Cap Sucking Colts

[Captainkirk]

Hi Kirk, the 6% silver solder I used has a flux core, see:

http://www.amazon.com/Forney-38116-Silver-Fluxing-6-Percent/dp/B000PSB6KU?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Regards,
Richard

Right. Mine did too.
But it works like a bat out of hell if you brush paste flux on first. Try it.

[GaryC]

Richard, I stoned off the edges on the hammers on the pietta and Uberti navy's and stoned smooth hammer face after my last post.  It helped but the navy's were not prone to cap jamming anyway.  It did not help the pocket colts at all. Neither did filling the hammer slot and trying to reprofile the hammer face on one of them.   For those I'm thinking of a cap rake or a kitterige type mod when I get round to it.

Regards
Gary

[ssb73q]

Hi Gary, thanks for your report. With the small Colts with the filled in hammer slot, did cap parts jam the revolver, or just caps fall in between the frame and hammer? After filling in my 1862 Navy Pocket hammer slot, whole fired caps did fall down in the space between hammer and frame, but twisting the wrist on pulling the hammer back allowed all caps fired to fall to the ground.

I remember old cowboy movies where those shooting while riding their horse would raise the barrel up to the sky when cocking the revolver. Maybe that practice was a left over from the days of cap and ball?

Regards,
Richard

[Captainkirk]

I remember old cowboy movies where those shooting while riding their horse would raise the barrel up to the sky when cocking the revolver. Maybe that practice was a left over from the days of cap and ball?

Regards,
Richard

Nah. Just Hollyweird drama. We used to laugh and say they were trying to "fling" the bullets for that little extra "oomph".

[G Dog]

‘Flinging’ is a different phenomenon from raising the revolver on the re-cock.  Flinging is usually accompanied with such statements as “…stinkin lousy coppers”, or “we know ya squeeled Franky, you dirty rat”. 

Raising the muzzle on cocking is usually done without lines and probably does actually have some historical basis related to C&B revolvers. 

[GaryC]

Richard,

I filled in the hammer slot in the Wells Fargo with JB weld.  No cap pieces but I got fired caps in the hammer slot which would cushion the hammer blow if I did not remember to turn the gun upside down to cock it.  Sometimes they would fall out turning the gun over, sometimes not.  This was like every other shot.  The hammer faces on both the Wells Fargo and 1962 Pocket Police only touch the cap at the top and slant away from the nipple as at the bottom.  I think this makes it easier for the caps to blow back into the hammer slot if the hammer rebounds even a little bit.  Also I have put Tresos on both guns. With the wells fargo I was getting cap jams (with the treso nips and filled in slot) even with 8 grains of 4F, which is a light load.  I'm going to try to come up with a Kittrige type spring plate on the 62 pocket police.  In my navys I had few cap jams and none after I stoned the hammer face and rounded the bottom corners of the safety slot.

gary

[ssb73q]

Hi, this last weekend my son-in-law brought out his Pietta 1851 revolver that I gave him for Christmas. I had a number of cylinders already preloaded for him to use. It didn't take but the 2nd or 3rd shot for him to experience cap sucking. Caps stuck to the hammer, and caps falling in between the hammer and frame were experienced. A little training on the wrist twist, or overhead hammer operation minimized the cap sucking. After shooting was completed, I asked him how he like his 1851. He said shooting the 1851 was fun, but not 100% reliable as his 1858 Remington. Then I asked him which is the most attractive revolver, the 1851 or 1858. The 1851 was his preferred best looking and fun to shoot revolver.

I offered to replace his 1851 hammer with a replacement hammer where the hammer slot is filled in. His decision was to keep the hammer slot so that the Colt safety feature remained intact. With his current skill level, I couldn't disagree.

Regards,
Richard

Hi, yesterday my son-in-law came out to visit and brought along his Pietta 1851 to shoot. I didn't have any preloaded cylinders available for him and thought it was time that he learned to field load his 1851. As expected, it went slow at first, but as he gained skill the loading became very easy for him. He fired a couple of dozen cylinders. What surprised me is that there wasn't a single sucked cap, all the cap parts fell harmlessly away from screwing up the action. Based on what we have seen before, I would have expected a number of cap jams. I examined the hammer face slot and it is typical of new Pietta Colts, sharp.

I am truly at a loss of understanding on how on one day there is a large amount of cap sucking and then on another day none at all. The mystery deepens.

Regards,
Richard

[45 Dragoon]

Richard,

 A cap post alleviates the "mystery" since it's there for that very reason. It's an answer when there are no cap jams. (Course, it's a head scratcher when the rare one does happen! It's not perfect, just close.).     

Sorry, I just had to .  .  .  .   no response requested or needed .  Carry on .         

(You're a good sport!!)



Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

[LonesomePigeon]

Regarding Hollywood gunfights on horseback. One reason for pointing the gun upwards is it keeps your center of gravity tight and makes the gun feel lighter. Pointing a gun forward at arms length while being jostled around takes more effort because your shoulder muscles must support the weight of both the gun and your arm. 

[G Dog]

True dat, Lonesome.  IMO Colt 1860’s really shine when used horseback, that extra bit of grip really comes into play.  I love a Sixty anywhere but they seemed almost designed for mounted shooting.  Just a thought.

[Stillwater]

Has anybody else tried breaking these sharp edges to relieve the tendency for percussion caps adhering to the Colt hammers...?

Thank you,

Bill

[G Dog]

Yes. 

I have never used the epoxy method to fill in the safety pin hole but I’ve stoned and sanded the hammer faces a little ... just a little. I did just enough of that to smooth out the ‘teeth’ and sharp edges that might bight into the cap and pull it off the cone on the next cocking action.  It has worked well.  I don’t get any more frequent cap detaching problems on the Colt’s than I do on Remington’s, which is not many and not often. 

I use stock Pietta cones and No. 10 CCI.  These particular Pietta cones range from 1997 to 2011 and all work just fine.

[Stillwater]

This Mike Bellivue reconditioning a colt hammer.



Bill

[r5868]

Had my first real experience with cap sucking with my new 1851 London Navy. First two cylinders were fine and then, the caps took two goes to fire or the caps were sucked. At home I test fired some caps, after removing most of the primer material by soaking in water. They still fired but didn't blow the caps apart. One was sucked off and stuck to the hammer. The rest tended to come off the hammer but fall clear.



Photo shows the pattern left in the cap by the hammer.



The surface of the hammer face.

[Hawg]

That hammer pic is of a hammer that has been dry fired a lot.