Signature Series 1860 Army cylinder overtravel

[LonesomePigeon]

 I have a Colt Signature Series 1860 Army that is in need of help. If I cock it slow it seems to time and lock up just fine. If I cock it fast it fails to lock up and the cylinder overtravels. Can anyone tell me why is it doing that and how can I fix it? Any help would be appreciated.

PS. - I will post some pics of it later when I get the chance.

[Captainkirk]

In a nutshell, your hand is too long.

[G Dog]

Yep.  Is over-travel a recent feature on that piece or has it always done that?

[LonesomePigeon]

It's new to me and I am 99% sure it was unfired when I got it.

[Hawg]

 It could be the hand is too long combined with late bolt drop or it could just be late bolt drop. If the bolt was dropping correctly with a hand too long it would lock the cylinder up before the hand reached it's full travel and you wouldn't be able to put it in full cock. If it's just the bolt being late momentum would carry the cylinder past the notch when you cock it fast. It's not too uncommon to have timing issues with Italian guns.....Or Italian guns put together here.

[45 Dragoon]

Hawg is right.
 The "baseline" would be - Draging a finger on the cyl, does the cyl lockup  and reaching full cock happen simultaneously? That will tell you if the hand is too long or too short. If / when you have simultaneous lockup/ full cock, the bolt drop can "dialed in".

Mike

[LonesomePigeon]

Briefly tried dragging a finger on the cylinder. This one is hard to tell what's happening because I can't see the bolt at all. On other guns I have it was fairly easy to see the bolt popping up underneath the cylinder.

One thing I did notice when I took the cylinder off is I can see the bolt barely comes up above the water table(not sure water table is the right word?). Is it possible the bolt is just not coming up far enough to fully engage  the cylinder notches?

[45 Dragoon]

Well, I seem to be "photo challenged" so I'll try to explain.
On the open-top, the timing mark is the left hammer slot cut in the recoil shield.  Using that as a "rear sight" as if sighting down the barrel,  the locking notch should be just to the left of the sight line when you hear the bolt drop. Lockup will be just to the right of the sight line. ( this is for a six shot revolver) Well dang, the pic showed up (sideways). This is bolt drop position ( notch to the left).

Mike

[Hawg]

Briefly tried dragging a finger on the cylinder. This one is hard to tell what's happening because I can't see the bolt at all. On other guns I have it was fairly easy to see the bolt popping up underneath the cylinder.

One thing I did notice when I took the cylinder off is I can see the bolt barely comes up above the water table(not sure water table is the right word?). Is it possible the bolt is just not coming up far enough to fully engage  the cylinder notches?

With the trigger guard off you can put your finger on the bolt while cocking it and see if you get more travel out of it. Also check for burrs in the hole. If you get more travel you can carefully bend that leg of the bolt/trigger spring to put more pressure on it.

[Marshal Will]

It might be wise to remove the cylinder and bolt to check if the bolt fits into the cylinder notches correctly. If it doesn't fit all the way into the notches, the bolt would have to be fitted to work right.

[Hawg]

It might be wise to remove the cylinder and bolt to check if the bolt fits into the cylinder notches correctly. If it doesn't fit all the way into the notches, the bolt would have to be fitted to work right.

That too.

[Navy Six]

It might be wise to remove the cylinder and bolt to check if the bolt fits into the cylinder notches correctly. If it doesn't fit all the way into the notches, the bolt would have to be fitted to work right.

I had a brand new Uberti 60 Army with that issue. While the gun didn't throw by on cocking, at least while cocking slowly and deliberately, two of the notches were smaller than the rest and I'm glad I checked it as it probably would have exhibited that problem sooner or later.