Uberti 1860 Hammer Face Notch

[Cemetery]

Got a pair of Uberti 1860s, and over the winter, I'd like to get some work done on the hammer faces.  Ultimately, I'd like to reduce the possibility of cap jams as much as possible.  While there are a few different options, I was wondering if any body could chime in on the following if they have any experience........btw JB Weld keeps coming undone on me, hence my quest for a better solution.....

Pros/Cons of each?

1) Welding.

2) Reface the hammer with harder steel

3) Installing a 'cap post' and opening said hammer notch

Currently set up with Slix Nipples, and on occasion bottom part of cap, after ignition, wraps itself under the hammer, just enough to be pulled off, which leads to jams.....hence my quest.

[Pettifogger]

Done all three at one time or another.  

1.  Welding is good and a permanent fix.  You do have to mill the hammer face flat and make sure the hammer/nipple distance is correct.

2.  Here you have to mill the hammer face for the thickness of the plate you are installing and then solder the plate to the hammer face.

3.  I have tried this several times and it has never worked for me.  I cut the slot in the hammer with a milling machine so it is very precise.  I just plain do not like this method.

Here is what I currently do.  As you noted the caps sometimes wrap around the bottom of the hammer.  That is because the bottom of the hammer does not fully cover the back of the nipple.  I find the centerline of the nipple and then mill a pocket in the hammer face.




Then I solder in a piece of drill rod and mill it flat with the hammer face.  As you can see the round insert extends slightly below the bottom of the hammer and this fully seals the back of the nipple.



I seldom install cap guards since I have started using this method of plugging the hammer notch.

[Noz]

I do not have a mill so I drill an 1/8" hole in the hammer face with a cheapo drill press and JB Weld a 1/8" brass rod in the hole. I cut the rod before installation so that it stands a little proud of the nipple face so I can peen the edges to fill the hole completely then face off with a file.
I've never had one come out.

[rbertalotto]

This article I wrote about soft hammer faces on the Piettas might help:

http://rvbprecision.com/shooting/1860-pietta-colt-soft-hammer-face-fix.html

[Coffinmaker]

Hey Cemetery !!!  Happy Thanksgiving   

I like both Pettifogger's and fbertalotto's "fixes." for the Hammer face, but neither (my opinion) resolves the Cap Jam issue.  I retired and
sold off my machines so I don't have a mill anymore.  But ...... I shoot Gunfighter with Cap Guns exclusively.  With a gun in each hand,
malfunctions are just unacceptable.  What I do:
I drill the center of the hammer channel for a "post."  I make the post out of the same drill I use to make the hole.  I glue the post in place
with JB Weld.  You absolutely must be careful not to get the Post down into the raceway for the cylinder star.
Then, using the dreaded Dremel and the same size drill bit's again, I push the hammer slot back to clear the post.  Blocks the Caps nicely.
I'm not done yet ............
I replace the OEM nipples with SlixShot nipples and replace the OEM Main Springs either with VTI Gunparts reduced Main Springs or
"Lee's Gunsmithing Gunfighter" Main Springs. 
Over the past two + seasons, I have had exactly ZERO Cap Jams.  Remington # 10 Caps.

Coffinmaker

[Cemetery]

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well Coffinmaker!  

...... I shoot Gunfighter with Cap Guns exclusively......  

Take the fun level straight to 11!!!!

I've been shooting gunfighter with my Old Army's, and recently my 1860s......

I shoot sometimes with a fellow cap and baller who got Rowdy Yates cap jam fix on his 51's, and he's never had a jam since, but Rowdy isn't doing it anymore, and I don't know who does that work now.

I like the solutions that Pettifogger and fbertalotto gave, but I'm just not sold on cap post, but I reckon my hesitation on that is placement of the cap post in the hammer channel. It would have to be pretty close to the front edge, so that if the cap comes back with the hammer, it won't get jammed on the corner of the channel when the cylinder rotates no?

[45 Dragoon]

Cemetery,
 Cons- 1. Ya gotta Weld
             2. Ya gotta reface the hammer with harder steel.

Cap post is the way to go. There's two videos on my website that show a '51 and a Dragoon being fanned. Ya can't do that with caps falling in the works!! I have a customer that shot two '61s - 165+ rounds each over five days without a cap jam, misfire or a binding cylinder. The only "cleaning" they got was a wipe down at the end of the day and no take down whatsoever.

I install my stainless cap post by drilling, tapping and secured with thread locker. You don't need to widen the notch.
This is the cap post on Hovey Smith's  Super Walker.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

[Coffinmaker]

Cemetery  - - - A Verry HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOUR TOO!!!!

45 Dragoon and I do almost exactly the same thing, only slightly different.  When I finish my "Cap Rake," the front edge of the peg is on the same plane as the recoil shield face.  The cap, stuck on a Slix nipple doesn't have much travel available.  Rem # 10 Caps tend to
stay on the Slix nipple better than "others" especially OEM (SUCK).

As I mentioned, I shoot Gunfighter, with Snubbies I might add, and cap jams just don't cut it.  With the Cap Rake done right, cap jams are a thing of the past.  I shoot several multi day matches during the season, don't bother to clean anything.  Just shoot.  No Jams.  Well,
you do have to look at the hammer sides, but that's just Cap Guns.

If you have further questions, gimme a PM.

PS:  45 Dragoon happens, just happens to know well what he is doing.  Let's all pay attention to what he says.  I really like his peg.  Looks like it started out as a 6-32 or 4-32 Screw, then got machined/milled/filed down to hammer slot width.  The slot still has to be pushed back into the hammer to clear the peg.  Either works a treat!!

Coffinmaker

[Pettifogger]

As i noted, I've tried the same thing with several revolvers.  I make the pin just a tad smaller than the existing hammer slot and then deepen the slot with a mill.  Absolutley no luck with them.  Mayby it's the low humidity here in the southwest.      Plugging the hammer slot and using decent nipples has proven much more reliable for me.  BUT, the main thing is do what works for you.  (The generic "you" not any particular you.)

[Flatbush]

I tried Larsen Pettifogger's "pin" technique on a pair of '51's and '60's I was using for shooting "Frontiersman" when I read about it in a 2008 edition of the SASS Cowboy Chronicle. They've been working great ever since!

[Cemetery]

I tried Larsen Pettifogger's "pin" technique

What's this pin technique all about?

[tyrel cody]

What's this pin technique all about?

The same thing as the cap rake from 45 dragoon's post
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,56457.msg679616.html#msg679616

[Pettifogger]

Pin, post, rake it's all the same thing.  I've put some it, but I did not come up with the idea.