UBERTI 1851!!

[willy]

Just got a Uberti 1851 .
The fit and finnish and timing was perfect.
BUT!!!!-After taking it out to shoot-


First shot hit 4" target at 25yards poi.
Second shot hit right beside first-
third shot missed fired--piece of cap from second shot stopped hammer from hitting third round
cleared cap and fired the remaing 4 shots
Second cylinder full went like this-
First shot hit target
second shot hit target
third shot felt odd when cocking-fired ok
forth shot felt odd also when cocking-checked action
gun would not go on half cock 
fired rest of rounds and quit.
Took gun apart when I got home and a piece of cap fell out of action when taking it apart.
Cleaned gun and put it back together
works fine.
I did noticed that when fireing the hammer would blow back enough for the cap to dislodge from nipple.
SOOOOO! What do I  need ? a new set of nipples ? a stronger main spring ? or load lighter (it's only a 36 cal. )
I sure like the Colts ,---but iff'n I was looking at a gun fight back in the 1850's -60's I would be carri'n a Remington

BTW I was shooting rb with a 357 case filled to the top with pyrodex r powder.

Willy

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I use a .38 case full of 3F Goex.  Volume is about 22 grains.

When cocking tip the pistol to the right, to give the cap fragments a chance to drop away.

[hellgate]

You were loading full tilt loads. That will cause more blowback of the hammer. Drop down to 15-22grs and see what happens. Also, repeat the heavy loads and look at the hammer after each shot before you cock it to see if there is a cap already under the hammer or if the cap is sticking to the hammer face as it is cocked and tipping it off with the edge of the frame as the hammer is pulled back. If the cap is under the hammer before cocking then you are getting blowback. If it is being pulled off the nipple then you need to carefully stone any burrs or sharp edges on the hammer face so the cap has no sharp edges to adhere to when cocking. There shouldn't be any burrs but look anyway. Sometimes changing caps will solve the problem: some stay on the nipples, others split open and fall free as the cylinder rotates. some are thicker and don't wedge into the hammer face safety notch. Your gun may have been "tuned" for a lighter hammer fall. You cannot get away with as light of a mainspring as in a cartridge "suppository" shooter.

Blowback cures:
-Reduce the powder charge
-Go to a coarser powder like FFg
-Use lighter bullet (i.e. if shooting conicals, go to the round ball)
-Replace nipples with those with smaller flash holes: either the SS nipples (shorter cones, may  need shimming) or the Treso nipples (longer cones, may batter hammer face when accidentally dry fired) both types from Thunder Ridge. Both like Remington #10 caps.
-Stronger mainspring

[willy]

thanks guys

Willy