Uberti Made Guns-Parts that tend to break?

[Virginia Gentleman]

I have an earlier NA Schofield that is having trouble rotating the cylinder, even after a good cleaning.  What tends to wear or break on these guns that would cause this?

[Rapid Lee]

Have you removed the internal hammer safety?

[Grapeshot]

That was a problem I was having last year with a three digit Serial Numbered Schofield I got from Navy Arms back in '95.  When I called Navy about the problem they had me send it back to them.  I got a call about a week later saying that there were cracks in the frame, forcing cone and cylinder.

Don't know how, I only shot factory or CAS Reloads, my own, and never tried to "Magnumize" any of the .45 Colt or Schofield rounds.

Needless to say it's now a wall hanger at the US Army's Ordnance Museum and I bought a new Schofield.  And it's a beaut.

[Silver_Rings]

Some more details would help.

With the hammer at half cock does the cylinder spin freely?

If you open the action all the way till the extractor drops, with the action still open does the cylinder spin freely?

When you cleaned the pistol did you remove the cylinder, unscrew the base pin and clean in the base pin hole?

SR

[Virginia Gentleman]

Yes, I have disassembled it and cleaned it thoughly and it spins, but not as freely as it used to.  When the action is down and the hammer at half cock, it takes some effort to get it to move.  Any thoughts on what it might be?  I don' t think the safety or hand has much to do with it.

[Virginia Gentleman]

The cure here was polishing the cylinder arbor or mount as it was so tight it tended to bind even when fairly clean.  Now the gun's cylinder spins freely and the problem is solved thanks to the gunsmith at Taylor's & Company.

[Flint]

You might have a problem with the overall length of the cylinder assembly.  See if there is any endshake, as pressure of the gas ring on the barrel might be dragging and not allowing free spin.  However, before shortening the gas ring, make sure there are no burrs in the extractor star, or under it, and no burrs in the cylinder rachet that may be artificially lengthening the cylinder assembly.  See if there are marks from the front and rear of the cylinder, appearing on the barrel lug and frame, are excessive from dragging or too tight a fit.

Make sure the tubular parts in the cylinder, like the gas ring, are still perfect circles, something may have gotten dinged or burred.  

Check that the latch it properly reassembled, as if it holding the barrel assembly up a bit it can bind the cylinder.

With the block screws loose, close the barrel and let the latch seek its best lockup, then tighten the screws with the gun closed.  Always tighten the block screws only with the gun closed and latched.   If there is a gap between the block and the barrel topstrap,it's not seated correctly.

[Virginia Gentleman]

I will keep those remedies in mind with my second Schofield once I start shooting it and seeing how it holds up from use.  If I notice binding or other problems this will be great to help diagnose any problems.  I think one element of these guns binding is caused by the very exact and tight tolerances the Italians make them to, so they can benefit from tweaking and smoothing out.  A friend who has had one for many years reported that he had binding problems until he had it worked on to smooth things out and now after many thousands of rounds later it runs like a watch and ejects the spent cartridges with authority.  I think this is a better situation to start off with a gun that on the tight side than one that is too loose.