A Charter/High Standard Cylinder Jig Made Easy

For some time, I had contemplated writing an article on a useful jig I made in my shop. A comment posted in the American Gunsmith Reader Forum told me it was the right time for it. I’m not sure exactly when I made this jig but remember the gun I was working on at the time that prompted me to search for a better way to disassemble High Standard Double Nine revolver cylinders. This jig is adaptable for all Charter Arms revolvers as well as the High Standard Rand W-series revolvers.

This jig and its accessories were made with pieces of scrap metal I had on hand so no extra cost was involved. I keep on hand plenty of pieces of steel, brass, and aluminum I scrounge in various places just for projects like this and have done so for many years as a gunsmith. The pieces were as-is and all I did was drill and tap them in the manner I’ll detail below. The purpose of this jig is to make simple the complete disassembly of Charter Arms and High Standard cylinder assemblies.

Some of the parts will differ in name between the two makes of revolvers but their function will be basically the same. For those of you who have undertaken the job of completely disassembling these revolver cylinders, you will understand the frustration I speak of here. It is literally a three-handed job. This jig makes it easily a manageable twohanded job. Why take the cylinder completely down at all?

On the Charter guns, which you will find mostly in .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .44 Special, it’s usually not necessary as routine cleaning can be done with the parts intact. On the .22 caliber Charter Arms and High Standard revolvers a lot of dirt and debris accumulate within the cylinder parts and make it necessary to completely disassemble the cylinders for proper cleaning. If built up enough, dirt and debris will cause function and timing issues in these revolvers.

The jig’s function and use is pretty straight forward. After removal of the cylinder assemblies from the Charter revolvers, the cylinder pivot is a screw. On the High Standard revolvers, the crane pivot is a spring loaded plunger. The complete cylinder assembly is mounted in the jig as removed from the frames. Jig Make Up Parts of the jig can vary in size with some limitation depending on what you might have available. The base of my jig is apiece of tool steel 4 3/4" x 2" x 3/4".

The 90 degree angle piece is 2 3/8" high with a 1 1/4" base and 7/8" width. The angled piece is the rear of the jig. This piece is also tapered in thickness at the angle because this is what I had available. The straight piece is the front of the jig and is 2" high, 1" wide, and 9/32" deep. It also is apiece of tool steel. Holding these two pieces of tool steel together are 12 x 24 Allen head screws. The two holding the angled piece are 15/16" in length and the two holding the straight piece are 13/16".

Again, these are what I had on hand. The two brass screws are used in the utilization of the jig and are 10 x 32 with lengths of 7/8" and 2". Of the three aluminum pieces shown in the jig breakdown, one is 1/16" thick, the second is 1/8", and the third is 1 3/8" x 1/2" x 1/4". The two holes at the top

of the front straight piece are drilled and tapped with 10 x 32 threads for the two brass screws. A 5/16" hole is drilled at the bottom face of the angled piece. You will have to adjust the placement of this hole depending on the thickness of the base of the piece you use in your jig. Because my piece had a thick base, my 5/16" hole was 11/16" center to base. Using The Jig The cylinder assembly is mounted between the angled and straight pieces of steel with the ejector rod going through the rear 5/16" hole.

The cylinder lock plunger at the front of the ejector/ratchet is against the brass screw mounted through one of the two tapped holes in the straight piece. This is similar to mounting up a barrel in a lathe between two centers. The ejector/ratchet must be extended forward before mounting the cylinder assembly. On the High Standard cylinders there is a lug on the shaft of the ejector/ratchet slightly ahead of the access hole in the shaft. Push the ejector rod in to push the ratchet forward.

When you are just past this lug, turn the ratchet shaft about 1/4" to the left and it will lock the ejector/ratchet in place. On the Charter revolvers there is no lug on the shaft. This is where the 1 3/8" x 1/2" x 1/4" aluminum block comes into play on the jig. It is used to lock back the ejector/ratchet in the extended position just as the lug does on the High Standard shaft. Place this block widthwise between the cylinder face and the back of the ratchet. The jig is now ready for use.

The reason for the two tapped holes for the brass screws is because of the size differences between .38/.44 cylinders and .22 rimfire cylinders. On my jig I use the lower tapped hole for .22 rimfire cylinders. I use two different length brass screws because of the different lengths of cylinder/yokes you will encounter. The ejector rod is pinned to the ejector rod bushing in the Charter revolvers and the cylinder lock plunger in the High Standard revolver.

These two parts, though of different names, share the same function. These are very small pins and need to be drifted out through the access hole in the ejector/ratchet shaft. The idea of the jig isto screw in the brass screw until the pin hole and access hole lines up so the pin can be driven out downward with a 1/16" or 1/32" pin punch, making it a simple twohanded job.

Leave the pin punch in place until you have restrained the bushing/plunger with a finger and slowly release the pin punch as this assembly is spring loaded and powerful enough to launch the bushing/ plunger into orbit! These pins are of precise length and need to be reinstalled precisely through the two parts without overhang on either end, so as not to interfere with the ratchet shaft operation. On reassembly, I simply line up the three holes with a short slave pin.

Holding the pin with small sharpnose pliers, tap it in and replace the slave pin. The 1/16" and 1/8" aluminum pieces serve as shims under the angled piece for larger circumference cylinders as is the higher tapped hole in the straight (front) piece. Your methods and jig may look a little different than mine, however, I’m sure they will serve you just as well as mine has over the years I’ve utilized them. AG