Old style cylinders with worn notches

[Doug.38PR]

For some of the older revolvers out there (pre war) that have cylinders that are hard (and expensive to come by) these days, is it possible to fill the notches with melted steel, cool them, then recut them?

[James K]

I have known some good welders, but I think that would be pretty hard to do without heating a larger area of the cylinder and destroying any heat treatment the cylinder has. Also, remember that the stop notches are the thinnest part of the cylinder wall, no place to go heating things up.

So, no, I don't know anyone who has tried that technique. But very often the steel from the notch is simply driven to the edge of the notch, leaving a sort of a turned up "lump" on the edge. In that case, what works, with care, is to lay a flat piece of steel on the cylinder, contacting that turned up edge, then tap it with a light hammer. That forces the turned up metal back into the notch and tightens it up some. (You can tap directly with the hammer, but using the steel keeps from having multiple dents from the hammer blows.) Of course, this is not a permanent fix, but it can help get a bit more life out of an old gun.

Jim

[Peter M. Eick]

I have only seen one in person, but I have read about it being done like this.

The smith machines a small cut into the cylinder where the metal is peened up and then solders in a hard piece of hemispherical steel to form a new impact point for the bolt to land.

I know that is a terrible description, but I saw it on an early triple lock frame that was beautifully refinished and it looked impressive.

[Doug.38PR]

was this by chance done by a smith in Houston?

[James K]

It was done by the factory; they made them that way for many years on the heavy duty revolvers. It could be done by a good gunsmith, but probably would not really be worth it.

Jim

[Peter M. Eick]

I would have guessed factory from the look of it, but I do not know. I am not really "up" on the triple locks, so maybe all of them had this feature but it sure was impressive to see. Jim obviously knows more about it then I do.

[James K]

That feature is so obscure it is practically unknown. S&W used hardened steel shims in the cylinder notches of some models from 1889, others from 1896. They were not soldered in, but simply press fitted into a cut deeper than the notch itself.

I erred in saying they were used on heavy duty models; they seem to have been used in almost all models, both the break tops and hand ejectors. Apparently they were discontinued about 1909, which would be right for the early triple lock (1908-1915). The work is so well done, that many collectors have never noticed them at all.

I can't find anything to indicate the reason for discontinuance, although cost was very likely the major factor. Around 1921, S&W began to heat treat their cylinders, which made such a refinement unnecessary.

The use of shims is covered by patent number 401,087, Apr. 9, 1889, by D. B. Wesson. The gun shown in the patent is the safety hammerless.

Some of this info is from the Neal and Jinks book, to which the reader is referred for more details.


Jim

[Peter M. Eick]

It was an early triple lock but it was so far out of my price range that I was very careful with it. I do remember thinking it was in the less then 100 serial number range.

It was in good to very good shape. Today if I saw it again, I would probably call home and buy it. I need a good 44.....


:)