Pietta Cylinder Rockage

[Hendershot]

Seems to me that I have a little excess movement in my bolt stop. The cyl will move if I grab it with my finger and thumb. Left alone it has good chamber to bore line up. Under lite pressure it wont move. Unlike my Euro, it locks up tight and it wont budge. I did take some off the hammer spring on each gun. The Euro shoots a tighter group also. Would the hammer fall have an effect on the clyinder? and POA? At 15 yds it will hit a 8" target with all rounds. But if I wanetd to hit a soda can I would grab the Euro. Should I leave well enough alone? 

[Pettifogger]

Are you talking just a few thousands of movement or are you talking about a noticeable movement when your twist it with your finger and thumb?  One thing I have found with a lot of Piettas is that they SEEM to lock up tight but after a few shots you will notice peening on the cylinder notches.  What it is in many cases is that the bolt head is acutally a little to wide for the cylinder notches.  When cocked, the hand keeps everything more or less aligned, but you can twist it with your hand and it will wiggle out of the bolt notch.  Measure the head of the bolt with a good quality caliper and then measure the width of the bolt notches.  If the bolt head is not .001 or .002 narrower than the cylinder notch its probably not locking correctly.  Check to see if there is any visible peening on the bolt notches.  This is a good indicator the bolt isn't fitting properly.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Nice directions, Pettifogger!  This kind of info is great to know.

[Hendershot]

Thanks for the imput Pett.ifogger. I have tried 2 different bolts (new), and it rocks fairly noticable with both the c&b and the R&D cyl. With the cyl out of frame I can wiggle the bolt back and forth while the bolt is sticking up thru the window. I will double check those notches and bolts.

[Fox Creek Kid]

It's the window itself. Solution #1 Live with it as it's no big deal if cylinder lock up within specs. #2 Weld up the window & recut or weld up the bolt. #3 Get another gun.

[Pettifogger]

Yep, if its the frame window there's not a whole lot you can do that's cost effective.

[Hendershot]

Allright then.... thanks guy's.

[Hoof Hearted]

These frames are soft as hell. I have had good luck peening the side of the window from underneath.
If you want to try, first determine which way you need to tighten the window (left or right side) then strip to frame and barrel. You will need a block of steel or hardwood large enough that you can mount it in your vise (not the gun) then slide the frame upside down onto the protruding block. With a small punch raise some metal close to the correct side (from the trigger guard side) of the window in about three evenly spaced spots. Not too close but not too far away either. You should be able to tighten the window this way! You will need to dress the raised spots back down again. If you are not completely comfortable doing this, find someone who is to help.

You can also riase the bolt slightly in the window to take up some of this slack. To do this you need a medium stone. Take the bolt out and slightly dress down the tab at the front (in front of the part that protudes through the front of the frame. Go slow here, a lttle at a time. Reassemble and try frequently (if you take a lot off it will drag on the cylinder early).

Good luck on ya!

[Wolfgang]

Good information.  I haven't had the problem, . . . but always interested in new and someday maybe useful information.  Thanks for the posts.   

Good shootin', . . . . .