Colt 1889 Revolver

The Colt 1889 was introduced as the first double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder. What is interesting about this old Colt is that the cylinder rotates counter-clockwise and that the design pre-dates the Smith & Wesson patent by seven years. This new design was purportedly very strong as compared to previous double-action revolvers, being manufactured in the .38 Colt and the .41 Colt in both Short and Long versions.

Assorted literature products found tells us that this particular design became the standard for all double-action revolver designs that followed it. This original design, although strong, had some lockup issues, mainly because the cylinder did not have cylinder lock notches or a locking bolt assembly. The lack of these components made the cylinder prone to rotating when being carried in a pocket or holster—and even while shooting. Later, this design had the cylinder locking lug notches added to the cylinder.

With the addition of the bolt and bolt spring the revolver then became known as the Colt New Navy Model of 1889. After the Army adopted and purchased the revolver, the design became known as the Colt New Army & Navy model of 1892. Colt then made improvements to the 1889 design, with each version being assigned its own model number, such as the 1894, 1895, 1896, 1901, and 1903 models. This design of swing-out cylinder revolvers were very popular with the public and as military issue.

Several hundred thousand revolvers of this design were sold. 41 caliber revolver. The finish was previously removed via a mechanical wire wheel brush. Having such an important part of Colt firearms history make it to my bench (again) renewed my interest in the original design—especially since this one appeared to be "all original." Yes, it was in poor shape finish wise, but seemed to still function OK, although it would not work in single action.

And, of course, the cylinder crane assembly was very loose, as with most of the 1889 models. This tired old Colt was visibly scarred by improper "gunsmithing"—and I use that term very loosely. Somewhere along the way, someone had used a mechanical wire wheel (and a harsh one at that) to remove all of the finish from the gun and it was done in such a manner that it left deep gouges and scratches all over the frame.

Although I was unable to verify this, I believe the revolver left the Colt factory nickel plated, which would account for a "reason" to wire wheel the finish off of the revolver, but this is only an assumption on my part. I also found both frame plate screws damaged as if someone had used gardening tools to try and remove them. Therefore, the visible exterior of the revolver, by way of the poor work done to it, pretty much doomed the collector value of it.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find it with all of its original parts inside, with the exception of one of the two frame plate screws. Posted parts view showed that both of the frame plate screws are identical when replacing (or ordering) them, so the fact that there were two different screws in the side plate led me to believe one of them was a non-factory replacement.

Since the remaining parts appeared to be original to the gun, I decided to photograph some of these parts for future use in either identifying used or available parts found, or for making new or replacement parts when needed. It should be noted here that the customer had left me with some

As a gunsmith, this is unacceptable and is a sure-fire method of going out of business quickly. There was no "care" used at all from what I could see. Maybe this was done when the revolver was thought to have no value? marching orders (that is, financial limits) when I took it in for potential repairs and I was in complete agreement with him on his imposed financial threshold.

I typically like to let the customer know that I will just go ahead and complete repairs if they fall at or below a certain cost 629" assembled this revolver at the factory. This number was found on nearly all of the parts. Note, the serial number can be found on the bottom of the grip frame. t hr es hold. Should the cost exceed that, I will notify them first to be sure that they want to move forward.

Just like my customers, I don’t like monetary repair surprises—both for them and for me having to explain to them why I went way over their budget—so I always keep them informed as a repair moves along and within all previously set thresholds. As I had expected, the customer opted not to move forward with all of the necessary repairs this revolver was in need of. So, with all of that being said and in mind, let’s get started.

Disassembly According to most of the published literature I was able to locate on this particular model revolver, complete disassembly is not advised or encouraged. Most of it is very basic, however, there are a couple of areas that you need to be cautious about

and I will cover them when they come up during disassembly. Begin by opening the cylinder and checking to make certain there are no live rounds in any of the six chambers. Once you are sure the revolver is unloaded, begin by removing the grips or "stocks" (39). On this particular gun, the stocks are not original based on the location of the stock pin (36) holes in them that are not in the correct relationship to the frame hole. No stock pin was found in this revolver so it was probably lost.

I suspect that these grips are from a Colt New Navy rather than the original 1889. Moving on, carefully remove the crane lock screw (21) located on the right side of the frame. Once this is removed, pull out (or use a magnet) to get the crane lock (22) out. This will free up the cylinder/crane assembly, so just open the cylinder latch and remove the cylinder/crane assembly off of the frame by pulling it forward.

This is where published literature tells us not to go forward with disassembling the crane and cylinder latch assembly unless required to do so for repairs. I agree with this only because I had to do this on one in the past and it was all trial and error. When looking for replacement parts, this is an excellent photo for parts identification.

Literature tells us that after depressing the ejector rod (5) so that the ratchet/ ejector (4) clears the cylinder, the ratchet can be unscrewed from the ejector rod going in the clockwise direction and you will need to use a special spanner wrench to remove the crane bushing (7) from the crane (8). The revolver I had in previously was disassembled by gripping the ratchet with two small wooden blocks and then turning the cylinder until it released and this worked fine on that job.

The issue then becomes reinstalling the ratchet as you must get it back in the exact place it was prior to removal so that the stars on the ratchet fully seat in the cylinder face. Again, not a fun process and I recommend that you do not disassemble the crane and cylinder assembly unless you just have to. I was not/have not been able to locate the spanner mentioned in literature so I have no idea what to look for.

