Lowly brass framer Colts that last forever.

[riflee]

I'm making a whole brass frame Colt from odd parts. So far so good. I just had one last thing to do last evening to make the job finished just short of the refinishing ,"good fer lookin at stuff".


That last thing was to solder a thin steel plate on the recoil shield of the brass frame Colt type revolver to keep the cylinder from denting those six spots where it hits that ring on the recoil shield. I put the ring there but cut it so the hammer can work and the loading -capping port is open. It's not a whole circle then but it works real well to lengthen the longevity of a brass framer Colt. Done it in the past and the first one I did is still tight 25 years and lots of spent balls later. 


One other thing I guess I'll do is put a "not too big" pin straight down thru the brass and thru the threaded part of the arbor and then into some brass under it.  That way the balls beating the barrel forward thus beating the arbor with it forward won't be a problem pulling the threads fer a long time if ever.  Been there and done that fer a few folks in the past. You can't tell ole riflee that those brass framers can't last.




Oh! by the way the ring used is a 7/8's by 1 3/8ths by 14 gauge narrow rim bushing I get from the tractor sales and parts place in the next town. That size almost fits right around that ring on the recoil shield of a Colt , (needs a little filing ). The good thing is.......the thickness of the bushing is the same as the height of that little ring on the Colt recoil shield. Saves time that stoning the danged thing to the right thickness would be use up.  Stoning a ring bushing like that entails soldering it down to something  and then milling or stoning it.

There is one very very very  important step to finish this job that really really needs done. Wonder if anybody can invision what that is?


I'll check back in awhile to see what folks come up with. It has to do with safety.

[45 Dragoon]

Hey riflee,
  How bout a cut out or groove for the caps. Don't want more than one going off at a time!!

Mike
 

[riflee]

Howdy 45 Dragoon.....aka Mike!

You're a danged cap&ball revolver genius.    You are right there in the right area of concern.  I read an article about you in a Gun Magazine a while back. That was pretty cool. I saw something on E-Bay too with you showing yer shop.


Anywhoooo.....the thing I was looking for people to realize did have to do with caps all going off at one time if the safety pins were not filed off the cylinder and the nipples shortened by the height of the ring on the recoil shield of a Colt  brass framer. You know....if a plate is soldered on where the caps normally ride they will hit the plate and all go off if the nipples aren't shortened.


The way it works out is to measure the thickness of the new little plate which is the same thickness as that ring on the recoil shield of the Colt type cap&baller revolvers.  Then just shorten the nipple cones by that much.  In the end there are no safety pins so the hammer should rest on an empty chamber.

Anywhooo....I thunk the manufacturers should press in a steel ring on the recoil shields of the brass framers. Better yet they should leave the ring off the recoil shield all together so the force of the cylinder recoiling is spread out  Then have the nipples set a little deeper by about  .025".  Of course they might think of putting a pin down thru the brass and thru the arbor threads and into the brass a little to keep the arbor from pulling out the threads.


Anyway I can't post pictures to show what I'm getting at.  It's not difficult to do if s person can file a little on the steel plate and solder it on and shorten some nipples. What makes it easier is to use the 7/8's by 1 3/8's 14 gauge narrow rim bushing sold a good hardware stores.  I've got them at a hardware store and the tractor parts business near me. The narrow rim bushing has a large enough hole to fit around the ring on the recoil shield with a little filing. It ends up like the recoil shield is flat so the cylinder recoils back into a bigger area and doesn't dent the brass ring there on the recoil shield. When the dents happen the dents make for two cylinder gaps. One larger when the gun is in battery and a smaller one when the hammer is between the nipples.