It's amazing what a hammer can do.

Andy Griffith · April 11, 2012, 11:42 AM

I picked up another used but unfired Pietta 1860 last week- it had been actioned some though.
The hammer was hitting the side of the frame and the bolt was popping up far too early, so I went to work.

I polished the frame and got rid of the burrs that the hammer made where it was catching and that alleviated that problem. I defarbed the hammer, but it still slightly rubed the side of the frame, but nowhere as badly. I took everything out of the action and smoothed everything, and looked at the bolt, checked the width of it against the stop notches- which it was correctly fitted from the factory (suprisingly) and looked at the legs and they looked a bit short, and thought that was the problem.

I took it out, and dropped in another unfitted bolt with longer legs just to see if it helped the problem, which it didn't.

I took out the hammer, which I looked at earlier and it had no appreciable wear on the cam, but it seemed that the cam was not sticking out from the hammer as far as it should, and a smidgen higher than it should be. For grins I slapped another hammer in there and viola- it timed perfectly with the original bolt. I then inspected the hammer and put a straight edge on it- indeed it was cast with a .015 bow in it.

I have never encountered a mis-cast hammer before, but now I know something else to verify if all else fails.

emishi · April 11, 2012, 01:24 PM

It's amazing what slips by the inspectors. I picked up a steel framed Pietta 1851 about 3 years ago off of Gun Broker for $140.00. (One of those fortunate deals.) Weapon looked unfired when I inspected it. Darn loading lever kept dropping out of the catch as it was being handled (probably why the pistol was being sold). Looking at the alignment of the catch and loading lever, everything looked perfect.

Dismantling the loading lever and carefully inspecting the parts showed the culprit to be the plunger itself. Would you believe it was slightly bent where the flat machined area met the cylindrical portion of the plunger, just ahead of the screw slot? New plunger for a couple of bucks and I had a brand new Pietta for about $145.00 when Taylors was selling them for around 245.00.

sandman_nv · April 11, 2012, 10:43 PM

Great detective work there, Andy.

zippy13 · April 12, 2012, 12:04 PM

Quote:

it was cast with a .015 bow in it

Perhaps the Robin Hood model

**4V50 Gary** · April 13, 2012, 07:32 AM

Investment casted object that warped when cooling. Sharp eye, sharp mind.

April 11, 2012, 11:42 AM	#1
Andy Griffith Senior Member Join Date: May 14, 2009 Location: Macon Co. NC Posts: 591	It's amazing what a hammer can do. I picked up another used but unfired Pietta 1860 last week- it had been actioned some though. The hammer was hitting the side of the frame and the bolt was popping up far too early, so I went to work. I polished the frame and got rid of the burrs that the hammer made where it was catching and that alleviated that problem. I defarbed the hammer, but it still slightly rubed the side of the frame, but nowhere as badly. I took everything out of the action and smoothed everything, and looked at the bolt, checked the width of it against the stop notches- which it was correctly fitted from the factory (suprisingly) and looked at the legs and they looked a bit short, and thought that was the problem. I took it out, and dropped in another unfitted bolt with longer legs just to see if it helped the problem, which it didn't. I took out the hammer, which I looked at earlier and it had no appreciable wear on the cam, but it seemed that the cam was not sticking out from the hammer as far as it should, and a smidgen higher than it should be. For grins I slapped another hammer in there and viola- it timed perfectly with the original bolt. I then inspected the hammer and put a straight edge on it- indeed it was cast with a .015 bow in it. I have never encountered a mis-cast hammer before, but now I know something else to verify if all else fails. __________________ Barney Fife: "Nip it, nip it, nip it!" Andy Griffith:"Oh now Barn'...."

April 11, 2012, 01:24 PM	#2
emishi Member Join Date: November 9, 2008 Location: South Carolina Posts: 36	Poor Inspections It's amazing what slips by the inspectors. I picked up a steel framed Pietta 1851 about 3 years ago off of Gun Broker for $140.00. (One of those fortunate deals.) Weapon looked unfired when I inspected it. Darn loading lever kept dropping out of the catch as it was being handled (probably why the pistol was being sold). Looking at the alignment of the catch and loading lever, everything looked perfect. Dismantling the loading lever and carefully inspecting the parts showed the culprit to be the plunger itself. Would you believe it was slightly bent where the flat machined area met the cylindrical portion of the plunger, just ahead of the screw slot? New plunger for a couple of bucks and I had a brand new Pietta for about $145.00 when Taylors was selling them for around 245.00.

April 13, 2012, 07:32 AM	#5
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,838	Investment casted object that warped when cooling. Sharp eye, sharp mind. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

April 11, 2012, 10:43 PM	#3
sandman_nv Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2012 Posts: 108	Great detective work there, Andy.