Moving on from the cylinder/ crane assembly (being set aside), disassembly of the lock mechanism is next. Begin by backing out the mainspring tension screw (20) from the front of the pistol grip frame, taking pressure off of the mainspring (19) as much as possible. Now, insert a nylon or wooden dowel between the sharp bend of the mainspring and back of the American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.

The spring is very fragile and prone to breakage. It must be solidly staked in place when repairing or replacing or it can get caught on the frame inside. This is also very vulnerable to breakage. pistol grip frame, essentially forcing the mainspring forks forward so that you can lift the stirrup (14) off of the mainspring hooks, releasing the stirrup from the mainspring. Once you have done this, remove the dowel you used and then lift the mainspring out of the notch it rides in on the grip frame.

With the mainspring removed, tilt the hand (27) rewards and lift it out of the frame. Now you can now cock the hammer (13) back enough so that you can pull it out of the frame, making sure that the firing pin clears the frame before pulling up on the hammer. It should be noted here that this is the second area that literature tells us not to remove the hammer pin (13A), trigger pin (26A) or rebound lever pin (31A) from the frame, as it is seldom necessary.

Once the hammer has been removed from the frame, you can now remove the rebound lever spring (32) by drifting the rebound lever spring pin (33) out of the frame from left to right. The spring will be under tension when you remove this pin, so the pin punch will get wedged into the hole when the pin is removed fully. Once your pin punch is out, the rebound lever spring comes right out.

With that removed, you can now just pull up on the rebound Troubleshooting This is by no means a complete list of troubleshooting tips as there a so many things that can go wrong with this revolver. Just remember that when it was assembled at the factory, each part was hand fitted by an "Assembler." In this case it was Assembler #629. This revolver came in for a problem with the single action not working but double action would. During my inspection, I found a number of things that were contributing to the problem.

One, the hand (27) was very well worn and the base of the hand was damaged and worn. Replacement was needed but not done on this job as the customer had set a repair costs limit and that alone exceeded the limit imposed. The hand spring (28) was bent and coming out of the slot in the hand where it was supposed to be staked into place. When installing the hand assembly, make sure the hand spring is not too short as it can catch on the frame inside and will cause the gun to become completely locked up.

Look for this if one comes in with the action locked up. The rebound lever (31) in this gun was also well worn. It had worn to the point that the trigger was too far forward and that was causing the singleaction functioning not to operate as lever (31) to remove it from the frame. Next, the trigger (26) can be pulled off of the trigger frame pin (26A) and removed.

To disassemble the cylinder latch (10) assembly, drift out the very small latch pin (11) in the frame and that will allow you to remove the latch and latch spring. This completes the disassembly of the revolver. Just reassemble in reverse.

4 ratchet/ejector 5 ejector rod 7 crane bushing 8 crane 10 cylinder latch 11 latch pin 13 hammer designed. I was able to shim the hole in the dog-leg portion of the rebound lever where it rides on the trigger pin and this caused the trigger to stay to the rear just enough so that the singleaction functioning started operating again. This was in lieu of replacing the rebound lever completely.

This shimming also had no impact on the double-action functioning either so 13A hammer pin 14 stirrup 19 mainspring 20 mainspring tension screw 21 crane lock screw 22 crane lock 26 trigger 26A trigger frame pin the revolver was able to operate just fine in single and double action.

The design of the revolver itself was mentioned previously as being poor, but the reason for that distinction is due to the fact that there are no cylinder lock notches milled in the cylinder nor is there a bolt and bolt spring—parts that are found in the "New" Navy Revolvers.

So without Colt 1889 Revolver (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 27 hand 28 hand spring 31 rebound lever 31A rebound lever pin 32 rebound lever spring 33 rebound lever spring pin 36 stock pin 39 grip this change in manufacturing, the original 1889 was prone to the cylinder spinning or turning when firing or carrying in a holster. This could lead to misfires or moving the cylinder over an empty chamber or an already-fired chamber.

Therefore, if you Sadly, no other parts list or schematic was located specific to the 1889. Parts are referenced here by number in the article. This parts view shows the bolt, bolt spring, and locking notches in the cylinder found on the redesigned New Navy model and not present on the original model of 1889. are looking for a good solid lockup on this revolver, look again as it does not lock up well due to the absence of the bolt and cylinder locking lugs or notches.

If you take one of these in for repairs, just let the customer know that parts are all but obsolete or extinct for this model and that a total re-work is all but out of the question due to the associated costs. But if you do take on the challenge, make your own parts (if you aren’t able to just find some) and realize whether using shop-made or original parts that you’ll have to hand fit them and that takes time.

It was a shame to see this old historical Colt in the condition it was in, especially since it appeared to have been originally nickel plated and along the way someone used a wire wheel to remove all of the finish. And poorly done I might add.

The good news here is that the revolver came to me with all original parts (with the exception of one of the two frame plate screws) and that alone can assist others with making parts or springs if/when needed as the accompanying photos should help with that if you run into one in need of them. This Colt reminds us that not all production guns were perfect from day one and demonstrates just how the upgrading or re-designing processes take place to eventually create a real workhorse or treasure.

My guess is that fielding a trial and error firearm in today’s world would be met with lawsuits so steep that a company would not even get off of the ground. But this old Colt was made 120 years ago and in a rather different time… AG