Firing pin bushing, or recoil shield ?

[Marshal Deadwood]

Is it a firing pin bushing, or recoil shield ? What is the primary function ?

And, what is really detrimental, in say Ubertis, that do not have this feature ?

I do not know,,,but I gather original Colts had this recoil shield/firing pin bushing 'feature ?'

Thanks gang, just trying to educate meself a wee bit on the finer areas of single actions.

MD

[Virginia Gentleman]

On a revolver the recoil shield is the rear of the frame where the rims of the cartridges in the cylinder face.  The firing pin bushing as is found on USFA, Colt and GWIIs by Pietta is a pinned in circular hardend bushing with the firing pin hole that is found on the recoil shield.  From what I have heard, it is possible to peen this area by excessive dry firing to the point where it could interfere with the rotation of the cylinder.  In 99% of the cases if you have a file and some emory paper it can be fixed easily and masked with cold blue.  In the very rare and extreme cases it may need to be welded up and the firing pin hole re-drilled and cleaned up or for a more permenant fix, take the barrel off and have a hole machine cut to house a Colt/USFA bushing with a pin hole drilled in and staked.  This will never be needed on the Uberti and Uberti importer guns unless the gun is dry fired to death in the extreme and only if it peens out.  If you never dry fire it excessively with out snap caps it is a non-existant problem that doesn't need fixing.  Other parts will have problems long before it is ever a problem-if it is ever a problem.  The older Ubertis are the only 2 cases of where I have heard it happening from guns that were used in competition and dry fired in practice for years.  In both cases a file and some clean up fixed the problem and they are still being used as far as I know.

[Marshal Deadwood]

That is what I thought , Virginia,,,but,,I saw 'someone' post that they wished Uberti had milled and installed a 'recoil sheild' like USFA and Colt did,,and it puzzled me. I 'thought' maybe they were confusing the 'firing pin' bushing for some kind of recoil shield...and then,,,I got confused.

So,,USFA and Colt does not have any 'recoil shield' that Ubertis don't ?....the case being the recoild shield is actually the frame behind the cartridge ?,,,
and the 'insert',,,on USFA's and Colts....THAT  is IN the recoil shield ,,, that the firing pin 'travels thur',,,THAT is  the firing pin bushing ?  Am I understanding this right ?

Just wanted to get the 'skinny' on the deal.

Thank you,

MD

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

I think ya got it!  The recoil shield is the part of the frame that is behind the cylinder.  The firing pin bushing is the small, round insert that is pressed into the recoil shield.  All SAA's have recoil shields.  Some, like Uberti, do not have firing pin bushings.

[Marshal Deadwood]

Capt John,,,, How DID you say that with so few words ?
I never learned that art !
( I wus teeched with the gift o' blarney!)

Thanks,,,I appreciate it

MD

[Fox Creek Kid]

The recoil bushing will need to be replaced on ALL revolvers eventually after firing a lot of rounds. When depends on headspace, number of rounds fired & how hot the loads are. Most people will never need it because they don't shoot that much. I know a fella who had to have one replaced on his Ruger GP100. Since I don't dry fire SA revolvers I have no idea if it expedites it. Revolvers need a minimum amount of headspace in order for the cylinder to turn. Upon recoil the case head is slammed rearward into the breech face under tremendous pressure. The primer metal will naturally flow toward the area of least resistance: the firing pin hole. On Italian guns the metal is sometimes not very hard and this area will peen and due to primer flow you cannot cock the revolver until the metal contracts after it cools. This may take a few seconds.

I had to have recoil shields machined into two Uberti '72 Open Tops at approx. 4,000 - 5,000 BP rounds. Reason: soft metal. The gunsmith who did it had to make the recoil plates as the Colt SAA recoil plate is 0.090 thick but the Open Tops don't have enough metal in the breech area for that thick of plate. Mine are thinner. Some people have merely dressed the area down and reamed it out a hair. That may work & may not. You will have merely enlarged the area for which primer metal can flow but I know a few people said it works for them.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Your mileage may vary, but this condition usually only happens after a lot of rounds are put down range or the gun is basically abused by excessive dry firing-which will help cause this condition much faster than shooting live ammo in the gun.  If you don't mind me asking, how much did your "smith" charge for installation of a firing pin bushing?

[Fox Creek Kid]

V.G., that was at least 5 yrs. prior so I don't recall exactly, but it was under $100 for both at the time. Mind you, a SAA might cost more as you have to remove the barrel and go through the barrel hole of the frame with an aircraft type cutter to cut one. John Hooper in CA did it for me. He is no longer a full time 'smith but does some work. I know of no other 'smith who does this.

[Virginia Gentleman]

FoxCreekKid:  Thanks for the information and let's say it cost a bit more to remove the barrel, basically the gun has a new lease on life for a bit of machine and replacement part work.