Slicking up cap and ball actions

[Ark]

I'm using these videos as a template for some of the steps I'm trying to do, but I'd like help or input from anyone else who has worked on this type of gun:







I have a brass frame Pietta 1851 Navy and a Pietta 1858 Army that I'm looking to both smooth up the cocking and cylinder action on and, hopefully, decrease the felt weight of the cocking. The 1851 is new but the 1858 has had some rounds through it. The 1858 has a particularly heavy and gritty cocking action, possibly due to the fact that at one point it was cleaned improperly and allowed to rust so bad I had to beat the cylinder rod out and brush/steel wool all the rust away. I know that heavier hammer falls are required to set off caps reliably, but I'd still like to not have to break my grip or use my off hand to cock it.

Currently I'm planning to pick up some diamond hones and a needle file and do the following:

-Lightly deburr the wedge channel
-Smooth the inside of the arbor/pin channel on the cylinder
-Deburr and smooth out the hammer face to minimize cap sucking
-Deburr the smooth the two insides of the frame to reduce friction and remove any machining marks, probably finish with 600 or 1000 grit wet sandpaper
-Deburr the pin channel in the hammer, wrap some 1000 grit around a drill bit and wet sand the inside of the channel to smooth it
-Lightly wet sand the sides of the hammer and hand, then hit those same surfaces with a dremel polishing wheel and very mild compound to make them as close to mirror smooth as I can
-Smooth out the pins that the hammer, hand, and bolt ride on, using the strip of sandpaper technique in the third video

For the time being I'm not looking to modify the main springs, just try to wipe out any friction or grittiness that is contributing to a heavier cocking weight.

Are there any other spots I'm missing or things I should look out for? These guns are pretty simple, I only count about a dozen metal-to-metal movement points that need to be deburred and made as smooth as possible.

 

[Leadeye]

I've done a little of this on BP cartridge guns, it helped until the fouling slowed things down.

 

[BigRed]

I still love these old model cap and ball revolvers.

 

[Ark]

I've done a little of this on BP cartridge guns, it helped until the fouling slowed things down.

True, after two or three cylinders everything turns to gunk either way.

It's something I discovered about the "Pale Rider" reload on the 1858 Remington: Fire two cylinders and that pin has to be tapped out with a tool, so you can forget about hot-swapping your cylinder.

 

[Ark]

Might as well post some sauce...

So I went down my little checklist and did everything. Deburred the inside of the frame and wet sanded it, then focused primarily on the sides of the hammer, hand, and bolt where they have to slide against other metal parts. On the 1858, that hammer must be punched out of a piece of stock because filing revealed it to be "dished" on one side. The edges were raised above the middle and had to be filed a fair amount to see the finish in the middle begin to wear down. Very little had to be done on the hand. The bolt seemed to have been polished on one side at the factory, but not the other.

Internal fit and finish on the 1851 was nicer, despite both being made by the same company.

I applied slight filing, then 600 grit wet sanding, and finally the fabric Dremel polishing wheel with some compound. I worked the target areas until they had that smooth, "soapy" feel. The springs were left untouched.

Final result is indeed a much smoother and slightly lighter cocking action. The only headscratcher is that the 1858's cylinder spins like it's on ball bearings at half cock, with only the faintest click sound from the hand running over the notches. This seems to be a combination of design difference from the 1851, and a function of the fact that I also smoothed the cylinder pin and channel (which already had material removed in the past from fixing rust). Lockup is tight and there's no timing issues even with drag placed on the cylinder.

Overall it was pretty easy. They're very simple guns with relatively large and easy-to-handle parts. I don't think I'm going to crack open my DA revolvers and do this, but it's a very accessible project for a new person working on these cheapie repro revolvers.

 

[warren5421]

Try this:

https://www.cascity.com/pdf/Tuning_the_Pietta_Part_One.pdf

https://www.cascity.com/pdf/Tuning_the_Pietta_Part_Two.pdf