61 Pietta

[bigted]

Been working on my 61 and she is pretty close to what I wanted that Pietta didn't do.

First I slicked up the hand, bolt and hand. Also the hammer. Smoothed the entire frame inside and stoned all surfaces.

Couldn't shoot Lee conicals as they wouldn't start into the cylinder so built a Yankee hone for the drill motor and went to work smoothing and honing till the bullet shank fits easy into the cylinder chamber mouths.

Took it to the range and I believe that I am done with my job as for loading and shooting.

Now to refine my loads for the best accuracy. I am getting more fond of this revolver as time goes by.

Going to be getting a 51 Uberti one of these days so the work and talents I have learned will come in handy for that.

These revolvers are so much fun and the further I go the more reliable they become. Just checking in to let yous guys know that I am still kicking and around having fun.

Ted

[G Dog]

Hi Big Ted – good to see you back around.

I have a Pietta Colt 61 from 1997 [BI] that I got new from Cabela’s way back when.  It worked pretty well out of the box but after one session I opened it up and did on mine what you described having done with yours.  The trigger sear and full cock hammer notch really needed some work.  Took off some metal and polished the bolt head and smoothed inside of the frame all over.  The hand channel was very rough so I took care of that, too.  The hand prowl (? That sticky out part that engages the cylinder rachet) was fine and still is.

A .380 round ball and that eight inch barrel seem to really agree with each other.  I won’t use .375 because they walk forward in the chambers on firing but .380 works great.  It may be the most accurate of my Pietta shooters and I love the way it shoots and looks and handles.  After twenty years it’s still running fine. Yours sounds pretty nice, too.

That’s about it.

Oh, and – relay our respects to the Grizz and Polar Bears from your friends stuck down here in the tropics.
Regards.