Dragoon Lever Drop

I Have Been Carefully (I Think) Reading Everything In The Forum About 3rd mod. Dragoon Loading Lever Drop, Post Fireing. Some Have Said That A Rubberband Is Not Good Looking But "Works Fine" Or Using "Wampum" Beads For A More PC Look. I Even Asked The Gunsmith At Dixie And Was Told To Make The Fit "Sharp". Using Diamond Files Carefuly (Again,I think) I Have Tried This With Mixed Results. If I Use 25gr of fffg The Lever Stays Put. Anything More (Like 40gr) And It Still Drops. Is There Anyway To Make A Hidden Modification To Finally Fix This Problem ?? I Am Open To Any And All Opinions On This All To Common Glitch.

At Whats Left Of My Wits End, A Very Confused Nilo52 :cursing:

My Uberti 3rd Model Colt's Dragoon doesn't do that and I have put some hefty loads in it. I have heard of Walkers doing the same but I don't have a Walker to personaly say it's so.

Mr Biggs...could you please post some photos of your Dragoons loading lever latch so that we may see what type of angle is present ? it may help alot of us ...

I had the same problem with mine, if memory serves me, i think we changed (or stretched) the spring behind the latch. problem solved! :v

Yes...I have heard that Gibson Humbucker guitar springs will work very well :
GPMS-12 Humb Pickup mounting screws-Nickel vintage style set of 4. 1 1/4" long, with springs.
3.45

they can be found on this page: http://www.grguitars.com/parts_5Pickups.htm

I would try them before I file the latch!

Zonie suggestion sounds good. I had the same problem with mine at anything over 30gr. Latch contact was perfect. Stronger spring is the cure.

I Will try The Spring Fix. Already Tried The File Fix (ah heck !) Shoulda/coulda Tried That First. Oh Well, Live And Learn !
Somewhat Smarter nilo52

ebiggs said:

My Uberti 3rd Model Colt's Dragoon doesn't do that and I have put some hefty loads in it. I have heard of Walkers doing the same but I don't have a Walker to personaly say it's so.

Click to expand...

The Walker uses a different type of latch. It is located under the barrel, towards the base of the loading lever, rather than at the end of the loading lever as they are on the later Dragoons.

CP

Thanks for making it sound like ol' Zonie is earning his keep but I don't recall making a suggestion (yet).

From the description of the problem by nilo52, it sounds like we are speaking of a Walker as only the Walker had the spring hanging down from the bottom of the barrel to engage the loading lever.

Even the Whitneyville Hartford Dragoon which was the first to follow the Walker had a spring loaded catch at the front of the loading lever which engaged a solid tab located just behind the muzzle.

If the gun truly is a Dragoon (1st, 2nd or 3rd model), stretching or replacing the spring as scalper suggested might fix the problem.

If the gun is a Walker, careful filing to sharpen the catch on the spring will sometimes make it latch onto the ram better.
I don't advise trying to bend that hanging down spring though. It is real easy to break it off.

Whoops sorry meant scalper typed Zonie. It's hell getting old although better than the alternative.

This is a fairly common problem with the 1st, 2nd, and early 3rd model Dragoon. The late 3rd model Dragoon uses a Navy style latch for the loading lever. The fix the early style latch is a stronger spring. You can try filing a sharper and deeper notch for the latch first. Most of my dragoons, six or seven have this problem with loads in the 40gr area. I have filed all of them and a few still drop. They well get new springs some day.

A Google search shows an outfit that sells replacement Humbucker pick up height springs.
A package of 8 costs $3.52 + S&H. They come in 2 lengths so be sure to order the right ones:

3350 13/16" length, package of 8 Yes $3.52


3355 1-5/8" length, package of 8 Yes $3.52
http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/3350

or call 800-848-2273

Click to expand...

which are the RIGHT ones???My guess would be the shorter of the two...correct?
I just measured the ones I ordered and they are
1 1/2" exactly.....

scalper said:

Mr Biggs...could you please post some photos of your Dragoons loading lever latch so that we may see what type of angle is present ? it may help alot of us ...

Click to expand...

I am sorry I told you wrong my Colt’s Dragoon is an ASM not a Uberti as I originally indicated. But anyhow here is the latch.