A pocket with some juice

[Len]

 Richard,
in "Django Unchained" they practiced in deep snow.

[ssb73q]

Richard,
in "Django Unchained" they practiced in deep snow.

Hi Len, I suspect that he is a lot younger than me. 

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, I'm a bit surprised that nobody asked about the 1862 reduced power hammer spring.

Both the Uberti 1849 and 1862 use the same small frame. I had a number of Wolff 32285 reduced power springs that were replaced with the Wolff 32280 springs in my medium frame Colts and Remington 1858s. The 32285 spring can be easily modified to produce a reduced power hammer spring for both 1849 and 1862 revolvers. A photo of the springs:



The spring on the left is the original 1849/1862 spring. The next one to the right is the original Wolff 32285. The next three are the modified Wolff 32285. The bottom of the 32285 spring needed to be shortened on the bottom and on the top to produce a correct length spring. The hammer roller groove area was narrowed to allow good clearance the in frame.

Regards,
Richard

[Len]

Richard,
in "Django Unchained" they practiced in deep snow.

Hi Len, I suspect that he is a lot younger than me. 

Regards,
Richard

I can see you're talking spring in the post above. Spring is just around the corner, and then you'll have no excuses for not going shooting.

[LonesomePigeon]

Nice job on the front sight and the spring. I tried to buy one of those dovetail jigs from Dixie but they were out of stock.

Regarding the springs, what did you use to file them down? I don't have a grinding wheel but I do have a few diamond files. Would it be hard to file them by hand? I have 4 Gregorelli & Uberti 1851 Navy's and I might want to install a reduced power mainspring. The GU's appear to be 7/8th or 15/16th scale, slightly smaller than a regular Uberti 1851 Navy. They feel almost like a pocket pistol in the hand.

[Yolla Bolly Brad]

Hello Richard,
        I just logged on the Colt Forum but before that was lurking to follow your thread on the 1862. Got one myself but have not fired it yet. I will want to get it zeroed in with a dovetail front sight like you and will also want to do some action tuning. I'm curious to see how the lightened springs work for you since I've heard these smaller Colts have some issues with their lighter hammers blowing back.

[ssb73q]

Hi Lonesome, this is where I bought my dovetail jig and safe file:

http://www.cainsoutdoor.com/shop/item.asp?item=302417

There is more information on this jig starting here:

http://blackpowdersmoke.com/colt/index.php/topic,1580.msg14818.html#msg14818

I have done 19 dovetails with that jig and it shows no wear. An excellent dovetail tool.

You should use a grinding wheel to modify the hammer springs. Diamond files won't get the job done. Grinding motor and grinding wheels are fairly low cost and very handy for many gun related jobs.

If you have the knowledge and skill you could anneal the spring, file it, and then harden it again.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, I remembered that I have an 1849 that could shoot down aircraft with the barrel horizontal to the earth. That revolver really needed a taller front sight. As an experiment, I wanted to see how fast I could make a dovetail for a new front sight. With the revolver assembled, all the tools put away, the timer was started. Twenty two minutes later the dovetail was done. What took the longest time was driving out the lever post from the barrel so that the jig could be fitted.

The dovetail:





Regards,
Richard

[LonesomePigeon]

Richard, thanks for the link. I definitely want to get one of those. Do you have a link to the safe file too? I did a product search for "file" and "safe file" and got  butt plates and trigger guards.

[ssb73q]

Hi Lonesome, I checked the site and see that they are no longer offering the "safe file". Since they made it themselves, it was expensive. This is the triangular file I use when cutting the angle part of the dovetail:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001R1WZYK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I buy them by the dozen, use one new file per dovetail. The jig is so hard that it eats files. You can take one triangular file and power sand off one side of that file to make a safe file. The safe file is used after making the dovetail, with the jig off, to create a slight wedge in the dovetail for fitting the sight. I buy my sights from Track of the Wolf.

I hog out most of the metal of the dovetail using a flat file edge and finish with the triangular file.

BTW, since I use a bent piece of aluminum and small aluminum piece against the screw, no other protection of the barrel is required. The aluminum doesn't hurt the bluing.

Regards,
Richard

 

[Dave Shooter]

Brownells carries safe files if you don't choose to make your own. 

[LonesomePigeon]

Thanks Richard and Dave for the info, I greatly appreciate it.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the two Midway usa Uberti 1862 Navy revolvers arrived today. Both are perfect in every respect. One will be for display in my living room and the other as a Christmas present for my son-in-law. I also received a new beautiful holster made by LeaterSmithMike. Mike made the holster to allow the use of my tall front sighted Uberti 1862 Navy, the fit is perfect. Mike is a master leathersmith!





Regards,
Richard

[Captainkirk]

Sweet, Richard! I gotta agree, Mike makes a mean holster/rig. Mine is unbelievable!

[ssb73q]

Hi, I remembered that I have an 1849 that could shoot down aircraft with the barrel horizontal to the earth. That revolver really needed a taller front sight. As an experiment, I wanted to see how fast I could make a dovetail for a new front sight. With the revolver assembled, all the tools put away, the timer was started. Twenty two minutes later the dovetail was done. What took the longest time was driving out the lever post from the barrel so that the jig could be fitted.

The dovetail:





Regards,
Richard

Hi, the dovetail front brass front sights arrived from Track of the Wolf yesterday. One of those sights was fitted to the Uberti 1849 Pocket revolver:





The front sight will be filed down at the range to have poi-poa @25yds.

Regards,
Richard