Palmetto Whitney Problem

[Patrick Henry Brown]

I have a Palmetto Arms Whitney revolver that I bought a few weeks ago. I was getting ready to take it out to the range and was cycling the action when I noticed that the cylinder wasn't turning sometimes. Other times it wouldn't cycle all the way. And other times it operated perfectly. My first thought was a broken hand spring, but such was not the case. Interestingly, when I point the muzzle downward, the hand seemingly does not engage the ratchet on the cylinder. When I tip the muzzle almost straight up, it cycles as it should (most of the time, but not always). There is no excess gap between the cylinder and the barrel. No side to side play. Locks up tight as a drum and no early bolt engagement symptoms. I thought that perhaps the handspring was weak, so I replaced it with one off of an 1858 replica. Same problems as before. Need some thoughts, hints, and advice. This is a really nice example and I bought it to shoot.

[Goody]

Sure sounds like a hand spring, but if you've already checked that, then hmmm. Perhaps the hand is incorrect for the gun? Someone may have replaced with one that is a liitle short?

[Patrick Henry Brown]

You may be right. When I spoke with the guy I bought this from, he stated that the hand was missing. Later on, he said he found it on his bench and was reassembling the pistol. I'm wondering then about maybe peening the hand just a bit to try lengthening it. I also have a acouple of Uberti 1875 Hand/Spring assemblies in my box. I could try one of those. It would require cutting them down a bit, because they appear to be about 1/8" too long right now.