1860 Army Cylinder wobble

[SixShootinSam]

Hello all,
I recently bought a steel Pietta 1860 Army.
Last night I was taking it apart for cleaning and reassembled it.
I noticed that I could move the cylinder slightly around to the right when I grab it (not forward and backwards).
It moves around about a millimeter, and this is in uncocked position, so I imagine this is a bad thing.
Would any of you know what causes this slight wobble?
Is it the hand and spring that may have been worn? or the cylinder itself ?(My kid liked to spin the barrel).
Or is this normal, because when I cock it it lines up perfectly. Only if I move it myself it goes out of alignment, but I still assume this should not happen.

Thanks for reading!

Sam.

 

[Tommygunn]

I don't think I'd worry about it if it was only 1 mm.

(My kid liked to spin the barrel).

Spinning the barrel ... now THAT IS something I would worry about.... (obviously you mean cylinder). This is not good for the hand-spring, it just wears it down uselessly. I know it makes cool ratchedting sounds, but you should leave this to the Hawaii 5-O TV detectives.

A few of my BP revolvers have minor side-to-side play and shoot fine.

 

[Donny]

I wouldn't worry about the play you've discribed. A lot of modern revolvers have that kind of play. If it exceeds 1/8 of an inch then you may have a problem.

Don

 

[dstorm1911]

ya can get a new Cyl. stop from Dixie gun works for $5.95 removes all side to side play.

They sent me an 1860 colt one by mistake when I ordered parts for my 1858 remingtons, but as the shipping was $8.00 and they want it sent back in the same big box it wasn't worth shipping back I told my wife now I gotta go buy an 1860 colt to use this stop in ;-)

I'm not gonna be home for a couple weeks otherwise could just drop it in an envelope and cut your shipping to the price of a postage stamp...

The replacement stop will be a very tight fit let it LAP itself into the cyl. notches this will ensure a tight cyl. for years to come, oh an stop that kid from spinning the cyl. thats bad.

 

[SixShootinSam]

I actually ordered a set of spare parts from Cabelas once, and the cylinder stop is also in it. I will replace that and see it it makes a difference, if not it's probably the cylinder, and I would be happy to buy it off you.

 

[rifle]

The bolts usually fit the cylinder notches well but....the frame window for the bolts head is usually a little big for the bolt so it can move. Thing is....it usually lines up when cycled so... what the heck. It'll be fine the way it is I'd say. If you want then have someone with a forcing cone reamer open and deepen the forcing cone. The gun shoots balls right? The open forcing cone helps when things are a little off.

 

[SixShootinSam]

Yes it shoots balls, and yeah it does line up with I cock it.
Wasn't sure if it was normal or not, seemed like it didn't have this wiggle when I first got it.
Thing that makes me a bit leery is what if it misaligned as the trigger is pulled.
That could be bad news for my fingers.
I have another cylinder on the way, we'll see if that fixes it, since the one I have now has some damage to the bolt cuts it seems.

 

[rifle]

Dear Mr. Six Shootin Sam, now you tell us. Damage to the notches. Terrible. (not really hee hee). I have a secrete to tell ya. There's a trick to stopping that bolt from deforming the soft cylinder metal close to the notches.
When you install your new cylinder do not cycle the action even once before you....... Adjust the trigger/bolt spring by loosening the trigger bolt spring screw. You have to kinda eyeball it with yer ears to tell if the bolt is hitting too hard because the spring is too tight. Use a screw driver placed where the bolts head can come up and ping the screw driver blade when you work the hammer back(cylinder off the gun). Lighten the spring by loosening the screw until you think the bolt hits light enough to not deform the notches of the cylinder.
When you put it back together with the cylinder in it just cycle it a couple of chambers and look at their notches to see if there is even the slightest little bright spot where the bolt hit the cylinder. There should be no bright spot. Ok, so after you have it adjusted so the bolt doesn't deform the cylinder ramps or the "edge" of the notch(the bad one) try shooting the gun to determine that the spring isn't too light to function when the gun gets fouled up. You'll have to remember how much to loosen the trigger bolt spring whenever you reassemble your gun. Just tighten the springs screw all the way and then back it off the amount you've learned is needed to get the spring adjusted. When you recieve a new gun always adjust the tension of the bolt spring lighter or you'll damage the cylinder just by cycling the action a couple of times. Cap&ball revolvers have cylinders made of soft metal unlike cartridge revolvers that have harder cylinder metal and don't get peened by the bolt any where as fast as the percussion revolvers.
Make sure the trigger didn't get too light also. If the trigger got too light then you'll have to tighten the trigger/bolt spring screw and bend the prong of the spring up some to lighten the tension on the bolt but not the trigger.
Next you have to determine that the bolt doesn't hit too close to the edge of the cylinder notch and peen that tiny bit of metal "into" the notch. That effectively makes the notch narrow and the bolt may not get into it all the way.
If the bolt hits the edge of the notch and peens it there you have to.......file a little off the end of the prong of the bolt that rides the hammer cam. That little bit of filing gets the bolts prong to get off the hammer cam sooner and thus hits the cylinder back further in the "ramp" where it can't deform the edge of the cylinder notch. Know what I mean? If there is some cylinder metal peened into the cylinder notchs you'll have to peen it back with a piece of metal and a little hammer so the notch is back to full width.

Now if you're afraid that your gun is a little out of alignment where the chamber doesn't align perfectly with the bore don't worry. It would have to be "way off" to hurt anything. Way off. You can look down the barrel with a small flashlight and see if the chambers align with the barrels grooves. The chambers are a little smaller than the barrels grooves so if you look close you can "see" in each groove where it meets the chamber edge to check the alignment.
You'll see a tiny bit of chamber edge in each groove since the chamber is smaller than the barrels grooves. If there is more in some grooves than others (will show up as a silver moon of cylinder face reflecting light that I call the "Silver Moon of misalignment") than you'll have to align the chambers to the barrels grooves.
If there is just a really small amount of misalignment don't worry. The forcing cone compensates for it. If there is misalignment from just some of the chambers but some are aligned then your cylinder is machined badly and you need a new cylinder. You what I mean?

 

[parmamoon]

Rifle,
Now THAT was worth reading!

 

[emptythemag]

I'll have to tag this thread since I'm also having problems with my cylinder spinning freely. I think its a combination of the spring and a worn out cylinder stop.