as hard as the Smith Shop pins.

This is the third pair Alan's worked on for me, and they are some smooth shooters. He said that his Open Top business is picking up, so others have discovered his magic too.

If your Open Tops (or Conversions) are not as smooth as you'd like them to be, give Alan a call at 713-907-6031.

Now if he would just work on a Spencer.......

Fox Creek Kid · April 30, 2009, 04:48:03 PM

I'm afraid to ask how much this work cost.

Capt. Willard · April 30, 2009, 07:25:41 PM

Me too!

Galloway · May 01, 2009, 07:28:11 PM

My OT's were smooth as silk out of the box, all four of them in fact. I cant imagine how good yours must be now!

Grouchy Spike · May 02, 2009, 05:10:24 AM

Galloway, you were more fortunate than I. Of six that I've purchased, two wouldn't work out of the box, and the other four were rough. A cowboy I know bought one from Taylors, and it was smooth. Another cowboy shipped his pair to two different smiths before the Smith Shop made them work.

Fox Creek Kid, cost was $213 per revolver, plus shipping. Considering that the reliability is improved with the heat treating and addition tool steel, I'm more than satisfied.

As I always like to have a backup, I'm looking for another .44 Sp with 7 1/2" barrel and Navy grips. If anyone has one that hasn't had an action job on it, and wants to part with it, send me a PM.

Fox Creek Kid · May 02, 2009, 12:58:56 PM

Quote from: Grouchy Spike on May 02, 2009, 05:10:24 AM...

Fox Creek Kid, cost was $213 per revolver, plus shipping. Considering that the reliability is improved with the heat treating and addition tool steel, I'm more than satisfied.

...

Actually, for all the work done that ain't bad!!

Marshal Deadwood · May 02, 2009, 01:02:32 PM

Sounds like them OT's are some kinda great now !

My OT was,,,fairly slick right outta the box,,and has gotten 'smoother' after a time now. Still,,,I've thought about having my gunsmith smooth them more,,,,(he could make a fine Swiss watch smoother).

Love dem OT's,,,

What I lust for now is a .44army OT...but with 'navy' grips...with 4 3/4" barrel,,(meebee a 5 1/2 even)

Hang tough

MD

Grouchy Spike · May 03, 2009, 12:20:37 PM

Seth, give him a call and talk. The wait was about four months for mine, but Alan is receiving more open tops to work on, delivery time may have changed.

Grouchy Spike · May 03, 2009, 12:24:35 PM

Seth, tell Alan that you want yours as slick as Grouchy Spike's.

That front sight on the original was just too fine for me to find quickly, particularly with the narrow rear sight groove, so the rear sight grove is opened up and the front sight is now parallel-sided and serrated.

Sometimes a pistol will require a bit more work than others, as evidenced by one where the ejector rod wouldn't align with the chamber. The rod was removed, machined to a flat on one side so it would slip into the chamber when the chamber was indexed. Slight additional cost for that.

Grouchy Spike · May 21, 2009, 06:10:19 AM

Here's another couple of comments by cowboys who've had good experiences from the action work by Alan Harton.

http://sassnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=126707