Cap Sucking Colts

[wicket]

  If the solder proves too soft on its own, you could try using it to sweat in a piece of steel,  duck soup since the slot's already tinned.

[StrawHat]

...
Hi, I have an Uberti 1862 Navy that is the worst cap sucker of all time. It can't be shot more than two times in a row before a cap jams the revolver. Since that 1862 is such a PITA with cap sucking and there isn't any conversion cylinders for it, it has become a safe queen ... Regards,
Stubborn Richard...

If it doesn't work out for you, let me know.  I like the Pocket Police Model.

Kevin

[ssb73q]

  If the solder proves too soft on its own, you could try using it to sweat in a piece of steel,  duck soup since the slot's already tinned.

Hi wicket, that's a very good idea. The most important aspect of my test is to see if cap sucking decreases, the second is the durability of the fix. If I get minimal cap sucking, but limited durability, I will try your suggestion. Thank you.

Regards,
Richard

[wicket]

 I'm keeping an open mind Richard, and will be interested to hear the results of your experiment. My inclination is to blame the caps though, rather than Colt's design. Since there isn't anything we shooters can do about the way modern caps are manufactured, our only options are to tweak the guns or cock the guns in ways that allow the spent cap to fall free. I wonder whether along with polishing the hammer notch, an occasional spritz of spray silicone or teflon lubricant into the notch would have any impact on cap sucking.

[45 Dragoon]

Well, since filling the safety notch in the hammer isn't the way Sam designed it (since some don't want to deviate from Colts design by adding cap posts or the like, .  .  .  ) , it would seem the best solution would be to install a steel insert in the hammer face and re-cut the notch. I posted a while back about the original notches being quite thin (about pin width). 
 I think the caps of today would still be strong enough to keep from being embedded in the thin slot and thus, not be pulled away from the nipple.
  Doing it this way would protect the finish of the hammer ( which welding would destroy and probably the heat from soldering) and maintain what heat treatment was done to the hammer.  Not to mention being correct with Colts design!

That is a good suggestion by wicket since the soldering has already happened. The procedure above would be for "un-molested" hammers.

Just a thought .  .  .  .  .  .  (still probably couldn't fan it though !! Lol!!  Just kidding!!! Lighten up !!!!!)


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

[ssb73q]

Hi Mike, maybe fill up the slot, then drop the hammer on a cylinder safety pin and use that registration mark to drill a small hole? That may provide the smallest opening for cap sucking while retaining the basic safety feature of what Colt designed? In the 1873 the Colt design was to keep the hammer down on an empty chamber. But then Sam Colt had nothing to do with that 1873 design.

Regards,
Richard

[wicket]

  That's a great idea for locating the pin Richard, hopefully all the pins are placed the same. Goon's got a good point about welding. My beater pistol is a beater because, among other insane experiments, I decided to try welding out the Pieta markings on the barrel with a mig welder and flux core wire, made a real mess.

[45 Dragoon]

Richard, sounds like a good plan.
 More than likely Colt just used a slot or notch rather than a hole just because its less critical for location. A hole in the hammer face should work.

 Wicket,  I was afraid the heat would cause more problems than "fixes". Thanks for your input.


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

[wicket]

  I doubt localized intense heat  on a hammer would be good for it.  My main problem was with spatter and slag though, and the discovery that the metal from the weld was a different color than the metal of the barrel, which even nitre bluing couldn't correct.

[ssb73q]

Hi, I got to test my 1862 Navy with the hammer slot filled in with 6% silver solder today. The results were very good, a cap never stuck to the hammer face. I did have whole cap remains fall between the hammer and frame, but a twist of the wrist allowed the spent cap to fall out. There were no cap sucking jams after many cylinders fired. Previously with the original hammer slot, no more than two shots could be made without a piece of cap dropping down in the internals of the action jammed the action where disassembly was required to remove the cap part. IMO filling in the hammer slot is a significant improvement. The 6% solder filling the hammer slot shows no deterioration.

I will try drilling a small hole in the hammer face to see if it still retains the benefits of filling the slot with solder and allow use of the cylinder pin safety feature.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, I have another spare Pietta 1851/1860 hammer. Got out the 6% silver solder and propane torch, but wondered if the Weller 100/140w soldering gun would provide sufficient heat to do the hammer slot soldering. It worked great, there was sufficient heat from the soldering gun to flow the 6% silver solder into the hammer groove. What's nice about using the gun instead of the torch is that concern for affecting the hammer temper is eliminated. Soldering using the gun is also easier to control than using a torch.

Regards,
Richard

[mike116]

Good information here Richard.   I'm following this thread with interest but haven't had anything to add.    I would not have thought a 140 watt soldering gun would have done the job.  I just finished soldering some threaded tubing to the back of an Indian head penny to make some conchos for a holster.    I tried to use my 140 watt gun but had no luck so I used my pencil torch.   I was worried about ruining the coin but they came out OK.   Maybe I should have tried a little harder with the soldering gun.

[Captainkirk]

Paste flux helps a lot.
I replaced a hand spring with bobby pin steel and found it slightly loose, so I soldered it using the Weller. It wouldn't take until I brushed on the paste flux after which it set immediately.

[ssb73q]

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

[ssb73q]

Hi, after making the previous post I remembered that last year's testing of a new Pietta 1851 Yank snub revolver where I didn't have any cap sucking, see:
http://blackpowdersmoke.com/colt/index.php?topic=709.msg5401#msg5401

I got that Yank out of my gunsafe to examine the revolver's hammer face. The safety groove on the Yank is different than on all my other Colts that cap suck. The safety groove of the Yank looks like the safety groove entrance cut in the hammer face is melted smooth with no sharp edges like there is with the other Colts. This provides a slight taper instead of a sharp perpendicular edge.

This has me wondering if a slight stoning of the Colt hammer face safety groove edge would produce a similar surface that doesn't hold a spent cap like the sharp grooved hammers faces do?

This is something I will need to try.

Regards,
Richard

Hi, the sharp edge hammer slot theory for cap sucking has some new supporting evidence:



Regards,
Richard