The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - I'm gonna shoot this here brasser, safe load?

Doc Hoy · January 7, 2013, 10:50 AM

What we are really talking about is changes in the individual revolvers which in the opinion of the shooter make the revolver less than optimal for one reason or another. These changes would be the result of shooting the revolver with loads that are above what would be prudent. Other things may contribute to the changes as well. This is my own interpretation and others may disagree.

But those changes might include:

Dents in the recoil ring of a Colt revolver as we have all witnessed.
The damage to the recoil shield of a Remington like that in Hawg's photo.
Loose arbors in Colts
Elongation of the top and bottom member of the frame in a Remington. (Never witnessed and perhaps never occurring)

The effects of these changes are both cosmetic and operational. But in the end, the shooter gets to determine what is okay and what is not okay.

I did a little reading on sheer and tensile strength as applied to these revolvers and after the reading and a little cursory calculation, I THINK I have arrived at the conclusion that the frame of a Remington Brass revolver will fail at a pull of about 1.5 times what it takes to make the threads on a Colt arbor to fail. Please understand that I am not citing this as evidence that Remingtons are stronger than Colts in a practical sense because we are not stressing our revolvers in such a way that they fly apart into two pieces because of the loads we use. I am merely stating my supposition that the force vectors are similar.

FURTHER

That calculation is very general and involves many assumptions and therefore could be terribly wrong in either direction.

I can say this: In an engineering treatise I read that it is recommended that the thread engagement length should be at least the same as or longer than the major diameter of the threads. I have four arbors from Colts in my parts box and I can say that none of them have a thread engagement length that is equal to the major diameter of the threads. They are all roughly 75% of the minimum recommended length. This is a function of the geometry of the revolver. Even this fact alone does not make Remington frames stronger than Colt frames.

I just think they are.

January 7, 2013, 10:50 AM	#14
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	There is yet another consideration which may be more pertinent... What we are really talking about is changes in the individual revolvers which in the opinion of the shooter make the revolver less than optimal for one reason or another. These changes would be the result of shooting the revolver with loads that are above what would be prudent. Other things may contribute to the changes as well. This is my own interpretation and others may disagree. But those changes might include: Dents in the recoil ring of a Colt revolver as we have all witnessed. The damage to the recoil shield of a Remington like that in Hawg's photo. Loose arbors in Colts Elongation of the top and bottom member of the frame in a Remington. (Never witnessed and perhaps never occurring) The effects of these changes are both cosmetic and operational. But in the end, the shooter gets to determine what is okay and what is not okay. I did a little reading on sheer and tensile strength as applied to these revolvers and after the reading and a little cursory calculation, I THINK I have arrived at the conclusion that the frame of a Remington Brass revolver will fail at a pull of about 1.5 times what it takes to make the threads on a Colt arbor to fail. Please understand that I am not citing this as evidence that Remingtons are stronger than Colts in a practical sense because we are not stressing our revolvers in such a way that they fly apart into two pieces because of the loads we use. I am merely stating my supposition that the force vectors are similar. FURTHER That calculation is very general and involves many assumptions and therefore could be terribly wrong in either direction. I can say this: In an engineering treatise I read that it is recommended that the thread engagement length should be at least the same as or longer than the major diameter of the threads. I have four arbors from Colts in my parts box and I can say that none of them have a thread engagement length that is equal to the major diameter of the threads. They are all roughly 75% of the minimum recommended length. This is a function of the geometry of the revolver. Even this fact alone does not make Remington frames stronger than Colt frames. I just think they are. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath. Last edited by Doc Hoy; January 7, 2013 at 10:58 AM.