[Doc Hoy]

Oquirrh,

I have a brass frame with the same problem. I think it happened as a result of a chain fire incident.

I have been trying unsuccessfully to get hold of a steel frame or a good condition brass frame to fix this pistol. Having failed, my plan is to carefully drill down through the frame and arbor with the arbor in place. I will thread the drilled hole and then counterbore the first 1.8th inch of the hole to accept a screw that I have identified for the fix. I will then tighten the screw into the newly made hole.

I will establish the position of the arbor by assembling the pistol including the frame, arbor, cylinder, barrel and wedge. All other parts will be removed. I am presently making a jig to hold the pistol for the drilling operation. Before I commence the drilling operation, I will make sure that the assembly is correct by checking the interaction of the barrel, frame and cylinder.

I am going to do this operation on a milling machine rather than a drill press because even though my drill press is a very good one, (double overhead cam, four on the floor, dual exhaust...) I am not confident it is solid enough to maintain a perfect location without the bit wandering all over the south forty.

This is my plan for this brass frame Sheriff's model. I consider this pistol, as it is, to be worth only what the parts would fetch. So I don't mind tearing it up. Of course I will try not to do that, but I engage this activity knowing that the most important thing I am going to get out of it is not a fixed pistol, but the knowledge I will gain by doing the deed. If you do this to your pistol and it wrecks the pistol, I never told you anything about it.