barrell to cylinder face gap for shooting BP in Colt SAA

[Tater Pickens]

Can anyone tell me what is the prefered cylinder to barrell gap for trouble free cylinder rotation when shooting fullload BP in 45 Colt SAA

Thanks,

Tater Pickens

[Jefro]

Howdy Tater, first I would shoot em to see if they need anything. Using plenty of lube like Big Lube bullets makes all the difference. For Colts .05-.06 should be plenty, my Smokewagons and Model Ps came with bout .07 from the gunsmith, for Rugers I've seen .08 suggested. Good Luck

Jefro

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I agree, don't mess with it. See my reply to your question on the SASS Wire.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

+3

Try 'em first, but usually the problem would be in the cylinder pins, not the cylinder face gap

[Dick Dastardly]

If you have drag from the cylinder rubbing against the back end of the barrel, you need to widen the gap some.  It's not brand specific, but powder specific.  So, it don't make no difference if yer shootin' Colts, Rugers or something else.  If the cylinder face gets coked up and drags on the back end of the barrel you need more clearance.

A hotter flame produced by higher pressure will help blow the soot away.  A  bullet with a generous amount of lube will help keep the soot soft so it blows away.  But, if your cylinder base pin/cylinder arbor gets coked up and balks, changing the cylinder/barrel gap won't make a bit of difference.

Shoot the guns, take notes and report back.

DD-DLoS

[Tater Pickens]

Gentlemen, Thanks for all your input. I may have been premature in my supposition that my problem was being caused by too tight a gap causing the cylinder rotation problem. When I got the gun home and taken down for cleaning I noticed the bushing in the recoil shield was becoming slightly recessed around the firing pin hole and that the primers were slightly bulged which indicates to me that upon recoil the slight indentation in the bushing face was not letting the backward thrust of the cartridge case reseat the primer upon ignition. I shoot BP in all my 1st and third gen Colts and clones and this old 1st gen gun is the one giving me the problem. I use Springfield Slims Big Lubes with his BP lube, bore butter on the cylinder pin as some of you have already suggested so I feel my problem is the bushing and not BP build up. I am taking my gun to Hogleg Smith over near Gainesville, Ga tomorrow to have the bushing replaced and believe this will cure my problem.

Thank you all again for your input.

Tater

[Fairshake]

I only shoot BP and never have my revolvers lock up. You do need to check your bbl to cyl gap and if it's below .004 it needs to be changed. Jim Finch AKA Longhunter sets up his USFA'S that are going to be shot with BP at .007  One other thing about your base pin and bushing. I have removeable bushings in my USFA'S and I coat both the bushing and base pin with MOBIL 1 Sythenic grease before I reassemble them for shooting. I have seen several BP shooters with their revolvers locked up between stages and spraying them down with Balistol to keep going. I use and believe in the use of Balistol for making Moosemilk but I have never had a revolver lock up even after a 6 or 7 stage day. They still are turning well when it is over. Try it and you will see for yourself. I buy the can or tube at Auto Zone and put it in a turkey syringe to keep in the gun box.