Uberti hammer for Colt 1860 Army

[Flintlock_bob]

The last time I shot my Uberti it started to malfunction. The cylinder would not rotate at half cock for loading. This is a relatively new gun, might have 20 cylinders run through it, probably old enough to be outside of warranty.

Excuse me for not knowing the correct name for the parts. I determined that the pin on the side of the hammer that operates the cylinder bolt/lock lug had a rounded/worn edge causing the bolt to slip off and lock prematurely.

Now the question is, was the part ground too shallow at the factory, or is it so soft it wore quickly or both.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen on their Colt 1860 Uberti's. If I order the rather expensive hammer from Uberti will I have the same problem? I saw a generic Colt 1860 hammer at Dixie Gun Works for a reasonable price but from the picture the finish didn't look as nice as the Uberti.

What to do?

 

[Rat]

Problems with the bolts, hands, hand springs, pins, etc. are not that unusual with any of the repro's. If the pin is pressed into the hammer, (don't have one handy to examine...have one somewhere...but there should be a hole in the hammer in which the pin resides, if I am thinking of the same part)(in which case it may be difficult to see the parting lines) I would think you could drift the pin out and insert another, rather than replacing the hammer. ?? Perhaps the pin could be drifted out a little bit, instead of replacing it. I assume you mean "too short" rather than "too shallow". ??

 

[ol vern]

The last time I shot my Uberti it started to malfunction. The cylinder would not rotate at half cock for loading. This is a relatively new gun, might have 20 cylinders run through it, probably old enough to be outside of warranty.

Excuse me for not knowing the correct name for the parts. I determined that the pin on the side of the hammer that operates the cylinder bolt/lock lug had a rounded/worn edge causing the bolt to slip off and lock prematurely.

Now the question is, was the part ground too shallow at the factory, or is it so soft it wore quickly or both.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen on their Colt 1860 Uberti's. If I order the rather expensive hammer from Uberti will I have the same problem? I saw a generic Colt 1860 hammer at Dixie Gun Works for a reasonable price but from the picture the finish didn't look as nice as the Uberti.

What to do?

I would try replacing the locking bolt before I did the hammer, always start with the cheapest fix first

 

[FishDFly]

The last time I shot my Uberti it started to malfunction. The cylinder would not rotate at half cock for loading. This is a relatively new gun, might have 20 cylinders run through it, probably old enough to be outside of warranty.

Excuse me for not knowing the correct name for the parts. I determined that the pin on the side of the hammer that operates the cylinder bolt/lock lug had a rounded/worn edge causing the bolt to slip off and lock prematurely.

Now the question is, was the part ground too shallow at the factory, or is it so soft it wore quickly or both.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen on their Colt 1860 Uberti's. If I order the rather expensive hammer from Uberti will I have the same problem? I saw a generic Colt 1860 hammer at Dixie Gun Works for a reasonable price but from the picture the finish didn't look as nice as the Uberti.

What to do?

 

[FishDFly]

Call Taylor's & Co. and ask for the gunsmith, he can and will help you.

Or go to www.uberti-usa.com and at the top right side click on Customer Service, several options.

fdf

 

[Flintlock_bob]

Problems with the bolts, hands, hand springs, pins, etc. are not that unusual with any of the repro's. If the pin is pressed into the hammer, (don't have one handy to examine...have one somewhere...but there should be a hole in the hammer in which the pin resides, if I am thinking of the same part)(in which case it may be difficult to see the parting lines) I would think you could drift the pin out and insert another, rather than replacing the hammer. ?? Perhaps the pin could be drifted out a little bit, instead of replacing it. I assume you mean "too short" rather than "too shallow". ??

I didn't notice any sign of a hole that the pin would be pressed into but maybe the parting line is fine enough I didn't notice it, I will have to take a closer look.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

I would try replacing the locking bolt before I did the hammer, always start with the cheapest fix first

There is nothing wrong with the bolt, it is clearly the pin on the hammer that is worn. But as pointed out that pin might be pressed in.

