another wedge issue

[J.G.Watson]

Hi all, first post here, glad to be aboard! After reading a lot about pietta's wedges, I thought I bring in my problem with my .44 brasser.
Never fired this gun, BG is 0.20mm, timing is spot on, except the wedge goes in too deep. There are no signs of wear, arbor is botoming where it should be.

Like I said, I've read a lot about to solv this problem, from welding up the arbor inside ect. but not for a guntinkerer like me.
This brings me to my question, I've read somwhere that uberti wedges are bigger (wider) then Pieattas. Can someone confirm this, because a new Pietta wedge did not work either (same dept)

Again, nice to be here! Lot's of stuff to read for the newbie BP shooter.

Thanks for reading! John

[Hawg]

On a new gun the wedge should be a little past flush on the off side however it does not have to be. As long as it's a good solid fit you're good to go. If the barrel assembly can move with the wedge installed then it's time to change it.

[J.G.Watson]

Hi Hawg,

The wedge rides against the wedge screw and if you grap the pistol and barrel you can feel a tiny bit of movement between frame and barrel, that scares me of to shoot it
John

[AKexpat]

Hi all, first post here, glad to be aboard! After reading a lot about pietta's wedges, I thought I bring in my problem with my .44 brasser.
Never fired this gun, BC is 0.20mm, timing is spot on, except the wedge goes in too deep. There are no signs of wear, arbor is botoming where it should be.

Like I said, I've read a lot about to solv this problem, from welding up the arbor inside ect. but not for a guntinkerer like me.
This brings me to my question, I've read somwhere that uberti wedges are bigger (wider) then Pieattas. Can someone confirm this, because a new Pietta wedge did not work either (same dept)

Again, nice to be here! Lot's of stuff to read for the newbie BP shooter.

Thanks for reading! John

I probably won't be the last to respond to your post.

To respond, we need to know what the manufacturer of the pistol is, date code on the right side of the frame, and so forth. There is no such thing as the wedge going in "too deep". The only job the wedge does is keep the barrel on the pistol. I assume your "BC" term refers to the barrel/cylinder gap. The arbor (cylinder pin) must seat squarely into the barrel lug recess to determine the gap. If you are of the opinion that the wedge can adjust this, frankly, you are wrong, especially with a .44 brasser, and if you fire hot loads with that brasser you will encounter recoil shield setback very soon, and you won't have to worry about the wedge, and you will have to worry about replacing the frame with a steel one, or getting a new pistol and salvaging the usable parts from the brasser.

If you have a Pietta wedge on a Pietta pistol, you are probably good to go.

You have other problems, IMO, especially the mention of the wiggle. You might want to check if the arbor has a bit of wiggle at the recoil shield end. If so, it has probably been shot with larger powder loads than it was designed for.

I have one 1851 Navy type brasser pistol (Pietta G&G .36) and I do not plan to shoot it. Just a play toy, for display only, and a parts supply to create other replica 1851 type Confederate pistols like the Schneider and Glassick and the Leech and Rigdon.

Good luck,

Jim

[44 Dave]

A proven wedge repair is to drill and tap the end of the arbor 1/4x28 (or something in mm.s) for a flattened set screw that is short enough not to stick out the barrel end. After some shooting to "set it' you can use a little Lock tight if you want to.
I have 3 pistols with this repair, never have to buy another wedge!

[J.G.Watson]

Thanks for responding Jim,

It's a Pietta .44 brasser (CFT44) brandnew, code says 2016, never been fired, I bought it new.

Got a new wedge under warranty, but the same issue, it sits too deep. Even with the wedge screw removed, u can push it completely in.

John

[AKexpat]

Well, John, I am still concerned about the "wiggle". If it is a new pistol it should not have any of that. I don't know what you term as "it seats too deep".

The sole purpose of the wedge is to hold the barrel to the frame. If the wedge protrudes past the barrel lug on the right side, you are good to go. That is what the wedge spring is for. As you say it is a Pietta, they don't have short arbors like the Uberti pistols. That is when one needs to go with lengthening the arbor to securely seat the arbor into the barrel lug recess.

What is your barrel/cylinder gap with the pistol assembled? Hopefully it is about .002" or less. BP causes much fouling in that area and the tighter the gap the better you will be, so as the cylinder will rotate more easily between shots before having to clean it.

