Hand/spring issue on my 1860

[steelbird]

Need some advice here-

Wound up with a broken spring on my Pietta 1860 Colt. Even without the spring, the hand can still move forward ( though intermittently ). Got a replacement, but the hand does not seem to move forward enough to rotate the cylinder. Not sure what's going on here. Do I need to adjust the tension on the spring by bending it somewhat until it works? File it down a bit? Or am I just missing something here?

 

[mykeal]

Bending the spring should work.

If the bolt has retracted and the cylinder is free to rotate.

 

[Skinny 1950]

If the gun was working fine before the hand spring broke use the old hand as a template for the new one. Make sure the front of the new hand (facing cylinder) has the same profile as the old one,if not file it until it is the same. The new hand may need to be shortened but be careful before doing this as there is no going back.
Fitting a new hand is a bit of a challenge and time consuming as the gun needs to be re-assembled and taken apart again and again as you get closer to a proper fit.
If the new hand is a lot longer than the old one leave a bit extra and try it, the old one may have worn down a bit and you don't want to file it too short.
Let us know how it turns out.

 

[steelbird]

So far the bending part hasn't worked- I've bent it back, and pushed it forward with no change. I guess the filing is the next step.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Reuse the old hand and perform the Pettifogger upgrade utilizing a Ruger plunger and coil spring. If you are uncomfortable drilling the hole have a gunsmith or machine shop do it. Well worth the effort.

 

[pohill]

I used a bobbypin to replace the handspring on my 1861 .36 Colt Signature Series. I've shot over 200 rounds with it and it works fine.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Pohill,
Your hair-pin repair looks great.
Joe

 

[Hellgate]

I'm with Pohill. I also file or grind a slight notch into both sides of the spring right where I stake the edges of the hand to keep it from working its way out of the slot.

 

[Busyhands94]

i would recommend bending it a little, and cleaning it very well in there and then oiling it. that should hopefully solve the problem. good luck!

 

[denster]

Take the cylinder off the gun and cock the gun. If the hand protrudes and pushing on it you feel spring pressure then it is not the hand spring that is the problem. Most likely since it is a new hand it is a tad too long. You will need to shorten it until it picks up the cylinder tooth in the 240 degree position just as the bolt clears the cylinder. You can tell when this is correct by putting two fingers around the cylinder and slowely rasing the hammer. Stop just as you feel the cylinder start to turn and try to rotate the cylinder if it turns it means the bolt has cleared and you are good to go. If the cylinder doesn't turn the bolt hasn't cleared and you need to take a few more thousandths off the top of the hand so it picks the tooth up slightly later. Sounds complicated but it is not. Remember you generally only need to remove a few thousandths overall so don't get heavy handed with the file or stone.
I'm speculating that the problem is going to be the hand is slightly too long and is catching the back of the tooth rather than going under it to lift it.