New Colt 1860 Army questions

[1860 Army]

:metoo: My 1860 Uberti was exactly the same way when new.
I still have to give it a tap to fit.
I lube the pins and it seems to help.

 

[Zonie]

...
I do have to use a mallet to get in in until the spring clears the frame, the cylinder gap is close at that point to, no need to go farther. My first gun the wedge could be pushed in by just finger pressure until it hit the retaining screw and it still had about .015 of end play/movement of the cylinder.

This one is a keeper.

Do not pound the barrel wedge in until the little spring "clears the frame".

The purpose of that little bent end on the spring is to hook onto the head of the screw when the wedge is moved out of engagement with the cylinder arbor. It is not there to latch onto the other side of the barrel block.

This, "catch on the screw head" idea is to keep the wedge from being lost when the barrel is removed from the rest of the gun.

Just push the wedge in until it is firmly in place, holding the barrel against the lower part of the receiver.
The final position of the end of the wedge and its little spring will depend on the tolerances and wear each gun has.
Some guns will end up with the spring hooking on the right side of the barrel and others (most) will only have the very end of the wedge flush with the side of the barrel.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

...
I do have to use a mallet to get in in until the spring clears the frame, the cylinder gap is close at that point to, no need to go farther. My first gun the wedge could be pushed in by just finger pressure until it hit the retaining screw and it still had about .015 of end play/movement of the cylinder.

This one is a keeper.

Do not pound the barrel wedge in until the little spring "clears the frame".

The purpose of that little bent end on the spring is to hook onto the head of the screw when the wedge is moved out of engagement with the cylinder arbor. It is not there to latch onto the other side of the barrel block.

This, "catch on the screw head" idea is to keep the wedge from being lost when the barrel is removed from the rest of the gun.

Just push the wedge in until it is firmly in place, holding the barrel against the lower part of the receiver.
The final position of the end of the wedge and its little spring will depend on the tolerances and wear each gun has.
Some guns will end up with the spring hooking on the right side of the barrel and others (most) will only have the very end of the wedge flush with the side of the barrel.

I see what you are saying. What clearance do you like to have between the cylinder and the barrel?

 

[denster]

The wedge is also not used to set the barrel cylinder gap. Although that is a common misconception.
Uberti's always suffer from short arbor syndrome. Ideally the arbor should bottom out in it's recess at the same time the barrel assembly meets the frame. The wedge is only used to hold the assemblies together. With an Uberti you will have to add a shim to the end of the arbor or the bottom of the arbor recess to achieve this.
Any changes to b/c gap are made by removing metal from the forcing cone area to increase it or from the barrel lug where it meets the frame to reduce it. Normally if anything you will need to reduce it. I like a b/c gap of between .002 to .004.

 

[1860 Army]

My stock 1860 Uberti has a b/c of .0035. Have fired over 150 rounds and is very accurate. I tap the wedge in with the handle of a screwdriver and push the barrel in place by taping on a raged cover table.

 

[Zonie]

I find it interesting to see people having good luck with a barrel gap as small as .002-.004.

That is a typical gap for modern revolvers but the black powder guns I've had with gaps that small always tended to lock up because of the powder fouling on the face of the cylinder.

Given a choice, I would try for a cylinder gap of .006-.012 for a cap & ball revolver.

 

[denster]

With all due respect Zonie a large b/c gap like that only increases the amount of fouling deposited particularly on the arbor. I have never had a percussion revolver bind up from fouling on the face of the cylinder and with a close b/c gap there is very little deposited. To each his own though.

 

[M. De Land]

Interesting, I've never set up a cap-n-ball revolver with that close a gap so will have to give it a try.
I sure have tied some up with fouling that were .008-.010 though.
It's hard on hand noses and cylinder ratchet teeth when forced after being fouled.

 

[1860 Army]

I only use 777 fff and I've never had a fouling problem.
I usually shot about 30 to 35 rounds at a time.

 

[Mr. Troll]

I read an article about cylinder air gap on a site called ballistics by the inch. They set up a cartridge revolver with an adjustable air gap and they measured the muzzle velocity with several different loads and several different air gaps. .006 gave the best performance, while a zero gap was one of the worst. http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/