Trouble taking apart a Uberti Brass 1860 Henry

PvtGreg · August 22, 2007, 02:59:33 PM

Hi All,

I've had my Henry for 9 months now and while trying recently to take it apart for a cleaning I ran into some difficulty.

From looking at the exploded diagram of the rifle, it looked like to me that all I had to do is remove the lever pivot screw and then I would be able to access the innards by removing one of the side plates. Well I started to remove the pivot screw and when I got it unscrewed as far is it would go, it felt like to me that the screw was under some tension of some sort & it felt like it would not come out without messing up something else. Since I had a match I didn't go any further.

Any and all advice as to how to disassemble a uberti model would be appreciated!

Pvt Greg

sundance44`s · August 22, 2007, 03:18:22 PM

Thats the way my lever screw felt the first time I tore into mine second time I loosened the 2 screws between the carrier and lever about a turn this took some tension off things ..lucky for me a good friend loaned me a set of plastic punches ...I gotta get a set of those they worked great for tapping the screw out and for tapping down the side plate ...no mess no marks ..I think he bought the set at Cabelas ...I`ve looked for them in hardware stores around here with no luck ....In fact they look at me strange when I ask for them .
It`s not near as scary the second time eaither ...

Major 2 · August 22, 2007, 03:21:34 PM

See if this helps
http://www.marauder.homestead.com/files/Model66.html

litl rooster · August 22, 2007, 03:50:33 PM

Loosening the for mention screws should do the trik, you might want to have an #8 box nail hany when lining everything back up to reassemble

PvtGreg · August 23, 2007, 08:51:34 AM

Thanks to all - btw - boy its easy to bugger up those front screws!

Major 2 · August 23, 2007, 09:25:03 AM

yep ! they are tight and the wrong screw driver will slip...the good news is VTI has them in stock for replacement.

I contacted Cylinder & Slide about their 10 piece set specifically for the Toggle family 60, 66, 73 & 76.
They brought a set (cat # CS 320) for me to Shot Shot 07.... it included a exploded view of all guns and a description of the screw and which driver to use on it ....all in a canvas roll-up range bag.
I also bought a CS024 3 piece set for Colts.

Flint · August 23, 2007, 11:43:38 AM

The Uberti screws are notoriously soft. The two spring screws on the bottom of the rifle are threaded into the lever and lifter springs, so the tension of the spring is on the threads, and they rotate or tilt as you turn, in effect trying to cross thread them. The spring is hard, the screw is soft, they don't like to turn. On a 73 you can remove the sideplates and pivot the little springs away to relieve tension, but you can't do that with a 60 or 66.

Buy from VTI a few sets of spare screws, and the proper screwdrivers. Get spare screws for any and all Uberti guns. I made new screws for my 66 from Stainless Metric Cheese Head screws, turned the heads to the correct diameter on a lathe. They are hard enough to resist buggering up. Often, a new 60, 66 or 73 will require drastic measures to remove the two screws, and getting them out without damaging the brass receiver is not always possible.

Long Johns Wolf · August 23, 2007, 12:20:36 PM

FWIW: You can remove the sideplates of the Henry to swing out the lever & lifter spring screws...for easier unscrewing them.
Unscrew the lever screw and use a soft nail or punch to drive it out completely. Remove the sideplates (don't cut yourself). Now swing out the springs and unscrew these 2 spring screws.
I had to learn to remove Italian screws the hard way: get yourself proper fitting screwdrivers, repeat proper fitting screwdrivers WITH a proper fitting ratched!
Fix your object, in this case the Henry with the 2 screws facing you in an bench vice but make sure that the metal of the Henry is protected by some wood...and there you go.
Long Johns Wolf

Four Sixes · August 23, 2007, 12:44:01 PM

I also disassembled my 1860 Henry last night the 1st time and one of the 2 spring screws won't came loose.
Lucky for me that I was able to remove the right side plate after removing the lever screw. I put some Kano Kroil Penetrating Oil around that stucked spring screw and waited for awhile and it did came loose.

Hope this help.

4-sixes

PvtGreg · August 23, 2007, 01:32:33 PM

It sounds like to me that its a good idea to have replacement screws on hand. Are the VTI screws harder metal?

litl rooster · August 27, 2007, 03:24:33 AM

Quote from: PvtGreg on August 23, 2007, 01:32:33 PM
It sounds like to me that its a good idea to have replacement screws on hand. Are the VTI screws harder metal?

I heat mine up with a Plumbers torch and throw them in a little shallow pan of used motor oil......The Smith Shop offers harden screws. If VTI doesn't list them, ask the them on the phone sometimes things are not listed on the web.

PvtGreg · August 27, 2007, 09:16:49 AM

I found out VTI has both the standard and hardened listed. I bought 2 sets of each plus a couple of replacement lever screws, one standard one hardened.

sundance44`s · August 27, 2007, 10:39:13 AM

Good to know ..thanks ..do ya have to call for the hardened screws ?

PvtGreg · August 28, 2007, 09:01:39 AM

It was marked as such in the catalog, but I got a call from VTI saying the hardened spring screws were BO'd, so I asked him anyway.

I got most my order and the only difference so far is the hardened lever screw's thread is a bit longer.

Trinity · August 28, 2007, 07:57:05 PM

litl rooster, you failed to mention your patented screw-loosening technique.

litl rooster · August 29, 2007, 05:13:29 AM

Quote from: sundance44`s on August 27, 2007, 10:39:13 AM
Good to know ..thanks ..do ya have to call for the hardened screws ?

Sometimes they have things that just don't get listed to the Web site right away.... The people there are not locked up in a correctional facility or out of country, taking orders, they are willing to help you.

Trinity that method is not for the weak at heart or squimish....Now what is that outside?

Driftwood Johnson · August 29, 2007, 10:09:07 AM

Howdy

Once you have loosened a soft Uberti screw the first time, the problem has been solved. You can certainly replace them with harder screws if you want, but the problem was that they were overtorqued in the factory in the first place. Overtorquing (Overtorking?) binds the soft screw threads to the threads in the hole and makes the screw difficult to loosen. That's why Uberti torques them so hard in the first place. A couple of years ago somebody reported that they had actually talked to Uberti about this and Uberti told them they torque them in that hard so they will not come loose from vibration.

If you manage to remove Uberti screws the first time without damaging the head, just don't torque them in so hard when you replace them. Once the hold of the screw has been broken, it can be replaced and just snugged up. It takes a little bit to get the right feel for how much is enough. But if you just snug them up and torque them a teeny bit more they will hold and not require much effort to remove next time. If you find you have to tighten them over time, you might want to snug them a little bit more. Be sure you use a proper fitting hollow ground gunsmith type screwdriver, not a cheap hardware store wedge shaped screwdriver. Best insurance for not chewing up screws in the first place.

litl rooster · August 29, 2007, 10:54:38 AM

DJ that is most accurate

Trinity · August 29, 2007, 07:14:52 PM

Driftwood, you mean to tell me there really aren't gorillas working at the Uberti factory?

sundance44`s · August 30, 2007, 07:43:10 AM

I can just see that big guy at Uberti smileing while he tightens the screws on a Henry ..not to mention the trigger spring on my 1858..I couldn`t beleive that one ...you would have had to see it ..