49 colt problem

[mingo]

I got an Uberti '49 colt pocket.
Fired less than 50 times with about 15g fffg.

Problem is the hammer jams up at the point where the hand engages the cylinder.

If I move the cylinder very slightly, everything goes into place.

Otherwise the hammer pulls back a bit and binds up.

The bolt retracts and there are no caps in the mechanism.

Onliest thing I can think of is that the end chipped off the hand and it is too short.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[fitter]

check the hand spring.

 

[denster]

Actually it sounds as if the hand is slightly too long. If it worked good at first check the top of the hand to see if a burr rolled back at the top leading edge. If so stone it off and it should go back to working.

 

[Zonie]

Your problem got me off my butt and I fixed a CVA "Wells Fargo" kit built gun I've had laying around here for years.

Seems that when the hammer was pulled back the cylinder wouldn't move a bit and the hammer would 'lock up' about like your describing with your Uberti. If I moved the cylinder just a smidge in the direction it should be moving then the hand would pick up the ratchet and rotate the cylinder like it should.

Anyway, I just took it apart and filed the tip of the hand down, maybe only about .010. That fixed it.

I will say that if you try this be very careful not to nick the little hand spring.
These things are delicate to begin with and as the file is very close to it, it would be easy to nick.

As the hand is probably hardened a bit you might be better off to use a stone to shorten the hand.
This will give a smoother finish than a file, it's easier to control and it will cause you to have to work slower.

If you remove too much material off of the hand it won't be able to rotate the cylinder quite to the next position where the cylinder bolt can lock it in place so don't get carried away with removing material off of the hand.

 

[denster]

What Zonie said is correct you need to slightly reduce the length of the hand. The reason I brought up the bur is it is a common problem and if the gun originally worked well and then started to be a problem that is likely the case as it artificially lengthens the hand.
In shortening a hand because of problems with initial pickup a trick is to color the top of the hand with magic marker then with the hand spring facing you reduce the surface of the top of the hand with a very slight downward angle from left to right leaving a smidge of color on the top right corner of the hand. This will keep you from having a problem on final carry up. The hand is not hard and the material you will need to remove is a very few thousandths probably only .003 to .005. A small needle file works good then a couple of passes with a stone to smooth.

 

[mingo]

Thanks fellers-I have fitted hands on M60s and this has me stumped.
Spring is OK and the hand APPEARS smooth.

As I said, it worked fine for 50 rounds and a lot of additional working of the action.
Quit all at once.

Dressing it is all I can do at this point, so will try that.

 

[TNHillbilly]

It may be the hammer cam is not dropping the bolt as the hand is forcing the cylinder against the bolt. When I have this problem, I remove the bolt and test to see if the hand is working properly. I've ruined a few hands getting 'ham fisted' with files before knowing the problem. My 2 cents worth.....let us know the fix!