Sweeney
NES Member
Picked up an abused child thinking I could save it.
Bad; The trigger sear surface was broken off. The hammer sear surfaces were pretty mangled. The trigger and bolt pivots/screws are worn and bent. It has a
replacement barrel wedge (not that "bad" actually)... The hand appears to have been made from scrap metal using a farrier's rasp ...poorly. Percussion cap nipples are heavily corroded and not wanting to leave their anchorage. The trigger guard had been badly distorted (already 'mostly corrected in the photo) with the front of the hoop bent back towards the trigger. I think the grip had been sanded at some point as there was some sort of finish applied and there's no cartouche visible. I used cabinet scrapers to get to the wood then lightly oiled with BLO. The barrel is also quite loose.
Good; 1863 production date with matching barrel, frame, trigger guard, cylinder and back strap. Still has some bluing! Some of the cylinder engraving is still present. The bore will take some work but all of that delightfully, progressive rifling is present. The forcing cone needs some work so I'll need to make some sort of tool to address that.
Soooo... I found NOS replacement parts from many moons ago and set about fitting them. The hammer needed a little touching up of the sear surfaces and the bolt engagement 'cam'. There was no NOS hand or bolt (needed to interact with the new hammer) so I got replicas from one of the Italian copies (Pietta I believe) and drilled, filed, ground, machined a new pivot pin etc. to get the action timed. The trigger needed a lot as well. To fit the trigger I need a new trigger screw/axle so machined one to stand in while I have NOS Colt hammer and bolt screws on the way.
I have a NOS replacement cylinder (no sea battle) and I'm waiting for new nipples to arrive. I got the timing to work with both cylinders and I'm trying to decide If I want to drill out and replace the original nipples or leave them and use the original cylinder for display only. To tighten the barrel I'm going to make an oversized wedge. I shimmed it with a strip of copper for fondling purposes.
As it sits now... It will be a shooter.
Bad; The trigger sear surface was broken off. The hammer sear surfaces were pretty mangled. The trigger and bolt pivots/screws are worn and bent. It has a
replacement barrel wedge (not that "bad" actually)... The hand appears to have been made from scrap metal using a farrier's rasp ...poorly. Percussion cap nipples are heavily corroded and not wanting to leave their anchorage. The trigger guard had been badly distorted (already 'mostly corrected in the photo) with the front of the hoop bent back towards the trigger. I think the grip had been sanded at some point as there was some sort of finish applied and there's no cartouche visible. I used cabinet scrapers to get to the wood then lightly oiled with BLO. The barrel is also quite loose.
Good; 1863 production date with matching barrel, frame, trigger guard, cylinder and back strap. Still has some bluing! Some of the cylinder engraving is still present. The bore will take some work but all of that delightfully, progressive rifling is present. The forcing cone needs some work so I'll need to make some sort of tool to address that.
Soooo... I found NOS replacement parts from many moons ago and set about fitting them. The hammer needed a little touching up of the sear surfaces and the bolt engagement 'cam'. There was no NOS hand or bolt (needed to interact with the new hammer) so I got replicas from one of the Italian copies (Pietta I believe) and drilled, filed, ground, machined a new pivot pin etc. to get the action timed. The trigger needed a lot as well. To fit the trigger I need a new trigger screw/axle so machined one to stand in while I have NOS Colt hammer and bolt screws on the way.
I have a NOS replacement cylinder (no sea battle) and I'm waiting for new nipples to arrive. I got the timing to work with both cylinders and I'm trying to decide If I want to drill out and replace the original nipples or leave them and use the original cylinder for display only. To tighten the barrel I'm going to make an oversized wedge. I shimmed it with a strip of copper for fondling purposes.
As it sits now... It will be a shooter.
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![[dance]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/033.gif "Dance [dance]")
As always, Sweeney brings the recoil and does not disappoint. Once I find the “good day for the range” or something thread, I’ll post some stuff there.
