Merwin Hulbert cylinder rotation help

DJ · March 22, 2006, 12:43:56 PM

I have a Merwin & Hulbert I want to shoot, but it has a problem. The cylinder does not want to begin rotating when the hammer is initially pulled. If I turn the cylinder very slightly, then the hammer cocks and it rotates just fine. But you have to pull pretty hard on the hammer to get it started if you try to cock it normally. So, are there any suggestions on what might be wrong? It otherwise rotates and functions just fine (well, the half-cock notch needs rejuvenation, but that's a different story). Cylinder lockup is good, everything is pretty tight, slight suction and no wobble in the barrel. Cylinder ratchet/teeth look right, near as I can tell.

St. George · March 22, 2006, 01:38:47 PM

The Merwin, Hulbert is an interesting design - more like that of an 'adult puzzle' than anything else - but interesting, nonetheless.

From what you're indicating - drag is a problem.

Look at 'everything 'internal for wear spots and burrs.

When located, stone away - but don't get carried away - Merwin, Hulbert spare pates are sitting inside other folks' guns...

Before you do this, though - look at the actual internal frame under strong light - I use a Surefire flashlight - and clean everything to the best of your ability - using round toothpicks, pipecleaners and such.
Stay away from dental picks unless you have a very 'sure' hand - better to use a Brass rod that's been polished to a point on one end and a chisel/scraper on the other.

After all this time - some stuff's likely to've solidified in there - and you really want to remove it.

Grease/lube any bearing surfaces, reassemble and try.

You 'should' see a marked difference.

Hope so.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

Forty Rod · March 22, 2006, 04:15:10 PM

Be careful if you take it completely apart. It has more little parts that an Edsel and you can lose one with no effort at all.

DJ · March 23, 2006, 07:25:35 PM

Well, I cleaned it up and that didn't fix it. But after playing with it for about an hour I have a better handle on the problem.

It seems that when cocking the hammer, the cylinder bolt drops down to release the cylinder at the half-cock, but upon further cocking the bolt starts to rise up just a little bit, re-locking the cylinder so it can't turn. If I turn the cylinder by hand just a little bit while at the half-cock and then cock the hammer, the rising bolt misses the locking notch in the cylinder, and the hand turns the cylinder into battery on the next chamber just fine. I suspect there must be a spring or something that is either weakened, bent, broken, or out of place.

I guess it's Disassembly Time. Wish me luck.

Wild Ben Raymond · March 24, 2006, 11:51:21 AM

Howdy! Pard, I also have a Murwin,Hobert, & Co. revolver They are well made & ahead of there time but they had a weakness in how they made the hand/paw that turns the cylinder. Instead of machining it out of one piece of metal they brazied/silver soldered the cross-pin in place. This is something you may want to get replaced if you plan to shoot it on a regular basius. Without looking at your revolver I think there is a problem with the bolt spring as the bolt is not dropping long enough to allow the cylinder to begin turning that's where I would start looking. Remember these revolvers should be only shot with black powder. Good Luck! Wild Ben Raymond

DJ · March 26, 2006, 10:20:14 AM

OK, I took it completely apart, but the only problem I found was that the trigger screw was bent slightly. I straigtened it as best I could and put it back together. However, as soon as I had the bolt, trigger, and trigger spring reinstalled, I could tell that the bolt was now behaving very differently, with much greater spring force on it. I suspect that it had somehow been assembled improperly in the past, which allowed it to function most of the time, but not perfectly. Either that or the bent trigger screw caused the trigger to be out of alignment just enough to affect function. Either way, it seems much, much better now. Next task: brass and bullet hunt.

Wild Ben Raymond · March 26, 2006, 03:06:58 PM

Good to hear you got it going, I remember having to replace a hand on one I had previously owned. I simply used a colt style hand cut it down in length & shape. Put the flat on the pin for the spring to rest against, other the pin not quite going all the way through (A little short) it worked perfectly. Get your bullets & BP, load some up and shoot it. Good Luck! WBR

Hemlock Mike · March 27, 2006, 09:09:20 PM

It's amazing how a little bend or wear on the pins or screws make the timing bad.
A bunch of pards now know where to start looking for problems

REMEMBER -- Light Loads in these old retired guns !!

Mike

Montana Slim · March 29, 2006, 11:28:34 AM

I assumue it's a .44 MH.....please share what you come up with for loads & give us a range report on one of the forums.

Thanks,
Slim

DJ · March 29, 2006, 10:33:43 PM

Yes, it's .44 M&H. Surprising how little info there is on this cartridge. From what I can tell, it should take a heeled bullet and .41 Rem Mag brass might work, although the rims are a little small and may not allow for the selective extraction M&H advertised (in theory, when you open it up, the fired cases were supposed to fall away, while the unfired rounds remained in the cylinder). Anyway, I've begun a thread on the Darksider board and plan to update it as I progress--I have several ideas to play with.