Not sure of how usefull this will be to some people, but everywhere I searched on google about revolver timing lead to the exact same thing, "see a gunsmith"
damnit, I don't want to, I like figuring **** out on my own, so I'm going to share what I've 'learned' the past little while on revolver timing, particularily colt action designs (aka, 1851/1860/1861 revolver pistols)
I noticed that my pietta 1851 navy revolver was getting some cylinder notch damage, alot of it. The locking pin was engaging when the notch was not in alignment and smashing/denting the metal around it.
If done enough, you no longer have a cylinder that is locked/aligned properly, which results in the lead bullet hitting the edge of the barrel upon leaving the cylinder.
This can be dangerous, and will defenitly lead to accuracy problems.
Learning how the colt action works, I realized that the key in how the cylinder aligns with the locking pin is all in the hand and spring.
Upon inspection, I could clearly see that my hand and spring was defenitly crushed and the tip looked bent and knurled, it wasn't good.
Buying a new one I had read that it would definetly have to be fitted before it would work properly. When I recieved it in the mail I installed it stock and noticed that it was rough and would jam 50% of the time when the hammer was lowered.
Looking at the old one I used it as a template, broke out a knife file and started to imitate the outer edges. Rounding it out and a couple hours later it was smooth and I installed the old cylinder to test it out.
With the frame stripped The best way to check for alignment first is to install the hammer, hand and spring and the backstrap. Now install the cylinder and barrel and cup the cylinder to give it some resistance. Becuase there is no cylinder locking pin installed there is nothing to prevent the cylinder from advancing forward or being aligned properly so we'll use our hand just to see.
With the hammer fully cocked, look through the bottom of the frame where the cylinder pin normally protrudes. You can see if its aligned properly or not.
Mine wasn't it was advanced slightly, so I took all the parts out and filed the hand and spring down just a small small bit. Re-installing it and all the parts mentioned above, I could see that it was now aligned at full cock perfectly!
The timing had now been fixed.
To put my skills to the test here, I installed the brand new cylinder, the locking pin and the spring to go with it. If I was wrong, then my new cylinder would quickly get marred and I'd have to come here and start asking a whole ****load of questions as to what the hell is going on.
Cocking the hammer to full cock and dropping it manually, I could see the cylinder rotating and the locking notches were in PERFECT order, the locking pin was engaging on time becuase I bought a new hand and spring and tuned it correctly.
I think why mine screwed up was becuase I was dicking around with the revolver. I was practicing "fanning" and I was sometimes cocking it with it in the holster.
DONT DO THIS! lol, when its in the holster, and most holsters fit real tight, it gives quite a bit of resistance to the cylinder which in turn starts to bend the tip of the hand and spring.
When you do the "fanning" trick, well at least when I did it, its really rough on the hand and spring as well and in the end, bends it.
So anyone who has a cylinder with damaged notches, you now know what to do and how to prevent it.
Hope someone finds this usefull.
damnit, I don't want to, I like figuring **** out on my own, so I'm going to share what I've 'learned' the past little while on revolver timing, particularily colt action designs (aka, 1851/1860/1861 revolver pistols)
I noticed that my pietta 1851 navy revolver was getting some cylinder notch damage, alot of it. The locking pin was engaging when the notch was not in alignment and smashing/denting the metal around it.
If done enough, you no longer have a cylinder that is locked/aligned properly, which results in the lead bullet hitting the edge of the barrel upon leaving the cylinder.
This can be dangerous, and will defenitly lead to accuracy problems.
Learning how the colt action works, I realized that the key in how the cylinder aligns with the locking pin is all in the hand and spring.
Upon inspection, I could clearly see that my hand and spring was defenitly crushed and the tip looked bent and knurled, it wasn't good.
Buying a new one I had read that it would definetly have to be fitted before it would work properly. When I recieved it in the mail I installed it stock and noticed that it was rough and would jam 50% of the time when the hammer was lowered.
Looking at the old one I used it as a template, broke out a knife file and started to imitate the outer edges. Rounding it out and a couple hours later it was smooth and I installed the old cylinder to test it out.
With the frame stripped The best way to check for alignment first is to install the hammer, hand and spring and the backstrap. Now install the cylinder and barrel and cup the cylinder to give it some resistance. Becuase there is no cylinder locking pin installed there is nothing to prevent the cylinder from advancing forward or being aligned properly so we'll use our hand just to see.
With the hammer fully cocked, look through the bottom of the frame where the cylinder pin normally protrudes. You can see if its aligned properly or not.
Mine wasn't it was advanced slightly, so I took all the parts out and filed the hand and spring down just a small small bit. Re-installing it and all the parts mentioned above, I could see that it was now aligned at full cock perfectly!
The timing had now been fixed.
To put my skills to the test here, I installed the brand new cylinder, the locking pin and the spring to go with it. If I was wrong, then my new cylinder would quickly get marred and I'd have to come here and start asking a whole ****load of questions as to what the hell is going on.
Cocking the hammer to full cock and dropping it manually, I could see the cylinder rotating and the locking notches were in PERFECT order, the locking pin was engaging on time becuase I bought a new hand and spring and tuned it correctly.
I think why mine screwed up was becuase I was dicking around with the revolver. I was practicing "fanning" and I was sometimes cocking it with it in the holster.
DONT DO THIS! lol, when its in the holster, and most holsters fit real tight, it gives quite a bit of resistance to the cylinder which in turn starts to bend the tip of the hand and spring.
When you do the "fanning" trick, well at least when I did it, its really rough on the hand and spring as well and in the end, bends it.
So anyone who has a cylinder with damaged notches, you now know what to do and how to prevent it.
Hope someone finds this usefull.
