Spiller & Burr Tune Up

[ndnchf]

I picked up a Pietta Spiller & Burr a while back. It's a pretty nice, mid-size revolver. Today I decided to tear it down, clean and inspect it. It has the cylinder safety notches, but the hammer would not engage them. This gave me a chance to see what was going on.

After getting it apart, all moving surfaces were polished with 400 grit and oil, and all burrs and sharp edges were smoothed (including the one that cut my finger). The cause of the hammer not engaging the safety notches was the bottom edge of the hammer nose was too low. I ground about 1/16" off the bottom of the nose. It now engages properly. Another small problem I found was the bolt was just barely engaging the cylinder notches. Measuring the notches and bolt, I found them to be almost the same width. So I carefully removed about. 003" from the part of the bolt that extends above the window. Now the bolt fully engages the notches. While working on the bolt, I polished the ramp leg to a smooth transition.

After all this it was lubricated and put back together. The action is now smooth as glass. The timing is right on and the bolt locks the cylinder firmly and the safety notches are useable. I haven't been to the range yet, but I did test ignition with #10 CCI caps and they all fired just fine.

Down the road a piece I'd like to install a taller front sight and look into tightening up the. 010" cylinder gap. If anyone has addressed these issues on a S&B, I appreciate hearing how you did it.

[Pettifogger]

Yep on the hammer and cylinder notches.  I bought a pair a while back and started working on them.  Most uncomfortable guns I have ever handled.  The area behind the trigger guard is so narrow it hurt my fingers just holding it.  Put the frame in a milling vice and took a large diameter end mill and opened up the area a bit.  One other thing to check is the hammer face angle.  When I got mine I had the same problem you had and when I started measuring it I thought they must have put Remington hammers in by mistake.  Ordered two new hammers from VTI.  When I got them they were the same as those in the guns.  I wound up having to calculate the hammer face angle and then mill it to the proper shape.   Check to see if your hammer is hitting the nipples squarly.  Mine were just hitting the very top edge of the nipple.

[ndnchf]

I agree the grip is tight, it feels similar to a. 44 Remy I used to shoot. That thing beat up my fingers. Recoil is milder on this one so it's not as bad, but I do wish it was shaped more like an 1851 Navy. I noticed the nipple angle/hammer nose angle seemed a bit off. But I was reluctant to grind the hammer nose for fear of increasing clearance too much causing misfires. It's too bad Pietta didn't address this in their design

[Montana Slim]

By chance, I've been playing with one lately.

I was given an old, lightly used (possibly never fired) S&B, marked "Navy Arms" (mfg. by Pietta) to play with a few years ago. It's an older production piece obviously by the 7 1/2" barrel and does not have the safety notches on the cylinder. Out of the box groups were moderately poor (12") - 25 yds. Contributing factors are the disappearing front sight (in the large "U" frame cutout), heavy trigger pull and odd grip. Recently, I added a forcing cone to the barrel (Pietta apparently not aware of them), lightly stoned the action to remove burrs and sharp edges, and ground the mainspring to reduce the hammer cocking force & trigger pull. It shoots much better (8" groups)..I notice, too that the firing grip is tricky on this model and difficult to uniformly grip and release the trigger. Since the last test firing, I used a small file to cut a deeper notch for the rear sight. The square shape looks better and slightly deeper notch should bring the impact down a bit. Next up is to add a slight muzzle crown. Otherwise, I'm sure the ergonomics of the pistol are major factors.

Slim

[Trailrider]

Quite a few years ago, I bought a replica Spiller & Burr from an outfit called "Joan's Gun Shop".  I don't shoot much black powder now, but I did shoot that one quite a bit with Pyrodex.  I also had an original Whitney Navy .36, in nearly pristine condition (although it was possibly a factory reblue). that S&B was probably the most accurate cap and ball revolver I've ever shot! I used .380" round ball. It would shoot four or five cylinderfulls of Pyrodex before needing cleaning. The original Whitney Navy (of which the original S&B was a modified knockoff) would only handle one cylinder plus maybe one shot before tying up and needing takedown and cleaning!  If the Spiller & Burr gripframe reminds you of a Remington, it isn't a surprise since Fordyce Beals designed both the Remy and the Whitney Navy. The Confederates modified the Whitney design by adding metal to the frame, to make up for the reduced strength of the gunmetal vs. steel (or wrought iron).  Because of the "fortunes of war", not that many original S&B's were produced. BTW, IMHO, Ruger should have called their Old Army, the "Super Whitney".  Compare the cylinder arbor/rammer designs of the two.   

[treebeard]

Ndnchf-- have you had a chance to get your S&B out to the range? Curios to know how it did.

[ndnchf]

Yes, it shoots pretty good, no misfires. The smoothed up action was definitely worth the effort.

[will52100]

Glad you like it.  I got one a while back and the action was horrible.  I think it's got springs out of a peterbuilt.  A lot of grinding later it's much better and handles nicely.  Only thing I need to do now to it is install a taller front site.  Fun little shooter, and as you stated very accurate.