1847 Walker hammer too tight

M

M14MSgt

New member
I have a question about a Uberti 1847 Walker that I put a R & D conversion cylinder in so I could shoot Black Dawg .45 LC. Yesterday, after about 12 rounds of the black powder .45 LC cartridges, I noticed the hammer getting harder and harder to pull back to cock the pistol. At one point...I had to use two hands to crank her back so I could shoot. Any ideas what would cause this? Thanks....

M14Msgt
 
Thats from fouling. I dont think the black dawg rounds carry sufficient lube and I believe they're made of hardcast bullets. Those two factors will sieze up a gun very quickly.
 
Spit on it. :D

A little judicious cleaning is all it takes, and the old timers used spit quite regularly to take care of such. They would also use another body fluid, if they were strapped for running water. :D

I carry a little baby sipper bottle, with the internal straw removed, in my shooting bag. I fill it with 50/50 Ballistol/water. Works fine for that occasional wipe down while shooting.

Pops
 
If you can get the hammer back far enough to retract the bolt and allow the cylinder to rotate freely, do so. If not, proceed to step 3.

1) Remove the barrel and cylinder.

2) Introduce your cleaning liquid (spit, Ballistol, T/C No. 13, Windex, hot water, whatever) into the bolt hole in the bottom of the frame. Be generous.

3) Introduce the same liquid into the opening in the recoil shield where the hand that rotates the cylinder comes out. Again, be generous. (If the cylinder is still in place this may be difficult to do)

4) Generously wash out the hammer channel with the cleaning liquid.

5) Move the hammer back and forth as much as possible to work the cleaning liquid into the spaces between the hammer and the frame and into the internal action parts.

6) Repeat the above steps until the cylinder can be removed, then repeat again until the hammer is free to move full travel.

7) Disassemble the entire gun, clean, dry and lube the action parts and reassemble, being sure to lubricate the cylinder base pin.
 
You need to find another brand of bp cartridges, load your own or go smokeless. Bp needs a soft lube and soft bullets. You also don't need to use petroleum based lubes anywhere you get fouling. You need to lube the cylinder pin with a vegetable based lube like Bore Butter. It shouldn't be getting hard to cock after 12 rounds. Even my 58 Remington cap and balls go longer than that. The Balistol spray is a good idea. After every cylinder full just spray around the front of the cylinder and try to get some down into the cylinder pin. BP is a lot of fun once you get the hang of using it but it does take a little more work than smokeless.
 
That can also happen if the barrel-cylinder gap is too tight. The problem is not only fouling but the cylinder can heat up enough to expand lengthwise and bind up. The trouble for a conversion cylinder with that problem is that you have to work on the cylinder, not the barrel, because you don't want to mess up the b/c gap with the original cylinder.

Jim
 
I always carry cleaning supplies when I go to the range & after every cylinder load I'll get a patch wet with Windex & wipe the cylinder face, barrel "where it is at the cylinder" & if I remove the cylinder I'll also wipe the pin off too & add a little Crisco onto the ratchet & pin to help it continue functioning.

I usually run out of ammo before my C&B revolvers start gumming up to where a real cleaning is necessary, even my 58' Remington.
 
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