Which parts break on cap and ball revolvers?

[Dave Markowitz]

I've seen several posts mentioning parts breakage on cap and ball revolvers. I thought it would be a good idea if we could consolidate that information into one thread to make it easier to find, so folks could put together a spare parts kit suitable for their guns.

If you are aware of or have experienced parts breakage in a cap and ball revolver, please post in this thread what (a) manufacturer, (b) model, and (c) broken part.

I'll start:

Euroarms Rogers & Spencer. I broke the cylinder pin nut screw by shearing off the head. Also, the screws in general seem a little soft.

Euroarms 1858 Remington New Model Army. Screws seem a little soft.

Uberti 1862 Pocket Police. The lug on the bottom of the barrel near the muzzle that retains the loading lever fell out of its dovetail.

 

[ROAshooter]

sorry....but all I have is four models of the Ruger Old Army....and since having the orginal one since 1976....thousands of rounds fired through it....I have yet to have ANYTHING...break...

 

[Mike OTDP]

Mainsprings, hand springs, and trigger springs should be considered consumables. They break regularly. I keep a bag of spares in my shooting box.

 

[72coupe]

What Mike said!

 

[BHP FAN]

of all of them, the trigger spring.it serves a double purpose of being a trigger spring, and a cylinder stop/bolt spring. This is by far the most common spring to break. in the past thirty seven years of playing around with these things I've replaced them at least three to one over any other part.Just replace once with a Wolff round wire spring, and be done with it.

 

[BHP FAN]

http://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?page=items&cID=3&mID=1&dID=96#403

hit the arrow to select round wire spring.even though Wolff flat springs are polished and last many times over the life of original equipment, and retain the original trigger pull, and the round ones produce a light trigger pull some may not like, I have yet to see a round wire spring break.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have shot a couple of low-end (1970s EMF, FIE importers) cap'n'ball brass frame revolvers for thirty-five years, off and on. Two broken parts: 1851 the "U" flat spring that powers both trigger and cylinder stop; 1851 trigger the sear tip damaged apparently from slipping while cocking and getting caught on the half-cock notch once or twice too often. Both guns the cylinder hands (that engage and turn the cylinder) also wore eventually.

 

[BHP FAN]

Mister Brown raises a valid point. Cabelas has a spare parts kit for the Colts and the Remingtons which includes these parts in it's catalog, at a price far below that of the individual pieces prices.

 

[Naybor]

Yep on the springs.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thanks to the folks here, I've bought spare hand springs and other springs for my Uberti Walker. VTI is super fast.

 

[Hellgate]

I've had over 30 new & used C&Bs over the years and the hand spring has broken on about 5 of them and the trigger/bolt spring on one. I think maybe I have broken one mainspring. I found that it is fairly easy to replace the hand spring with a section of bobby pin properly shaped, grooved on the inserted edge and peened into place.

 

[72coupe]

Hellgate I haven't seen a bobby pin in years. But a good tip anyway.

 

[Hellgate]

72Coupe,
You must not have any wimmin in the house. I just rifle through my daughter's bathroom drawers for an especially thick/large size bobby pin and usually find one and any others I sneak into my C&B repair box. They are of good spring steel and sometimes brightly colored!

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Thanks for the information guys.

 

[tripe1917]

I have three Uberti's whose barrel lugs have fallen off and which I staked back on.. I have also replaced three hands on a ASM 1851 Navy over a 10 year period.

 

[YumaKid]

Like most others, the "hand spring". Pietta '58 Remington, 1992 build (the "long pistol", not my 5.5" Remmie). I have two spare complete hand-and-spring assemblies in a little pill bottle in my "possibles bag" - if you can call a Ryobi cordless tool bag a "possibles bag"!

Next time I break one, Imagonna try popping that dude out and trying my luck with the bobby-pin mod.
Must be somewhere around 5,000 of those suckers floating around the house, tack box, hat boxes and halter bags; from when my daughter did her stint as a Rodeo Queen and used them to keep her hat on while hot-lapping a flag in some arena somewhere.

 

[Skinny 1950]

To index a revolver by hand was not unheard of in the old days..as long as it locks up you are OK, if the bolt / trigger spring goes watch out.!!!!