I have another thread regarding this revolver here
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/help-me-design-a-spring.896840/
In the above thread I described this revolver as a Hopkins and Allen. I bought it as a Hopkins and Allen, and it was sold as a Hopkins and allen but in reality the only marking on the gun that can lead you to Hopkins and Allen is the name Ranger on the top strap. Hopkins and Allen was known build for other retailers and mark them however they wanted them marked. And Ranger was one of those markings. Also, Hopkins and Allen used a similar type of Engraving . Other than that, it could be any number of makers in reality. It is unimportant who the actual maker was. It was an inexpensive firearm, despite the engraving, when it was constructed. It has little value today other than to clowns like me who like fiddling with them.. it was sold relatively cheaply with the following disclosed by the seller: broken / missing cylinder pin, does not index, unsafe to fire as is. So what does a clown like me do but buy it to see if I can actually make it shoot again. I have another Hopkins 7 shot 22(suicide special). The other one actually has a side plate and this one is a solid frame. That impacts how the handspring is actuated and the other thread delve into that in depth.
So far I have removed the broken cylinder pin and turned a replacement. That was relatively uneventful though it took quite a while to do. A mixture of freezing and Heating and adding penetrating oil helped loosen the cylinder from the cylinder pin. A barh in transmission fluid in the sonic cleaner also helped. Unlike every other Hopkins and Allen suicide special I have seen, the cylinder pin on this firearm was held in place buy a screw from the bottom of the frame all the way up through the frame and into the cylinder pin Raceway. That screw had to be drilled out. So far the replacement cylinder pin is retained by friction and seems to work. But when I get access to better equipment, specifically a lathe, I will turn a new cylinder pin and I will thread it, reverse threads, to retain the cylinder pin and abandon the screw from the bottom of the frame. I also installed a shim on the front of the cylinder to remove the end shake when the gun was cocked. I need to learn how to fit a little better as I managed to file it just a hair too short. So I'll have to do it again.
What remains are as follows
The bolt still does not lock the cylinder reliably
The hand is billionth of an inch too short - and oh my God it is Tiny
The firing pin is butchered so badly it will only set off a primer occasionally
The hammer can be 'overcocked' and intermittently over rotates the cylinder when done so.
Here is a photograph of the revolver and the action parts arranged in the general arrangement that they are in the gun
The first issue I would like to talk about is the bolt not locking the cylinder reliably. Oddly, when the hammer is at rest/forward the bolt Rises High Enough to solidly and reliably lock the cylinder in place. This leads me to believe, though not entirely convinced, that the bolt is the correct dimension. Here are a couple of photographs of the bolt and how it works with the hammer. The interrelationship between the bolt and the hammer is three-dimensional, so you have to look at both of the next two pictures to get an understanding of how it works
EDIT: after I posted I noticed that my pictures didn't show all of the bolt. Here is a picture of just the bolt
In the second photograph the bolt is in the position just before the hammer reaches the forward position. As it reaches the forward position, the (edit) bolt is made of spring steel and it's Springs to the right and catches above the ledge on the hammer. When the Hammer is pulled back to half-cock the notch on the top of the bolt catches the notch on the hammer and pulls it up and the bolt pivots on its pivot/spring pulling the bolt down below the frame allowing the cylinder to rotate freely. When the hammer is pulled to full cock the bolt rides the front of the hammer. Notice that the hammer has a sloped surface, Sloped from left to right/top to bottom. As the hammer rises while being pulled from half cock to full cock the bolt reaches the sloped portion it falls back to the left dropping in allowing the bolt to rise again on its pivot / spring. As I said earlier, when the hammer is at rest and its forward position the bolt Rises high enough to reliably lock the cylinder. When the hammer is at full cock bolt does not rise as high as it does when the hammer is at rest in the forward position. This sort of leads me to believe that the bolt may be just fine, it just isn't traveling far enough down the face of the hammer to allow the bolt to Pivot and rise up further.
