Kirst Two Stage Hand

[Marshal Will]

Marshal, this is the primary reason I went with the Taylor's 6 shot version on my Remmy conversion. It was total drop-in...plug 'n' play.
Well, that and the fact I get an extra shot out of the bargain.

Well, another shot does make sense. But I do like the Saber River styling.

Z, those open tops are definitely cool.

[Captainkirk]

Lot to be said for an 1871-1872 Open Top

You don't say...

[Marshal Will]

Tonight I took the hand out again and it had the bevels on the outside of the tips but they were much smaller than on the hand in a photo Bill sent me so I stoned just a little more off and it seems to have done the trick.

It now works as it should. I'm impressed with these hands. They're certainly worth the money.

[Zulch]

Tonight I took the hand out again and it had the bevels on the outside of the tips but they were much smaller than on the hand in a photo Bill sent me so I stoned just a little more off and it seems to have done the trick.

It now works as it should. I'm impressed with these hands. They're certainly worth the money.

Marshal, that is great. I am not familiar with the hand in reference. Do you happen to have a picture or two? Glad it worked out well.

[Marshal Will]

Tonight I took the hand out again and it had the bevels on the outside of the tips but they were much smaller than on the hand in a photo Bill sent me so I stoned just a little more off and it seems to have done the trick.

It now works as it should. I'm impressed with these hands. They're certainly worth the money.

Marshal, that is great. I am not familiar with the hand in reference. Do you happen to have a picture or two? Glad it worked out well.

I don't have a photo of mine but here are the photos from the Kirst website. Note the piano wire spring. Heck, that alone is enough to make the part outstanding. You can see the bevels on the edge of the tips. Mine had bevels but not as pronounced as the ones on the hand in the photo.

[Zulch]

Tonight I took the hand out again and it had the bevels on the outside of the tips but they were much smaller than on the hand in a photo Bill sent me so I stoned just a little more off and it seems to have done the trick.

It now works as it should. I'm impressed with these hands. They're certainly worth the money.

Marshal, that is great. I am not familiar with the hand in reference. Do you happen to have a picture or two? Glad it worked out well.

I don't have a photo of mine but here are the photos from the Kirst website. Note the piano wire spring. Heck, that alone is enough to make the part outstanding. You can see the bevels on the edge of the tips. Mine had bevels but not as pronounced as the ones on the hand in the photo.

Thank you Marshal. Man that is nice looking machined hand. The piano wire, looks pretty sturdy? That is a nice gun part for the application. So this is considered a 2 stage hand??

[Marshal Will]

Thank you Marshal. Man that is nice looking machined hand. The piano wire, looks pretty sturdy? That is a nice gun part for the application. So this is considered a 2 stage hand??

I've replaced several hand springs with piano wire when they broke. Piano wire doesn't fail like the original flat springs do.

It's considered a two stage hand because the tip starts the cylinder rotating and partway through the second tip takes over on the next cylinder pawl and finishes the rotation into the locked position. I believe Colt introduced this on the 1860's as an improvement on the original design.

[ShotgunDave]

That's a nice looking part. I wonder if it would benefit my conversion to swap it.

I believe the two stage hand was introduced in the SAA. I could be wrong though.

[Zulch]

Thank you Marshal. Man that is nice looking machined hand. The piano wire, looks pretty sturdy? That is a nice gun part for the application. So this is considered a 2 stage hand??

I've replaced several hand springs with piano wire when they broke. Piano wire doesn't fail like the original flat springs do.

It's considered a two stage hand because the tip starts the cylinder rotating and partway through the second tip takes over on the next cylinder pawl and finishes the rotation into the locked position. I believe Colt introduced this on the 1860's as an improvement on the original design.

Thank you Marshal, so, it isn't quite clear in the photos but how is the cylindrical piano wire affixed to the base of the hand assembly?

[Marshal Will]

Thank you Marshal. Man that is nice looking machined hand. The piano wire, looks pretty sturdy? That is a nice gun part for the application. So this is considered a 2 stage hand??

I've replaced several hand springs with piano wire when they broke. Piano wire doesn't fail like the original flat springs do.

It's considered a two stage hand because the tip starts the cylinder rotating and partway through the second tip takes over on the next cylinder pawl and finishes the rotation into the locked position. I believe Colt introduced this on the 1860's as an improvement on the original design.

Thank you Marshal, so, it isn't quite clear in the photos but how is the cylindrical piano wire affixed to the base of the hand assembly?

I'm not sure how he does it. On the ones I've done, I flatten the end of the piano wire and insert it into the slot that the flat spring goes into and tap it tight.

[Zulch]

Thank you Marshal. Man that is nice looking machined hand. The piano wire, looks pretty sturdy? That is a nice gun part for the application. So this is considered a 2 stage hand??

I've replaced several hand springs with piano wire when they broke. Piano wire doesn't fail like the original flat springs do.

It's considered a two stage hand because the tip starts the cylinder rotating and partway through the second tip takes over on the next cylinder pawl and finishes the rotation into the locked position. I believe Colt introduced this on the 1860's as an improvement on the original design.

Thank you Marshal, so, it isn't quite clear in the photos but how is the cylindrical piano wire affixed to the base of the hand assembly?

I'm not sure how he does it. On the ones I've done, I flatten the end of the piano wire and insert it into the slot that the flat spring goes into and tap it tight.

I see👍👍 that makes perfect sense. I guess the flattering of the wire doesn’t effect the rigidity of the wire .

[Marshal Will]

That's a nice looking part. I wonder if it would benefit my conversion to swap it.

If it's working good, I'd leave it as is. The advantage seems to be that it rotates the cylinder correctly into lock-up with the 5-shot cylinders.

I believe the two stage hand was introduced in the SAA. I could be wrong though.

That could be but I thought the 1860 was the first model to have the two-stage hand. Maybe someone who knows more about it can chime in here.

[ShotgunDave]

That's a nice looking part. I wonder if it would benefit my conversion to swap it.

If it's working good, I'd leave it as is. The advantage seems to be that it rotates the cylinder correctly into lock-up with the 5-shot cylinders.

I believe the two stage hand was introduced in the SAA. I could be wrong though.

That could be but I thought the 1860 was the first model to have the two-stage hand. Maybe someone who knows more about it can chime in here.

For the most part, mine works fine. But every once in a while I have to cock it hard to get it to lock up. I'm going to order one of the two stage hands just to see how it works.


I've seen the inside of a lot of 1860's. None of them had a two stage hand. I wonder if the 71-72 Open Tops have it? Now I'm gonna have to look.

[G Dog]

Good pics, Marshall.

I have been under the impression that Colt introduced the two-stage hand with the SAA and that the 1860 followed the same action part setup as the 1851, etc.

[45 Dragoon]

The conversions were the first and yes, the 71/72 Open Tops have a 2 finger hand.

I understand I'll get to try one on an unmodified trigger sear pretty soon .  .  . .

Mike