|
Don't mess with the stud on the hammer except to flatten it a bit to remove the excess height that causes the bolt to flex too much. (The hammer is an expensive part. The golden rule is always mess with the cheaper part.)
The bolt should slip off the front of the stud, not the side, and taking a bit (carefully) off the back of the bolt end will let it slip earlier. You want the bolt to drop into the leade of the cylinder stop cuts, not halfway between them. Then trim the side of the double spring that operates the bolt down until the bolt does not dent the cylinder. (Most of those springs are way too strong.) Leave the trigger spring side alone.
As I said, the bolt should stop the cylinder regardless of the hand, but if the hand is still trying to turn the cylinder when the bolt stops it, the chances of both hand and bolt being damaged is great.
This is tricky. But here is what should happen, all at almost the same time: The bolt should drop onto the leade. The hand should continue to turn the cylinder just enough to let the bolt drop into the notch. The trigger should drop into the full cock notch of the hammer. The hammer should stop on the backstrap, so no more force is applied to the internal parts.
If all this is in time, the strain on parts is minimal, and the gun will work perfectly for a long time. If it is not right, there will be a deep gouge in the cylinder, the bolt will break or bend, and the hand and ratchet will wear rapidly.
All of this involves a lot of "cut and try", with the high probability of ruined parts, which is why that sort of work is very expensive if done properly. If someone says he can tune a single action in a few minutes or for a few dollars, he is darned good. Whether he is good as a gunsmith or as a liar will be determined by his work.
Jim
|