Colt 1860 2nd Gen problem?

[John V.]

I have a NIB Colt 1860 Army 2nd gen. I just installed new SlixShot nipples that I purchased from Long Hunter out of Texas. Got the correct thread type and all of that. Installed just fine. The problem is...now the cylinder turns REAL hard/stiff? I do not see any obvious areas where the nipples are rubbing or dragging against the frame, but when I pull the hammer back and the cylinder rotates the whole process is VERY,VERY stiff to include pulling the hammer back? I am stumped? It was not this way prior to the new nipples? Any advise?

 

[Chowmif16]

Might not be the nipples' fault. I assume you removed the cylinder to install them. You might have driven the wedge pin in too far when you put the barrel back on. This can cause a fit that is too tight and the front of the cylinder to drag on the rear of the barrel.

Look to see if you have a slight gap between cylinder and barrel when the hammer is in the fired position. Often, when you cock the gun, the the hand that rotates the cylinder will push it slightly forward which can cause friction between cylinder and barrel.

If that is your problem, tap the wedge from the other side so it is not driven in so far.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Did you pull the cylinder to install the new nipples? If so, maybe some thing changed slightly when it was put back together. If the nipples aren't hitting the frame, then that is where I would look. It might be something as simple as a piece of debris is caught on the arbor or between the cylinder and the frame. Also, was it re-assembled as before. That is where I would start.

 

[ZUG]

Might not be the nipples' fault. I assume you removed the cylinder to install them. You might have driven the wedge pin in too far when you put the barrel back on. This can cause a fit that is too tight and the front of the cylinder to drag on the rear of the barrel.

Look to see if you have a slight gap between cylinder and barrel when the hammer is in the fired position. Often, when you cock the gun, the the hand that rotates the cylinder will push it slightly forward which can cause friction between cylinder and barrel.

If that is your problem, tap the wedge from the other side so it is not driven in so far.

I also concur with this answer :thumbsup:

 

[John V.]

Yes sirs, I did disassemble and pulled the cylinder when I installed the new nipples. I will check to see if maybe I got the barrel wedge driven in to tight? I will review my situation per all of your suggestions and see where that takes me. Thanks, will keep you posted.

 

[Zonie]

I'm sure you checked but if the new nipples were made for a rifle, they would be too long for your C&B so the ends of the cones would rub on the circular area of the recoil shield at the rear of the cylinder.

I seem to recall a gun that often would chain fire when it was shot.
It turned out, the nipples were too long for the gun so they were holding the caps against the recoil shield.
Every time the gun fired, the rearward movement of the cylinder would end up firing one of the other chambers caps.

A quick check with a flashlight would show if the nipples are clearing the recoil shield.
There should be at least 1/16" of clearance there.

 

[John V.]

Might not be the nipples' fault. I assume you removed the cylinder to install them. You might have driven the wedge pin in too far when you put the barrel back on. This can cause a fit that is too tight and the front of the cylinder to drag on the rear of the barrel.

Look to see if you have a slight gap between cylinder and barrel when the hammer is in the fired position. Often, when you cock the gun, the the hand that rotates the cylinder will push it slightly forward which can cause friction between cylinder and barrel.



If that is your problem, tap the wedge from the other side so it is not driven in so far.

Okay...Is the gap(on my 1860) normal if one can see light (with a flashlight)between the front of the cylinder and the rear of the barrel? But not be able to insert a single piece of white sticky note paper in the afore mentioned gap?

 

[Robert an saa fan]

Good advice above. Not a normal cylinder gap. Too tight if you can not get one piece of sticky note paper in the gap.

If you do not have a feeler gauge to measure the adjusted gap; then you want about the thickness of a matchbook cover.

 

[denster]

OK if you can see light then there is enough clearance but you do need to check that the space is even top to bottom. One of the symptoms of a wedge driven in too far is a pie shaped gap in that the cylinder contacts the barrel at the top but shows some light at the bottom. The 2nd gen guns all suffer from short arbor syndrome and the wedge can affect the bc gap in this manner. One of the things it is wise to correct. As to bc gap closer is better and about .002 is ideal. The closer the gap the less fouling is deposited on the arbor to tie up the cylinder.

 

[ZUG]

I also agree with this answer. You want ideally between 0.006" to 0.010" of a gap. Any closer then you get a build-up of crud which will seize up the cylinder quickly. A normal sheet of paper is 0.004" thick. Modern cartridge guns have closer cylinder gaps because smokeless powder is not as "dirty" as black powder and does not fowl when burned as black powder does. Find yourself some shim stock of 0.006" - 0.008" thick and keep it for setting your cylinder gap.

 

[denster]

To each his own but a close bc gap will not build up crud nearly as much as a wider one. Crud build up is not a problem on the face of the cylinder but on deposits on the arbor which can quickly interfere with rotation of the cylinder. One of the things 45Dragoon, who has a business tuning black powder revolvers, and I agree on is that a .002 bc gap is about ideal. One other thing bc gap should not be set by the wedge. The wedges sole purpose is to hold things together.

 

[John V.]

OK if you can see light then there is enough clearance but you do need to check that the space is even top to bottom. One of the symptoms of a wedge driven in too far is a pie shaped gap in that the cylinder contacts the barrel at the top but shows some light at the bottom. The 2nd gen guns all suffer from short arbor syndrome and the wedge can affect the bc gap in this manner. One of the things it is wise to correct. As to bc gap closer is better and about .002 is ideal. The closer the gap the less fouling is deposited on the arbor to tie up the cylinder.

The gap appears to be even both up and down. I will need to get a feeler gauge to check the gap. However I have dis-assembled and re-assembled and it does not appear to be as tight now? Maybe I had the wedge in to tight? I still intend to check the afore mentioned gap though.

 

[scott taylor]

What was wrong with the nipples it came with?

 

[John V.]

What was wrong with the nipples it came with?

Well my experience(although be it limited compared to many here) was the charge not going off, and to some extent spent caps falling into the action and jamming up said action. I have heard and researched that the SlixShot nipples alleviate SOME of this problem.For $36.00 I figured it was a possible fix I could afford with out really altering my Colt.