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Leather / Re: Made from cowhide (mostly)
« on: May 07, 2024, 06:58:25 AM »
Very nice Mike!!
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Marshal Will, I recently obtained a early 3rd gen. Colt SAA that was very lightly used. However, the original owner had done that leather pad under the mainspring trick. I recall back in the 70's & 80's that was the recommendation in many gun magazines. I tried it back then and found very little difference. Anyway back to that recent purchase. The owner must have installed that leather pad when the gun was pretty new because on taking the grips off the whole area around the mainspring/backstrap/trigger guard was covered in rust. You would know better what type of leather would cause that. It cleaned up quickly though. Fortunately the rust didn't intrude any farther as this particular SAA was a full blue model with what looked like extra polishing, about what the older Pythons used to come with.
I've always measured from half cock. I hook my scale under the nose of the hammer and check the weight when it starts to move. That's where the 4 lb hammer pull comes from. It's all repeatable numbers.
In my experience, they tend to run anywhere from 6 lbs to 9lbs+ . . . 2nd Gen Colt's are all over the place. Just checked two 2nd Gens . . . '60 Army is 8 lbs, Walker is 7lbs.
Measuring just gives me an idea of how much "dressing " I'll need to do to get to 4lbs.
Mike
Why half cock?
A little off topic, but since we started...the reason I went with the 427 was when Ford further developed that motor to run at LeMans, they ran one at 7,000 rpm FOR 24 HOURS STRAIGHT. At that point they knew they could beat Ferrari and did for several years straight.
hot rod guns / hot rod cars . . . always was . . . always will be !!
Mike just so you understand I appreciate those type of guns and cars. For years my daily driver was a 1967 Shelby GT 500 that I installed a Nascar 427 Tunnel Port. I still own another 1967 GT350 with the small block 289. Guess I'm getting a little older.
I took it apart and found the hand spring was to tight. It pushed the cylinder forward. Now the cylinder turns and fits the bolt . The revolver shoots well. I really like this shooter.
Well Mike, I may as well just copy Hawg's reply to your question for the most part. Since I consider modern caps as the real problem, I don't care to modify the guns. I am even a long time avid Cowboy shooter, but one who approaches things from an historical standpoint. However, I don't shoot the percussion pistols exclusively. With the already mentioned attention each gun receives, cap jams are not frequent. Admittedly, though, right in the middle of a Cowboy Match is not the time to be experiencing a cap jam! I fully agree that a light, smooth action is a joy to use, but if a heavier mainspring will almost eliminate those last few cap jams(on the few guns so prone), so be it. Since I don't participate in Cowboy matches worrying about my final Match Standing, what makes me happy is a nice clean presentation as close to period correct as reasonable.
I just saw on another site where someone is approaching the modern cap problem by making his own thicker caps on a 3-D printer! So far no report on how they are working. I would be willing to accept caps made of a different material since the modern cap manufacturers don't seem inclined to address the issue.
Just curious, what are some reasons for not using cap posts? The reason I ask is that it appears "cap jams", "cap sucking" is a more modern problem than when these revolvers were "cutting edge". If that is the case, a modern fix ( cap post) for a modern problem doesn't seem to be that far "out of line"
For me I want the experience to be as close as I can get it to what it was like back in the day. A cap post would deprive me of that pleasure as would modding internal parts. No I can't see the internal parts when I'm shooting it but I would know they were there. I don't consider stoning internal parts modding but bolt blocks, action stops etc. ain't gonna cut it with me. Besides I don't get enough cap jams to even bother worrying about it. I get the occasional cap stuck to the hammer or stuck on the nipple like it was welded on but that's about it. I don't like short barrels even tho there were a few that were cut off historically. There weren't enough of them for it to be anywhere near a common thing. I don't like birds head grips or Rugers either. Well you asked.