Pietta 1858 Spare cylinder fit

[roots911]

 
Picket up a spare cylinder for my 1858 Pietta today at Cabella's and found that the lock up slot milled into the new cylinder is wider than my original. It lets the cylinder rotate slightly. My Remmie is a 1980 -81 production by the proof letters. Has anyone else run into this problem? Did Pietta change the specs after the 80's? The advance slots on the rear of the cylinder are also slightly different but the new cylinder indexes fine. The original cylinder locks up as tight as a drum.
Any input would be appreciated. Ok- now I am looking for an early cylinder in 44 cal with the narrow slots. If anyone has one that they are willing to part with please contact me.

Thanks,
Frank

[Murawski]

I have an older 1858 Pietta also and purchased a 45 LC conversion cylinder and found the same issue.  The older Piettas had narrower cylinder slots and a tapered hand.  At some point Pietta stopped tapering the hand and increased the cylinder slot to match the new hand design.  I was told that one way to address this is to have a gunsmith replace the tapered hand and widen the slots on the original cylinder.  I was lucky and found a 45 LC conversion made for the earlier tapered hand design.  If you decide to replace the hand in your pistol, I may be interested in purchasing your original narrow slotted cylinder.  In this way you could buy another new spare and have two matching cylinders that locked up correctly with your new wider hand.  This would also allow me to have three narrow slotted cylinders to match the older design hand.  Let me know if plan to change out the hand in your pistol and want to avoid the cost of modifying the original cylinder.

[roots911]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try to find an original narrow slot cylinder but will keep your offer in mind if I am not successful. By the way my Remmie is stainless.

[Pettifogger]

I have an older 1858 Pietta also and purchased a 45 LC conversion cylinder and found the same issue.  The older Piettas had narrower cylinder slots and a tapered hand.  At some point Pietta stopped tapering the hand and increased the cylinder slot to match the new hand design.  I was told that one way to address this is to have a gunsmith replace the tapered hand and widen the slots on the original cylinder.  I was lucky and found a 45 LC conversion made for the earlier tapered hand design.  If you decide to replace the hand in your pistol, I may be interested in purchasing your original narrow slotted cylinder.  In this way you could buy another new spare and have two matching cylinders that locked up correctly with your new wider hand.  This would also allow me to have three narrow slotted cylinders to match the older design hand.  Let me know if plan to change out the hand in your pistol and want to avoid the cost of modifying the original cylinder.

Hand?  What the heck does the hand have to do with the cylinder slots?  The hand is at the back of the cylinder and turns the cylinder.  Are you talking about the bolt?

[Slowhand Bob]

Most likely.

[Murawski]

Oops, you're right.  See never trust a guy with less than ten total posts.  Oh, and I'm withdrawing my offer to buy your cylinder.  A stainless cylinder on a blued frame would look a bit odd.