Reader Forum

Making Revolver Cylinders I have a question that you may be able to help me with. I’ve been working on firearms since 1968, specializing in long guns and also working on handguns. I am a machinist by trade and have taken metallurgy. With that said, this is my question, is there any information available regarding the complete process of manufacturing revolver cylinders? I want to also take the time to say how much I appreciate the work that you and your organization do and provide. Thanks in advance.

If you’re thinking of something like a video, article, or book, no. But we’ve seen the operation several times. Ruger is the exception to what we’ve witnessed since they use the lost wax process to form a cylinder before finishing it on CNC machines.

Other manufacturers begin with around of high-quality gun steel, cut it to the proper length, drill it through for the chambers (taking care to leave a safe amount of material between chambers) then counterbore the back end of the chambers sufficiently to accept the rim of the cartridge case. Additional machining is performed to establish the ratchets, perhaps the most complex step in the fabrication.

The cylinder is then fitted to the revolver frame, blued if so desired, and the finished product test fired using proof rounds. Being a machinist, you would, of course, be able to turn out a cylinder’if you could get your hands on a set of blueprints. But there’s no way you could test it. Proof rounds are not available to anyone except manufacturers of firearms. Uberti Revolver Disassembly I have an A. Uberti Cattleman .44 Magnum single-action revolver in my shop.

I’m looking for disassembly instructions, but have been unable to locate anything in my library of books or on the internet. Can you recommend a place to find this? We understand a design/engineering change has been made in the newer production Cattleman. A coil spring and plunger installed through the rear of the frame have replaced the older leaf spring which was integral to the hand.

Other than this and its lack of a barrel/frame wedge, your revolver disassembles and reassembles just like the Single Action Army, instructions for which are undoubtedly in your library. Savage Model 420? I’m working an old 12-gauge over/ under in good condition. It has no markings of any kind except serial #17224. It’s plain-barreled, doubletrigger, extractor-only, and the top lever cocks the hammers. I think it might be a Savage 420. Do you know where I can get a schematic?

I think apart may be missing, since the top lever will not stay in the right-hand open position. Do you know what part accomplishes this? There’s an empty hole at the bottom inside of the

barrel recess, but I can’t figure out what, if anything, is missing. We seriously doubt that a schematic exists, but the first thing you should do is confirm the identity of the shotgun. Send a photo of it with an inquiry to the NRA Museum (Waples Mill Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030). Be sure to enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Shotgun Shell Disposal I was helping my father-in-law clean his house in preparation for sale when he approached me with a five-gallon bucket that was nearly full of old shotgun shells.

He offered me the shells, and I respectfully told him "thanks but no thanks," as most of them were corroded around the base of the shell and some even had corrosion around the primers. The question that comes to mind is two part: I assume the method of soaking the shells in kerosene, motor oil, WD-40, or Kroil mentioned in the March 98 issue ("Removing Live Rounds Safely") will suffice to neutralize the primers after a month or so.

After the soaking, is there away to safely recover the lead from the shells or should they be disposed of intact? The other question is more general. How old is too old for a shell to be considered safe to shoot? I obviously know that if the shell shows sign of corrosion or damage, it should be tossed. But for otherwise undamaged unpackaged shells it’s not so easy. I told my father-in-law that since no one knew how old these shells were, the safe thing would be to dispose of them. Any help will be appreciated.

At the least, the corrosion around the bases indicates poor storage conditions, as does the corroded primers’ which could themselves be corrosive and cause maintenance complexities if fired. It’s safe to assume that the integrity of the old shells has been breeched in one way or another. At least one consideration that must be made when this occurs is the nature of the powder charge, which sometimes results in a change in its original burning rate.

If there’s even a remote possibility the shells contain blackpowder, the danger increases to instability. Merely deactivating the primers would not eliminate the possibility of a detonation on impact. Personally, we’d make no attempt at reclamation. As for the useful, safe age of shotshells, there is no industry-wide standard. However, one major ammunition manufacturer tells us that 10 years is the safe limit. Some of their reasons include those stated above.

We agree that disposal is the best course after contacting your local law enforcement agency regarding the approved methodology. Winchester 1400 Cycling Problem I’m a newbie gunsmith trying to get started. I’ve got a problem with a Winchester 1400 Mk II. For one thing, I don’t understand why it’s built the way it is, and therein lies the problem. It will not cycle when fired. All functions work according to plan as long as I cycle it manually.

It will feed, eject, and fire’no problem, just so long as I work the bolt myself. On a gas-operated system, I suppose things should work a little better. On close observation of the system, I don’t see how the system itself can work. When the shotgun is fired, the gas does go down into the cylinder via the two port holes in the barrel. But then, there are three strikes against it in order for it to complete its job.

First, the magazine tube/gas cylinder cap has a spring-loaded gas escape mechanism to release gas when the cylinder is under pressure. Second, the piston can only travel about one inch before the cylinder opens up to allow gas to escape, due to how the action bar is connected to the piston. Third, the forearm has two ports right above the place where the cylinder opens up, which allow gas to escape straight upward after one inch of travel of the piston.

