Got a problem/question on revolver cylinder indexing

[Frenchie]

Okay, got a Uberti Colt's Pocket Model of 1849. Original 5-shot percussion cylinder indexes fine; 5-shot Kirst .32 S&W Short cylinder with C ring backplate indexes fine if you work the hammer smartly; 6-shot R&D .32 S&W Short cylinder with rotating 6-pin backplate starts to move but stops before lockup. Hammer won't go all the way back and goes to half-cock notch when released. Turning the cylinder by hand makes the bolt click into place and allows the hammer to go to full cock.

A 5-shot cylinder has five ratchet teeth 72 degrees apart, a 6-shot cylinder has six teeth 60 degrees apart. Intuitively this means the hand is too long

Hang on a second... I just pulled back the hammer very smartly a couple times and it started working. Now I just got it to lock up 12 times in a row by really yanking the hammer back. This is what happened with the Kirst cylinder, I had to really work it and then it started indexing. Something is being worn into the proper geometry. I just broke it down and the ratchet teeth look the same but the hand looks slightly different at the top than when I put the cylinder in. Hmm...

Okay, I just put the Kirst cylinder in and it didn't quite lock up the first couple tries, but then it did, but of course I have to bring the hammer back smartly, which is normal for the Kirst.

And now I just tried the original percussion cylinder and it locks up fine, even when I pull the hammer back r e a l  s l o w.

Well, I'm going to play with this thing and see if I can get the Kirst and R&D cylinders to work any better, by which I mean wearing in the hand to the cylinder ratchets, or wearing it out, or even breaking the poor, abused thing. It'll be worth it if I learn something, but I am aware that learning is not a strong point with me...   

If anybody has any idea of what it is I'm actually doing here, please speak up, I need all the help I can get to understand it. 

[Coffinmaker]

Frenchie,

Setting up an 1849 Pocket to work with the conversion cylinders is ............... not fun.  They require a bit of "fiddling" and, there is possibility the conversion cylinders "may" require their own hand.

Good luck!!

Coffinmaker

[Frenchie]

The more I work the R&D cylinder around, the smoother it gets. Now I can thumb back the hammer slowly and it comes around and locks down just fine. I can even point it straight up and the firing pins won't hang up on the frame. Yee haw! Now I want to get some .32 S&W Shorts and make some smoke with my little pocket friend.