possible to remove base pin in 1860 army?

[bennadatto]

Hey all.

I think I may have goofed! I have an 1860 army that has always had a sticky wedge pin. When I went to remove it over the weekend, it required such force that I think I bent my base pin!!!

Is it possible to replace the base pin without having to A: auction my first born for payment to a gunsmith for parts and labor, or B: have to buy a new piece?

HELP!!!

 

[sltm1]

Got me a bit confused, by base pin are you refering to the arbor the cylinder & barrel slide up on? If so, some are screwed in and a set pin is drifted into it through the receiver and some are just threaded and secured with lock-tite. Either way, they come out. You need to know the mfgr as they are not interchangeable pieces, then you can eithor go to their site or Midway supply (etc) and order another one. Easy fix, and you can keep your 1st born till you find something worth trading him for.....LOL.

 

[Jim K]

In the original 1860 Army, the base pin is screwed in, then staked. I have never seen one pinned, but that may have been done in some repros.

The base pin (through the wedge) controls headspace and cylinder end shake, so care has to be taken in replacing it.

Frankly, I doubt you bent the base pin enough that it can't be straightened in place without the need to remove it.

In any case, try to find out why the wedge was that tight; it shouldn't be.

Jim

 

[AdmiralB]

Sometimes the arbor is bent intentionally; I've seen a few guns that came that way from the factory.

These things aren't Swiss watches; they get some gentle, or sometimes not so gentle 'massaging' to get everything together before they leave the factory.

If your gun assembles and functions correctly, don't sweat it.

 

[bennadatto]

that's the problem...it doesn't function properly. The cylinder will barely rotate when you pull the hammer.

 

[Smokin_Gun]

I just straightened an arbor on a Replica Arms 1862 Colt Pocket Police...it was bent about 4 degrees. It was fallen on in a Motorcycle crash. anyway used a mechanical hand press and came out good. Still bound up, it needs a bolt, hand , and trigger I guess...shimmed the hammer and still binds on the bolt now and again...I'll try the new innards and see what happens.
Most all your Italian Reproductions are threaded and aligned the have a lock pin inserted and staked into a broached slot in the frame and arbor. then welded at the frame..

 

[rcflint]

Look at the Uberti exploded view on the VTIgunparts.com website, you will see the locking pin illustrated. Uberti uses the same pin part number that is used as a pair at the front of the frame to align the barrel.

The only guns that have no locking pin currently made are the brass framed revolvers, as drilling a hole half in steel and half in brass is next to impossible.

Drill the locking pin out with approximately a .090 drill or up to a #6 screw tap drill to remove the pin. (I've used #6-32 and #6-40, David Chicoine uses #6-48) If you replace the arbor with a new part you will have to cut a groove in the threaded portion to mate with the half-hole in the frame, for a new locking pin or tap it for a screw. The set screw will make future arbor replacement much easier, if needed.

Original Colts did have a locking pin, they were tapered. The Italian pins are not.