Hello/Project

[sidewinder]

Hello everyone - this is my first post.

On occasion, I'm a hobbyist gunsmith - mostly projects I can handle with very basic tools and a Dremel, but I'm comfortable and confident doing most jobs myself.

Well, I've wanted a brace of '51 Navies for quite some time, and I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a pair made by Uberti.  This is my first venture into black powder.  When I ordered, it said 'Very Low Stock', which turned out to mean they had one; the other is on backorder (hopefully it won't take six months).  But, the first one made it to me in the mail yesterday.

I have yet to do a thorough cleanup, but did a quick wipe-down for comfortable handling while looking it over.  Overall, as stock, I'm quite impressed.  The cylinder locks up very well - tight and true.  Every click of a hammer cycle is crisp and robustly resonant.  The trigger is comfortably light and breaks like glass on pull.

Aside from a couple of points I've found thus far that need a bit of filing for comfort (those points on the rear of the hammer are sharp! ), the only problem I've found thus far is in the cylinder/barrel spacing.  It seems the cylinder is not completely true, as one chamber has a little drag when meeting the barrel.  The rest of the cylinder moves freely, but at half-cock, only the vaguest amount of light can be seen between the cylinder and barrel mating, but only if you hold it just right on just the right chamber.

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Sorry to get started and have to stop, but I gotta quit goofing around and get to work for right now; but I will continue my writeup later...

[sidewinder]

I also ordered two sets of Slix-Shot nipples which also arrived yesterday.  I installed them into my new revolver, and the cylinder spacing issues were exacerbated: the chamber which had the drag would completely freeze the action in half cock, with disassembly being the only way to free it.  The hammer also rides considerably higher with the Slix installed.

Armed with some tune-up knowledge from a how-to that I found by Pettifogger, I also ordered some springs and plungers to replace the existing handspring in the Ruger style.  I also ordered some #3 locater buttons for the arbor tuning, as the barrel assembly did indeed fall behind the forward of the frame, as illustrated in the how-to.

Now, to my first question: should I wait until I have the arbor properly spaced/fitted before I attempt to modify the cylinder or barrel to improve spacing?  My gut says yes...

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Now, a description of the aesthetic modifications I plan to do:

I ordered some semi-finished birds-eye maple grips.  I will fit/finish/polish those and probably seal them with tung oil.  I aim to try and keep them 'in the white', but also provide them with protection.

I'm pretty sure I've made up my mind that I will remove the existing blue and case hardening color and refinish with a traditional rust blue.

The last thing I'm considering is artificially aging/adding patina to the brass.


Perhaps I can get this revolver completed before the other arrives and have a nice little before and after on hand...


Hope I haven't bored anyone, and I'm very much looking forward to taking these babies out. 

[Pettifogger]

Yes.  Adjusting the arbor also involves checking cylinder gap.  Sometimes the arbor fitting has to be adjusted in order to get proper cylinder gap.

[sidewinder]

Yes.  Adjusting the arbor also involves checking cylinder gap.  Sometimes the arbor fitting has to be adjusted in order to get proper cylinder gap.

Thank you sir.

Completely disassembled and cleaned the revolver last night.  Found just a couple of extremely minor burrs that came out with a stroke or two from the file.  Also cleaned up the bolt window and eliminated a bit of drag there.  What little roughness I felt before in the hammer was remedied with cleaning; I'm quite satisfied with the feel of the hammer as stock.  I will do a much more thorough check of contact points for polishing just before rebluing

I decided to try the Slix nips again and the revolver cycled wonderfully this time; amazing how much a little cleaning can help.

Grips I ordered arrived yesterday.  Though very much in the rough, I can see the grain and I have a sense of how it will ultimately look.  I think they will turn out quite beautifully; as long as I don't mess them up, that is.

Now just waiting for the springs, plungers, and buttons to arrive. 

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

In Uberti revolvers the arbor is often too short. If the wedge is tightened too much the revolver will lock right up. The short term remedy is to tighten the wedge only until the notch just catches the edge of the frame.  The longer term fix is to lengthen and fit the arbor to the hole in the frame. There are several ways to do this, which I will leave to the pros to explain.

[sidewinder]

In Uberti revolvers the arbor is often too short. If the wedge is tightened too much the revolver will lock right up. The short term remedy is to tighten the wedge until the notch just catches the edge of the frame.  The longer term fix is to lengthen and fit the arbor to the hole in the frame. There are several ways to do this, which I will leave to the pros to explain.