So, as I see it, I’m only getting one inch of pressure on the piston, but that’s only when the cap doesn’t release pressure as it comes in. The spring that the piston is working against is rather stout, but must be so in order to cycle the bolt all the way back into the lock position, ready for the next shot. So, I cannot shorten the spring or take out some of its temper, as that would be shooting myself in the other foot.

I did a test by blocking the ports on the cap, not allowing the spring-loaded valve to open under pressure, as I knew that there was plenty of release of pressure everywhere else, and I was not going to be in danger. When I fired once with that in place, the shotgun almost cycled completely.

The ejection was thwarted and the spent shell was stuck in the ejection port, holding the bolt back, while the next shell was patiently waiting underneath as it was supposed to be doing, ready to be lifted up and shoved into the chamber. After that, I figured something had to change with all those pressure releases, and so I’m writing you to see if you can help me out here. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

If there was ever anything fundamentally wrong with the Model 1400 and its variants it was that they were not designed to fire 2-3/4-inch and 3-inch shotshells interchangeably. Such was the nature of the gas system. More propellant gases were generated by the longer Magnum shells. Therefore, the orifices in Magnum barrels were smaller than those in the non-Magnum barrels. The gas bled off through these orifices and entered the gas piston.

This forced it to the rear along with the bolt to achieve extraction, ejection, allow the next shell to exit the mag tube and impact the carrier release. This allowed the carrier to raise it for chambering by the bolt as it moved forward under pressure from the recoil spring to reset the firing mechanism, return to battery, and

(continued from previous page) ready the shotgun for discharge when the trigger was again pulled. If a Magnum shell was set off in a non-Magnum barrel, too much gas was bled off, the gas system was overcharged, and the shotgun frequently short cycled. Conversely, when a non- Magnum shell was discharged in a Magnum barrel, insufficient gas might be bled off to fully function the gun.

However, far more prevalent than these examples are clogged barrel orifices. (Seldom if ever are the openings in the gas cylinder cap blocked due to their large diameters.) When you attempted to obstruct the gas-cylinder holes, you didn’t seal them off completely. Some propellant gas got through or the shotgun wouldn’t have "almost" cycled. Check those barrel orifices. If they’re clogged or partially clogged, don’t try and clean them out with a drill bit.

A straightened-out paper clip, perhaps followed by a pipe cleaner dipped in solvent will do very nicely. As a general rule in your gunsmithing career, the first thing to suspect when a gas-operated shotgun malfunctions is the firearm’s mortal enemy’d irt. S&W Model 66 Trigger I have a Smith & Wesson Model 66 that has me baffled. This gun is my brother’s, owned since 1977, and shot very little. In the 70s, I had a FFL and was able to pick up some combat hammers and triggers from S&W.

The old-style wide combat hammer and triggers were steel. I had Rebel Refinishers nickel plate these parts to match the stainless-steel revolver and back then they did a great job. The problem with the gun was the ultralight trigger. I mean about 6 ounces, if that! I have stripped and cleaned the parts. I lightly bead-blasted the entire gun for a velvet-hone finish. I installed anew mainspring and 14pound rebound spring from Wilson. Every thing seemed perfect’except it still has the 6-ounce trigger.

After careful detailed inspection of the hammer and trigger, I can see the most minute chipping of the nickel finish at the exact contact point of the hand and sear. There’s no other deterioration of the finish anywhere. I don’t own a Ron Powers stoning fixture (yet), but would like your resolution to fix this hammer-trigger combo. I don’t want to change the hammer and trigger. Send help…please! With the possible exception of an overly heavy hand spring, the hand has little to no effect on trigger pull.

So run this check: Cock the gun to its single-action position and place your thumb behind the hammer. After re- Technical Assistance Hotline To access AGA’s Technical-Assistance Hotline, call between 1 and 3 p.m. ET, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday once at all dan email to Chick Blood, Technical Editor, at moving your finger from the trigger, push forward on the hammer (no more than 6 pounds of force). If the hammer falls, you have "push-off"; in other words, poor engagement between the hammer and trigger.

In that case you will either have to recut the engagement angles according to the instructions for increasing trigger pull that come with the Powers fixture, or you’ll have to purchase and install anew trigger and hammer. Split Savage Rifle Barrel I’m fairly new to gunsmithing and have had what I calla "major" repair come in. It’s a Savage bolt-action in 7mm Magnum. The customer couldn’t sight it in and wanted me to take a look.

What I saw was a 1/2-inch crack starting at the muzzle and running more or less straight down the barrel. The gun is well out of warranty. I’m planning to cut the barrel off and recrown it to fix the problem and need all the input I can get. I do not have a lathe but have access to one. Is there a suitable tool for cutting the barrel off other than a lathe? Any input would be greatly appreciated. We’re assuming you mean the crack extends 1/2 inch in from the end of the barrel.

If that’s the case, cutting off an inch is okay. For the actual cutting, a lathe and parting tool will give you a dead-on true cut. We’ve also heard of gunsmiths who’ve gotten good results using a metal cutoff wheel in a chop saw or a metal-cutting bandsaw. Going at the job free hand with a hack saw seldom if ever results in a true cut. However the shortening is done, the new muzzle should be recrowned and finished off by burnishing with a brass ball.