uberti prob with cyl and unloading

[couch commando]

Hi All,
I have a problem with a newly acquired Uberti. It's a 3.5 in sheriffs model with thunderer grip. The gun was bought used, but looks new, with the exception of a very pronounced ring around the cyl. I have also noticed that when its halfcocked and you want to unload the cyl., the cyl. does not line up in the ejection port. you have to push it into position by hand to push out each case. I have another uberti that does not have either of those problems.

[Pit Mule]

Let the buyer beware. The bolt dragging on the cylinder during rotation caused the ring. Which means the timing is way off. Hold it in front of you and watch the bolt while you cock it slowly. You'll see the bolt rise and drag on the cylinder before reaching the notch.

Thats my impression anyway but you should get it to a certified gunsmith to have it checked out.

[Abilene]

The line around the cylinder could be bad timing, like Pit Mule said.  This is easy to check.  It is possible it may need a new bolt.  It could also be that it previously had a timing problem that has been fixed.  Or it could be that a previous owner did not know how to properly handle a single action and repeatedly let the hammer down from half-cock instead of always pulling to full cock before letting the hammer down, as this can result in the bolt dragging the cylinder as well.

As for the cylinder position at half-cock, that is something that can be adjusted by a gunsmith.  It may take some adjustment of the hand, or maybe even replacement of the hand. 

[cal44walker]

Sounds like a short hand causing that issue. Any other issues that you have noticed besides that as a worn hand can also cause other problems? Sometimes a worn hand can cause dificulty rotating the cylinder to full cock if it is really bad. The line around the cylinder is what the other guys said. The bolt is, or used to, release early and drag on the cylinder during rotation. Unless it really, really early not really a big problem other than it causes cosmetic blemishes. Common problems with Ubertis. If you know how to dissasemble the gun. order a new hand and drop it in and see if that helps. A new hand should index the cylinder better but might also need fitting. Easier taking metal off though than putting it back on 

cal44walker

[PJ Hardtack]

I recently bought an 'as new' Uberti '51 R-M that came to me with a couple of issues - a slight ring around the cylinder and a too weak mainspring that gives misfires. I've got a new spring coming along with some other parts to keep it and my '71s working.

With these guns, you can't see if the bolt is popping up early into the cylinder notch. What's a good way to check the timing?

[Abilene]

PJ, I'd say just go by sound.  A gunsmith I knew who worked on a lot of OT's and conversions once told me that perfect timing on these guns would have the bolt pop up when the leading edge of the bolt notch is in line with the left edge of the frames hammer cutout:

[rifle]

The Uberti in the initial post could have a bad hammer cam ,as well as a bad bolt or poorly fit bolt ,not engaging the bolt well or in time. Easy to disassemble and note the condition of the parts. The parts aren't always spot on when the gun comes out of the box.
Using the method of knowing where a part of the cylinder that can be seen close by the hammer recess and how that relates to where the bolt knotch under the cylinder by the bolt head is a good way to see where the bolt notch is when the bolt returns to the cylinders surface, That takes a little experience though and isn't fool proof. Not a 100% "for sure" an old eccentric Kitchen Table Gunsmith like myself wants to have. I like to know for sure so after checking where the bolt is in relation to the cylinder notch by seeing the relation of the cylinder  to the hammer recess I swipe a small amount of grease to fill the cylinder notch. Then when the bolt snaps into the grease I can "see" the place the bolt makes initial contact with the cylinder, and other things like how the bolt fits to the bottom of the notch and how it fits to the ramp lead-in to the notch. Takes a small amount of grease swiped across the ramp-lead and the notch.
Try the grease trick. Takes a little trial and error to put the right amount of it swiped across the bolt ramp and notch but .....it's easy.
Another thing.....the hand being in the perfect timing for the action sequence is more important than the hand having the chamber lining up to the loading port to slip out the cases. A person usually extracts the cases by turning the cylinder by hand once the hammers at half cock anyway. Doesn't a person look at the cases and sees where they are in the loading port before pushing the extractor button? I never did understand peoples preoccupation with the chambers lining up perfectly in the loading port when the gun hits half cock.....unless they like to shoot and unload in the dark. Maybe some one can explain that scenario about the chambers lining up to the loading port at each click of the hand. Is that supposed to be faster?

[PJ Hardtack]

Abilene - thanks for the tip! I'll check my guns.

Rifle - Chicoine suggests that one way around the ejector rod alignment is to grind a taper on the end of the ejector rod.
I would regard that as mutilation and prefer to hold the cylinder as required to eject.

I shooting single actions not for their efficacy as fighting firearms, but for their history. Perfect alignment for ejection would matter a lot more to gamers, I'm thinking.

[PJ Hardtack]

Abilene

I checked my three Uberti '71s for timing lock up using the pic you posted as a guide. Judging by sound and feel, all three are spot on, the bolt popping up into the lead of the notch with minimal advance.

So, I guess the slight ring around the cylinder on my 'previously owned' '51 R-M was caused by poor gun handling technique.
Now I'm waiting on a new mainspring to make it go 'Bang!".

[cal44walker]

Sure helps with the scoring when it says bang. I heard somewhere that the 2 loudest sounds in the world are a bang when it should say click, and a click when it should say bang. 

cal44walker

[rifle]

All well that ends well. Hardtack just has to learn to disregard the unsightly ring on the cylinder oor........get one of the illustrious gunsmiths that do bluing to re-blue the dang thing. A little bottle of Dicropan IM from Brownells would fix it up good enough right in the kitchen. Chapter one section three of the Basic Kitchen Table Gunsmithing 101 course of self taught stuff. 
A nice Niter Blue would be cool but.......what would the 580 degree heat do to a 51 RM cylinder as far as it's heat treatment and safety? I wouldn't know since I never niter blued one of those.....but only cap&ballers. Maybe Hoof Hearted of Raven oor Pettifogger would shed some light on that.
Anywhooooo......a gun without the danged cylinder ring has a better resale value and is better fer lookin at.

[PJ Hardtack]

A touch up bluing repair will be forthcoming. Done it on a Remington '63 that was built from a kit and it's one of my favourite guns.

Strange how we tolerate hash marks, dings and other issues on 'antique' guns, but want our repros to look unblemished.