1860 Army gated conversion

[ShotgunDave]

Dave, JMHO, but I would call Walt and describe what your issue is. My guess is he will ask you to send him the gun, and I would also guess you will get it back with little or no charge. He has a reputation to protect.

Hey Capt. If I thought for a second, that Walt would warranty this, I'd make that call. But I really wouldn't feel right asking. This is the results of a Neanderthal with a flint and a rock, trying to do gawd only knows what to the cylinder. I'd be embarrassed to even ask Walt to warranty this.




And all five look like this. Some better, some worse. But they're beat to hell.

Hi Dave, while you are waiting to do the conversion cylinder, you may want to consider adding a taller front sight to your revolver. You will find that the .45 Colt will shoot very high.

Regards,
Richard

You can count on a taller sight Richard. I already have the brass stock to make one with.

[Captainkirk]

Ouch. That's uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly.

[ShotgunDave]

Ouch. That's uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly.

Right?

I sent the picture to Walt and asked his opinion. I can probably guess what that will be.........

[AntiqueSledMan]

Wow Dave,

I hope you didn't pay "Bubba" to much.
Are all the notches like that?
I don't know how one would repair that.
Maybe weld them full & start over?

Good luck, AntiqueSledMan.
 

[ShotgunDave]

AntiqueSledMan, yep they're all like that. That one is the worst one, but they've all been ground on with a Dremel. Funny thing is, the bolt doesn't really fit into the "slots". It's too wide.

I got a note from Walt Kirst today, he basically said it would be more trouble than it's worth, and recommends a new cylinder. So I literally don't have anything to lose by trying to fix this one. It needs a new one anyway, so I'm going to mess with it and see what I can do. Worst case, I ruin it further and have to replace it. I'm at that point anyway.

Here's my plan of attack.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the hardware store, and get a bolt that fits the arbor hole closely. I'll get one with a tapered head, so it will center in the hole. I'm then going to chuck the bolt in my drill press and use a file to remove as much of the offending area as I safely can. There's a lot of meat on that portion of the cylinder. So I'm hoping that I can remove quite a bit of the slots. Then I'll work each slot by hand, with files and try to restore them. If it works, great. If not, I'll get a new one. At this point, I have noting to lose.

[ssb73q]

Hi Dave, I would be concerned for safety trying to salvage that cylinder.

Regards,
Richard

[AntiqueSledMan]

Dave,

You probably need a woodruff cutter and an indexing head.
Re-cut the notch and index it 72 degrees, repeat 4 more times.
Boy, after retiring I sure miss the access to the shop.

AntiqueSledMan.

[mazo kid]

[quote author=ShotgunDave link=topic=3391.msg36147#msg36147 date=1573055894
........As for screwing the plate to the frame, I'd really rather do it that way. I will have to get a tap the proper size.
[/quote]
You really don't need a gun-screw tap and gun screws, a common 6-32 tap and screws should work fine. I did that with the recoil shield on one of my guns.

[ShotgunDave]

Thanks for the help and suggestions fellas. It's much appreciated.

[ShotgunDave]

It's been a while since I started on this little endeavor, so I thought I should revive it. I just ordered a replacement cylinder from Kirst. Thankfully the cylinder is available separate from the ring. There were only two in stock, so I snapped one up. $178 out the door.

So hopefully I'll have it by the weekend, and can get this gun up and running. Stay tuned for further developments.

[ShotgunDave]

After some confusion, the cylinder arrived today. I put it in the gun and it's .015" too long. If I drive the wedge in solid, it locks up the gun. If I wiggle it out a hair, the gun cycles fine. So, I'm going to sand the cylinder face down a hair, and all will be well.

Pictures to follow.

[ShotgunDave]

As promised, a picture.

Looks and functions much better now. I had to come to the realization that I wasn't going to be able to fix the butchered stop slots on the old cylinder. With the new cylinder, it locks up tight as a bank vault and cycles perfectly. Next comes a shooting test. Hopefully next weekend.

It's quickly becoming my favorite cartridge gun.

[sourdough]

Very sweet, Dave! The gated version makes the most sense for a Colt, as I could not see enjoying the prospect of removing the wedge, barrel, and cylinder every time to reload it.

Hats off to you!

Jim

[ssb73q]

Hi Dave, very nice looking revolver. You will need to get a taller front sight on that pistol shooting .45 Colt.

Regards,
Richard

[ShotgunDave]

Thanks fellas.

Richard, you're absolutely right. I have the materials here to do just that. I'm going to make a new front sight much taller than I think I need, then shoot and file, shoot and file, until it shoots right where I want it to.