Diagnose that colt #2!

I was going over a m357 I'd tuned for my dad, correcting some issues. I replaced the rear sight with one of the very nice kensights (clone of the elliason) available from brownells and, since the sight was off, just to be thorough I went to take off the firing pin plate to clean out the recess.

As my dad watched, I had an incredibly hard time getting the firing pin plate off. And then it was just about impossible to get it back on.

This, of course, should never happen. A child with a punch can get the plate off and on --- there's really nothing tricky, nothing to go wrong. If you see anyone having a hard time with it, they really must not know what they are doing.

When I took the pin and spring out the plate would go in w/o any issue.

Any guesses for what the deal was? It was kind of amusing. Kuhnhausen has a warning about such things, but I always skip it thinking "irrelevant information."
One of the other issues was that when reblueing, the person couldn't be bothered to take the bolt off, and essentially sheared the end down to a flat with the buffer. This seemed to cause it to come loose under fire.



So, after having all the difficulty, it eventually dawned on me that the only real reason it could be hard to get in w/ the firing pin in place but not without it removed was that the spring must not be compressing enough. Well how could that be? Oh, did they ... ? Yes they did!

Answer below after a few line feeds :)

















Here's a stock firing pin spring and bolt screw on the left, and the spring we have in place and the sheared bolt screw on the right:

(Sort of) making a longer python firing pin

I've seen various references to longer firing pins, titanium firing pins, and otherwise weirdo modifications. It always seemed pretty exotic and not something you'd ever run into in real life, but it turns out that making such things is actually fairly simple.

I just got an Emco (not Enco! It's Austrian, not Chinese) Compact 5 bench lathe on ebay, so this seemed like a good project to try.

It's right before bed, so results were "OK", but presumably with a bit more focus they will turn out the way they should.

One great result is that the compact 5 is a fantastic lathe. It must weigh less than 80 lbs, but despite not being anchored to anything (yet) and not being leveled (yet) or any of the things a reasonable adult would do, if I cranked the RPMs high and used carbide it would cut the metal I have like butter even on fairly heavy cuts. This thing is awesome. I think I can actually bore out cylinders on it; it's certainly possible to make the bushings that fix endshake.

Here's the lathe, with the steel rod, a carbide cutter, a poor man's digital readout (which I took off) and an A2Z quick change tool holder which I have mixed feelings about:

Forensic photos: Cylinder and Slide python

I bought a CR-B ($312) and CR-C ($466) package from C&S so I could see how they work on things. The CR-C is their premier colt package; I got it done for an SS python. This post is to dissect the work they did. As they describe it:

CR-C - Colt Revolver - Package CR-C

Colt Python, Diamondback, Detective Special, SF-VII, DS-II Revolver Super Tune Up. Customer Must Specify Whether this Weapon is for Duty/Carry or Target Use Only.

Super Action Job on Python, Diamondback, Detective Special, SF-VI or DS-II
Chamfer Cylinder Mouths and Polish Chamber - 38/357 and 44

The following items will be checked and corrected as necessary: Crane and ejector rod straightness, barrel to cylinder chamber alignment, barrel turned up square with frame, barrel forcing cone square, re-cut forcing cone as needed, barrel muzzle crown

Test Fire for Function and Adjust Sights for Zero at 15 Yds.

Return Shipping and Insurance - Will be Arranged with Customer at Time of Shipment.

They did a couple of very interesting things I hadn't seen before. And they did one very surprising thing I had seen before but didn't realize was still being used (hint: "Austin Behlert" action job).

Unfortunately, despite the novelty, the end result --- how the DA actually feels --- was not worth the money. The SS python feels better than stock, but no where near as good as the colts I have that were done by Frank Glenn or Reeves Jungkind (or even me!). It sounds like there has been a change in personal, since other people have had excellent results w/ C&S previously.

As on additional warning, they corrected the barrel cylinder gap on both guns, but did not clear it with me first. The total bill was over $1200!

In any case, let's get to it.

Here's the SS with it's clothes on:

Another vote for outers (or a DIY equivalant)

This has been gone over numerous times, but in the spirit of repetition, here's another vote for outers (or an equivalent) foul out electronic bore


For those of you that are industrious and don't want to pay $109 or so, here's what seem to be a reasonable set of instructions for how to make your own (flashlight not included):
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/copperout/index.asp

I started w/ two colts that I cleaned completely. I used a brass brush with lead out and hoppes, then patches, etc. I then degreased them and ran them through Foul Out. Out came a bunch of black gunk, despite the many passes w/ the brass brush. This has happened pretty much each time I've used it. Seems worth doing, sometimes. It's kind of a hassle, but life is tough.

Here's a 2.5 python strapped in with outer's rod inserted + solution:

Diagnose that colt #1!

A pretty common question goes along the lines of: "my hammer won't cock back when I pull the trigger, what's the problem?"

It was only a matter of time, but it happened to me. In this case on an m357 that I had tuned for my dad. Fortunately it only happened when I checked it after getting home so he's none the wiser.

So: any guesses for what went wrong here? (For what it's worth, I got it wrong.)

Here's a photo showing the maximum distance the hammer can be cocked:


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very useful lathe tips

http://www.lathes.co.uk/page13.html

Damaged Emco V13 engine lathe

[UPDATE: I spent 4 days over thanksgiving going over it, fixed just about everything (yea!) other than the bent leadscrew: new handles, replacing snap rings, etc. Given the lathe's location against a wall it's hard to remove the leadscrew from the machine so I can straighten it. Maybe next holiday.]

Photos of a Emco V13 engine lathe I received damaged by shipping on Friday. Looks like someone doesn't know how to handle their forklift.

In the shrink wrap, speed knob, crosslide knob, plexiglass and lateral wheel broken:

looking for a spindle for a hardinge cataract toolroom lathe

I recently picked up a hardinge QC lathe. I finally got the time to use it today, but after a few cuts, the chucks wouldn't go on anymore. Looking closely at the spindle it seems there is a crack running the entire distance.

It seems like the spindle is cracked since this is a weird way to design something so important. If anyone w/ a hardinge QC toolroom could check theirs I'd appreciate it.

I'm also looking for backgears if anyone has them.