We'll discuss all of the issues that remain in this thread. But for now, lets start with the bolt.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/help-me-design-a-spring.896840/
In the above thread I described this revolver as a Hopkins and Allen. I bought it as a Hopkins and Allen, and it was sold as a Hopkins and allen but in reality the only marking on the gun that can lead you to Hopkins and Allen is the name Ranger on the top strap. Hopkins and Allen was known build for other retailers and mark them however they wanted them marked. And Ranger was one of those markings. Also, Hopkins and Allen used a similar type of Engraving . Other than that, it could be any number of makers in reality. It is unimportant who the actual maker was. It was an inexpensive firearm, despite the engraving, when it was constructed. It has little value today other than to clowns like me who like fiddling with them.. it was sold relatively cheaply with the following disclosed by the seller: broken / missing cylinder pin, does not index, unsafe to fire as is. So what does a clown like me do but buy it to see if I can actually make it shoot again. I have another Hopkins 7 shot 22(suicide special). The other one actually has a side plate and this one is a solid frame. That impacts how the handspring is actuated and the other thread delve into that in depth.
So far I have removed the broken cylinder pin and turned a replacement. That was relatively uneventful though it took quite a while to do. A mixture of freezing and Heating and adding penetrating oil helped loosen the cylinder from the cylinder pin. A barh in transmission fluid in the sonic cleaner also helped. Unlike every other Hopkins and Allen suicide special I have seen, the cylinder pin on this firearm was held in place buy a screw from the bottom of the frame all the way up through the frame and into the cylinder pin Raceway. That screw had to be drilled out. So far the replacement cylinder pin is retained by friction and seems to work. But when I get access to better equipment, specifically a lathe, I will turn a new cylinder pin and I will thread it, reverse threads, to retain the cylinder pin and abandon the screw from the bottom of the frame. I also installed a shim on the front of the cylinder to remove the end shake when the gun was cocked. I need to learn how to fit a little better as I managed to file it just a hair too short. So I'll have to do it again.
What remains are as follows
The bolt still does not lock the cylinder reliably
The hand is billionth of an inch too short - and oh my God it is Tiny
The firing pin is butchered so badly it will only set off a primer occasionally
The hammer can be 'overcocked' and intermittently over rotates the cylinder when done so.
Here is a photograph of the revolver and the action parts arranged in the general arrangement that they are in the gun
The first issue I would like to talk about is the bolt not locking the cylinder reliably. Oddly, when the hammer is at rest/forward the bolt Rises High Enough to solidly and reliably lock the cylinder in place. This leads me to believe, though not entirely convinced, that the bolt is the correct dimension. Here are a couple of photographs of the bolt and how it works with the hammer. The interrelationship between the bolt and the hammer is three-dimensional, so you have to look at both of the next two pictures to get an understanding of how it works
EDIT: after I posted I noticed that my pictures didn't show all of the bolt. Here is a picture of just the bolt
In the second photograph the bolt is in the position just before the hammer reaches the forward position. As it reaches the forward position, the (edit) bolt is made of spring steel and it's Springs to the right and catches above the ledge on the hammer. When the Hammer is pulled back to half-cock the notch on the top of the bolt catches the notch on the hammer and pulls it up and the bolt pivots on its pivot/spring pulling the bolt down below the frame allowing the cylinder to rotate freely. When the hammer is pulled to full cock the bolt rides the front of the hammer. Notice that the hammer has a sloped surface, Sloped from left to right/top to bottom. As the hammer rises while being pulled from half cock to full cock the bolt reaches the sloped portion it falls back to the left dropping in allowing the bolt to rise again on its pivot / spring. As I said earlier, when the hammer is at rest and its forward position the bolt Rises high enough to reliably lock the cylinder. When the hammer is at full cock bolt does not rise as high as it does when the hammer is at rest in the forward position. This sort of leads me to believe that the bolt may be just fine, it just isn't traveling far enough down the face of the hammer to allow the bolt to Pivot and rise up further.
We'll discuss all of the issues that remain in this thread. But for now, lets start with the bolt.
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