 

[denster]

The pin you are referring to is called the cam. On the Ubertis it is not a pressed in part. Just checking you are aware that the leg of the bolt rides on the outer periphery of the cam it is highly unusual for that area to wear. The face of the cam is ground down at an angle and some folks mistake that as wear when it is supposed to be that way.
A photo would help.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

The pin you are referring to is called the cam. On the Ubertis it is not a pressed in part. Just checking you are aware that the leg of the bolt rides on the outer periphery of the cam it is highly unusual for that area to wear. The face of the cam is ground down at an angle and some folks mistake that as wear when it is supposed to be that way.
A photo would help.

Called the "cam", makes sense. The periphery of the cam has become rounded as it becomes narrower so that the leg of the bolt slips off prematurely so the bolt locks up at half cock.

Just off the top of my head it would seem like it would be better if the cam was not ground at an angle and the bolt leg were shorter so that it slipped of at the right time, less chance of this kind of wear.

 

[Rat]

Yep, that would be called hand-fitting, and action tuning. There's a certain amount of leeway as to when the bolt lifts, falls, engages, etc. Or timing, in other words. Looks like you are in for some self-education! You may become a high-master-Grand Poobah action tuner when this is all done. I used to know the Colt pretty well, but have not worked on one for ages.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

Yep, that would be called hand-fitting, and action tuning. There's a certain amount of leeway as to when the bolt lifts, falls, engages, etc. Or timing, in other words. Looks like you are in for some self-education! You may become a high-master-Grand Poobah action tuner when this is all done. I used to know the Colt pretty well, but have not worked on one for ages.

I have a Navy Arms revolver that I think is the Confederate's copy of the Colt Army. It had timing issues, I don't recall what the problem was, it was years ago. I looked it over and decided what I thought the problem was and made some adjustments, it worked The tricky part is that it's so dang hard to see whats going on inside.

I did order a new hammer from Dixie today so will see how it works out.

 

[M. De Land]

Sounds to me like the bolt leg needs to be bent into the cam a bit more if it hasn't been partially broken off.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

Sounds to me like the bolt leg needs to be bent into the cam a bit more if it hasn't been partially broken off.

The leg is riding against the hammer, it's as tight as it's gonna git. When the leg, which is very hard, slips off the cam, which apparently isn't very hard, it rounds off the edge of the cam, the result being the leg slips off the cam sooner than it should.

 

[Bad Karma]

You might find one on eBay....

 

[Ronnman]

Try here: http://www.vtigunparts.com/store/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=15&cat=Uberti+1860+Army

Ron

 

[Flintlock_bob]

I bought a hammer from Dixie. It fixed the problem of not being able to rotate the cylinder for loading but know it seems like the bolt doesn't drop soon enough. There is just a little binding as I pull the hammer back, it does function but at times I can see the cylinder "jump/spin" a bit.

I'm not sure how to fix this problem. It seems like there is a little delay when pulling the hammer back before the bolt starts to drop, I don't think the bolt leg is in contact with the cam when the hammer is fully down. I don't know if it is kosher to shorten the bolt? Perhaps the bolt was hand fitted to the original hammer and if I get a new bolt that might give a closer fit?

 

[Flintlock_bob]

Got it fixed and working good now. With that experience under my belt I think I will take a look at a later unmentionable Colt with timing issues.

 

[SmokepoleSam]

What did you do to fix it if you don't mind me asking?
thanks, Domenick

 

[Flintlock_bob]

I slightly beveled the top of the bolt since it wasn't dropping soon enough and binding, didn't take much, locks up tight.

I shortened the bolt leg since it wasn't dropping until reaching full cock, although it did work that way but no other revolver I have is timed that way. The thing I learned was that depending on where you file the bolt leg you can do two things, one is to decrease the bolt travel, eventually causing it to rub the cylinder during rotation, the other is to time when the bolt drops to lock up which is what I needed to do.

The bolt leg no longer needs to slip off the side of the cam to drop the bolt, causing wear if the cam isn't real hard, which was my original problem. The replacement hammer cam would have needed to be modified to work that way too. The bolt leg now slips off the radius of the cam, (it doesn't have to deflect to the side) which I have read is the way an original works.