Yeah, I'm gonna drill out the end of the arbor and use the Dillon #3 locater button as written out in the articles 'Tuning the Uberti Open Top Revolvers' by Pettifogger (same Pettifogger?).  Just eyeballing it, the arbor looks to be about an eighth inch short of achieving flush mating with the frame.

Come to think of it, I may very well have pushed the wedge in too tight the first time I tried the Slix, causing it to lock up.

[sidewinder]

All the parts and pieces I've ordered are in and the second revolver is on it's way; had a very busy week though and couldn't start on anything until last night.

Tried to carve out the grips last night; this being my first ever major stock shaping work, I guess I got a little over-zealous and messed both of them up    So, for the sake of curiosity, I sanded down one side and polished it with a smooth rock to see what it would have looked like.  I tell you, I think that birdseye maple is going to look really nice.  Once I stop messing up blanks, that is.

I did learn a lot though, and thankfully it wasn't a very expensive lesson.

[sidewinder]

Second revolver came in yesterday - 47 serial numbers younger than the first.  The arbor on this one seems to be at the appropriate length, so that'll be one less thing to worry about.  The action was not so smooth as occasionally the cycle would stutter, I guess you could say; it would lock up at the start of a hammer pull, and would have to be returned home and try again for it to cycle.  The hand looked to be burred up pretty good; removed it and cleaned it up with a file and now seems to be cycling correctly.  There is a small extra click coming to full cock however; I don't guess it's going to affect anything functionally, but it still bugs me. I suspect there is a burr on the trigger or hammer notch that I overlooked.

I think I might stop by the hardware store on the way home, pick up some bits and drill some holes this evening...

[sidewinder]

Well, other than the power going out just as I was about to swing my hammer to center-punch one of the holes , everything went well.  The arbor has been adjusted and the frame and barrel assembly meet up well (on both, as the new one also turned out to be quite short); and the plunger springs are installed and the hands are functioning properly.  Perhaps Uberti has improved their stock handsprings, because they were quite a bit tougher to break than I had previously seen demonstrated.  The pressure on the hand by the plunger springs is also noticeably lighter than stock, as the cylinder has about twice as much rotation in free spin, which I guess adds to the cool factor .

But, aside from a few more minor adjustments, all is functioning well, so I move on to a far less nerve-wracking portion of this project: re-bluing.

To me, a rust blue is peerless in terms of looks.  I've read a lot of arguments on it's durability in comparison to modern finishing methods, but I've always been more than satisfied.

I just ordered a bottle of Birchwood Casey blue remover (want to take it easy on that engraving), and reordered the grip blanks.

It may be a while before my next update, finding time for my project between work and all.  I think I'll finish one at a time so that I can take a side by side before and after photo of a stock and finished revolver together.

[rifle]

Sidewinder what type rust blue do you use? It makes a difference with the alloy steel used in the Italian guns. I know of one type that will make the cylinder nice and black but make the barrels that ,sorta, plume brown an antique gun that's been cared for gets.

You don't want yer hand spring tension too light as the weight of the cylinder can have it take off with a fast hammer draw and let the cylinder get too far ahead of the action cycle and start some over rotation to the cylinder that could damage the cylinder locking notches.
If that happens use a stiffer coil spring to see how that works.

You might want something a lil tougher than tung oil fer the wood ifin yer planning on shooting CowBoy Competition. The Permalyn Gunstock sealer would do better and the Permalyn Gunstock finish looks real good and can be made to look the same as an oil. The Permalyn is more water proof and sweat proof more too and is more durable. Easier to apply also. Won't get sticky in hot humid weather neither.

By the way....when you check the cylinder gap on a Colt cap&baller the cylinder has to be drawn backwards all the way since the hand spring pushes the cylinder forward. The cylinder is always against the barrel unless held back against the frame. That's because there is no cylinder bushing to the front of the cylinder with a cap&baller revolver.

Anywhoooooo.....have a good time "fixin er up". I've done a few of emmyself and it can be satisfying. It's always a lilnerve racking fer fear of screwin up but going slow and easy is a good pace to get into. Like an old timer gunsmith told me once,"don't go anywhere unless you know exactly where yer going". Try to always maintain complete control of yer hand tools. Don't use the tool. BE THE TOOL.