Help with new hammer

[Mason Stillwell]

Pistol Uberti short barrel 58 . Came new in the white.

Hammers wore out on both pistol's.

Ordered new ones from VTI and was told that now they only sell the one style hammer. ( It does not look like the old one)
Anyway I put in new hammer and bolt and trigger and trigger spring. everything slid into place like glass !!

When I first cock it ,thing works like a charm. Bolt comes up when it should and locks into the notch. However it will not go back down .

If I press on the bolt and push it back down into the frame it makes a little click as it slides past something on the hammer.
Then it  will cock perfect until you get to where the bolt should go back into the frame.

Question is what am I overlooking or doing wrong here ?
Does something need polished ?

Thanks in advance for any help.

If you are going to tell me to take it to a gun smith then no thanks .

Later

Mason

[Raven]

Hi Mason,

Sounds like the bolt leg is not resetting on the cam located on the hammer. When you push down on the bolt the click you here is the leg resetting. You will need to releave the bottom of the leg untill there is enough clearence for it to reset.
the part that needs clearancing is the curved section on the bottom side of the bolt leg.
As seeing a professional single action gunsmith doesn't seem to be an option for you I would sugest that you obtain a copy of Jerry Kuhnhausens The Colt Single Action Revolvers book and study the section on bolt fitting.
While it is not a hard job to do it is important that the correct portion of the leg is clearanced and the best way to discribe it is with drawings - hard to do here. Perhaps someone else on the forum can discribe it clearly for you but Jerry's book is hard to beat

Regards
Raven

[Professor Marvel]

Greetings my Dear Mason -

Anyway I put in new hammer and bolt and trigger and trigger spring. everything slid into place like glass !!

1) When I first cock it ,thing works like a charm.
2) Bolt comes up when it should and locks into the notch.
3) However it will not go back down .
4) If I press on the bolt and push it back down into the frame it makes a little click as it slides past something on the hammer.
5) Then it  will cock perfect until you get to where the bolt should go back into the frame.

If I understand your description correctly, in item 3 through 4 you have dropped the hammer, try to recock the hammer, but the bolt does not drop; if the cylinder is in the frame the hammer will not cock becasue the hand is stopped by the locked cylinder.

If my summary is correct, that means that cam on your hammer is not going "past" the bolt legs until you push the bolt down, which raises the bolt legs enough to finish sliding up the cam ramp, go over the top and engage it.

compare your new hammer to your old hammer under a strong lens, and measure the cams with a caliper - you should
be able to see the difference.

Also make very sure that the bolt is not hanging up in the frame.... if the bolt is allowed to rise too high the legs will be "too low";
or if the bolt "catches" in the frame the similar situation can occur.


If the cam is too tall for the bolt legs, You have two choices:
1) carefully remove small amounts of the underside of the bolt legs until they engage this is the preffereed method

if you look here on the SCORRS page you will see there is a lot of meat on the bolt legs

http://www.scorrs.org/articles/images/image27.jpg

2) carefully remove very very  small amounts of the top of the cam until the legs engage. - this is the non-preferred method and can lead to much cussing.

If you are going to tell me to take it to a gun smith then no thanks .

Heaven Forfend! that's what we are here for .

hopefully others will chime in as well - AHA! I see Herr Raven has beaten me to it!

yhs
prof marvel
offering useless advise for all occasions

[Raven]

Thanks to the Professor for knowing where the photo was!

The principles used in adjusting a Colt bolt are the same as used for the Remington. But the Remington is a bit easier.
If you observe the photo the flat section to the right in the photo is the section to adjust. Just make sure your working on the leg that is actuated by the cam.
I misspoke when I said the curved section (thinking Colt  )
Stone a little and check often - Sneak up on it.

And as the Professor said check first that the bolt is not haging up some where.

Regards
Herr Raven 

[Professor Marvel]

danke Schoen Herr Raven  -

I only know about the bolt hanging on the frame (and about taking too much off the cam itself!) due to having experienced it myself with a somewhat worn brass frame .44 ASM remmy. Someday, when the roof, greenhouse,  and new flooring is done I can get back to molesting modifying that poor thing ...

Now I have a question for the gun butchers amongst us - has anyone brass brazed an Italian  Colt or Remmy Brass gripframe? I had poor success with big-box fluxed brazing rod, it simply did not want to stick... perhaps it is the wrong alloy or I need a better flux?

yhs
prof marvel
(it's a marvel he ever gets anything done at-all)

[Mason Stillwell]

Tis not the Bolt. Tis the hammer I'm uh thinking. Hammer will have to have lots of smoothing and downsizing. If VTI now only sells this hammer for all the 58's one will have to do lots of smithing to get this thing to work.

I can put in the old hammer and it works like a charm , Well as far as the bolt goes. Rest of the hammer is worn out.

Put in the new hammer and right back to bolt not working .

Can I say (Damn, here ?)

Mason

[Raven]

The bolt is fitted to the old hammer so it works great!
When you fit a new hammer the bolt must be fitted to the new hammer.
While there may be some fitting of the new hammer no amount of fitting will change the location of the cam that actuates the bolt. You must fit the bolt to the new hammer

Now there may be some other problem that you have not discribed but going by your current discription you must fit the bolt to the hammer so that the bolt leg resets on the cam.

Regards
Raven

[Flint]

The principles are the same, as the parts are almost the same between the Colt and the Remington.  Actually, there's as much difference between the parts of a Colt clone depending on the maker, as there is between the Remington and a Colt bolt.

Get Jerry Keunhausen's book on the Colt Single Action.  Always fit the cheapest part to the more expensive part, as the cheaper part is easier to throw away if you screw up.  So, fit the bolt to the hammer cam.  I agree with other's comments that the bolt is not resetting.  You want the bolt to lift at the correct time to avoid locking up with the hand's movement, and you need the bolt to drop at the proper time to avoid ringing the cylinder, or overtraveling of the cylinder, and you need it to reset when the hammer comes down.

[Mason Stillwell]

Will put work on hold. Buy book  then start again.

Gotta learn.


Thanks for the help.

Will post in the future when work is done.


Thanks again

Mason

[Mason Stillwell]

Better than a book. Cactus Cris Worked like a slave on the 58's Friday. repaired one and replaced the hammer in the other. And showed me where to file and how to fit the hammer and bolt. YE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!!!


Than we had a great time Saturday at the ACSA shoot were we both were trying out new ammo.


What a Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


Thank You Cactus Cris !!