|
Shot a brass Remington 44 for a lot of years (about 30). Wasn't shooting it every week or even every month, but it got a good amount ofuse every year. No real complaints about it...like all repros, steel or brass, it would break the occasional trigger/bolt spring.
A couple of years ago, noticed the cylinder has a bit more endshake (fore and aft movement). The frame wasn't stretched, but the cylinder rotation had worn the fame a bit at the point of contact....proabably had happen sooner because of the brass.
Went to the auto-parts store and bought a set of cheap feeler guages...the kind that fold out like a multi-blade jack knife. Finding the right sized one to take all the slack out of the system, stripped the frame, cleaned the area, polished it flat, made a little bushing from the feeler guage, and soldered it in place. Something like .005", which took all the shake out of the cylinder and kept the barrel cylinder gap at a reasonable .006".
(BTW: feeler guges make good shim stock for lots of other projects...if you see a set on a bargan tool table, pick them up.)
Wasn 't frame stretch...was just wear of the revolving steel cylinder on a brass frame...but the gun still functioned and shot well, it let the cylinder move a bit forwards and that let the cylinder face drag on the barrel breech...which really limited the amount of fouling it tolerated.
Put back to the fit it had when new, would expect it to be shooting for another 30 years.
|