Do you have a picture of the right side of the pistol you can post with the wedge in place?

[J.G.Watson]

Uploading soes not seem to work?

[AKexpat]

I post pics using Photobucket. Easy squeasy and I have no problems. If you use that site, when you have posted a pic there, just pull it up on their site, copy the img, and paste it to your post on this or any other site.

Good luck!

Jim

[J.G.Watson]

pietta44.jpg wedgeR.jpg

This is the left side, the wedge touches the wedge screw. Won't go in any further

[Hawg]

I post pics using Photobucket.

I do too and for some reason pb pics aren't posting here. You can right click the square and open it in a new tab but the pics won't post anymore. They work fine everywhere else so it's a forum issue.

[Hawg]

It looks like the slot in the barrel has been peened wider so I doubt a wider wedge will fix it.

[44 Dave]

If you send it to Mike it will come back with the set screw, to bad it is a never used gun. I also think I can see that the wedge screw is not tight against the barrel (you said even with the screw out it is still lose). The Pietta I got recently didn't have those threads cut all of the way either, I thought it was a one off screw up on their part but I guess not.

[45 Dragoon]

You're right Dave! Lol!

J.G., if the arbor is loose in the frame, you need to fix that first. If it isn't (or you fixed it), it just may be a way out of spec. revolver. No sweat, do what Dave said earlier. Install a set screw in the end of the arbor to give the wedge you have, something to bear against. This way you'll never need another wedge! Just make sure the set screw doesn't stick out past the end of the arbor. Also, I'd fix that wedge screw so it will sit flat against the barrel. You can counter sink the hole or remove non-threaded material where the screw body meets the screw head (that's the one I do).

Oh yeah, the set screw should be 1/4" -28. That's as big as the surface that available in stock form on Piettas. Grind and polish the the end flush.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

[g.willikers]

Repeat three times,
Remingtons are for shooting,
Brass Colts are for display.
Remingtons are for shooting.......

Revolvers (including modern ones) often have a bit of wiggle in them here and there.
There's probably no need to fear shooting it.
Just don't overload it.
Unless there's something really and obviously amiss, just go and have fun with it.

[maillemaker]

I find www.imgur.com far easier for hosting pictures than photobucket.

Steve

[J.G.Watson]

Thanks all for the advises, appreciate it. Haven't decided yet what to do. The Pietta was a real bargain when I bought it and now I know why it was a bargain

Might as well keep the piece as it is for reenactment only, shooting FFFG with cream of wheat would'nt hurt it, I think.

On the other hand it still bothers me, new gun 2 years warranty ect. Only reply I got from the importer/dealer was that I could shoot it, but keep the loads at 15-17 grains. How is that for an answer??

Oh, a new remington 1858 is comming this way. That was a bargain too
So maybe you should be prepared for a new thread

John

[g.willikers]

Only reply I got from the importer/dealer was that I could shoot it, but keep the loads at 15-17 grains. How is that for an answer??

Actually, that sounds like a reasonable reply.
That's what I would do with it, too.
You are not going to get the same service for an inexpensive brass clone the same as would be expected from a major manufacturer for a $800 shootin' iron.

[Hawg]

You don't need to be shooting any more than that out of a brass frame anyway.

I find www.imgur.com far easier for hosting pictures than photobucket.

I've got over 2000 pics on pb and really don't want to have to move them. PB works fine everywhere else and just recently started not working here.

[J.G.Watson]

Update:

Uberti wedge did the trick! Problem solved.

John

[g.willikers]

Do you realize how disconcerting it is when you can fix your own problems?
It makes us feel so unneeded.

[45 Dragoon]

With the installation of a set screw, the one you had would have been all you need.


Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

[Centurion]

I have two brass frame Colt 1860...+1500 shots since I bought it 7 years ago with any problem at all.

Always with 200 grains lee bullets flying at 700/750 fps.

Maybe pure luck...

[J.G.Watson]

With the installation of a set screw, the one you had would have been all you need.

I realize that, and if I had lived in your country, the Pietta would be on your desk right now for this repair and a tune-up.

For me this was the easiest way to get it fixed, the importer shipped the wedge for free.

Thanks again for all your input.



John

[44 Dave]

I have to remember that some of us have access to more tools and equipment than others do.