1860 Pietta sticks sometimes at halfcock...

J

Jeffreykendall

Inactive
Well, most every time you try to pull the trigger all the way back it stops at half-cock and you have to take tension off the hammer and then gently pull it into full-cock. I don't force it, as I know that's bad. This all happened after I lost my cylinder stop and had to order a replacement from Dixie Gun Works. I read somewhere that you have to do some fitting with replacement parts to get them to work correctly, so I'm nearly positive it has to do with the replacement cylinder stop. I took her apart again and put it back together slowly, making sure everything is oiled but I still have the same issue. Some times it will go to full cock without a hitch, but most of the time it wants to lock at half-cock. Any ideas? I'd love to start shooting this beast again.

Thanks in advance!
-Jeff
 
The cylinder stop (bolt) may not be riding correctly over the cam on the side of the hammer. Compare the replacement to the original for shape and thickness of the cam side.
There are bolt fitting instructions to be found on the internet.
 
Without the original bolt to compare to it may be difficult for you to figure out exactly what's wrong. Bolts and hands are not drop in parts. It definitely sounds like its not riding the cam correctly and it's locking up in the cylinder notch. Maybe 45Dragoon will chime in, he can explain how it works better than anybody.
 
Have you tried bringing it to half and full cock without the cylinder on the arbor? You would be able to see whether the bolt is dropping properly.
 
Thanks Hawg!

Jeff,
I think what is happening is your bolt arm isn't resetting. That means the bolt arm isn't resetting over the cam when the hammer is almost at rest. Sometimes when there is a burr on the cam or the arm, the arm can't slip over the cam as it should. It may partially reset and get "another attempt" at resetting when you "take tension off" the hammer. When it's successful, you can cycle the action. Probably, you have more successful attempts when the hammer is dropped (which jars the bolt arm on over the cam) rather than easied down.

This could be possibly "fixed" just by prying the left arm outward slightly to ensure the arm is engaging the cam. Does it happen more when you push the hammer to the right during cycling? To the left?

With the trigger guard off, watch how the bolt arm interacts with the cam. Is it resetting?

Let us know what you find.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
 
It sounds like the bolt arm is jumping the cam when cocking because the trigger/ bolt spring is too heavy. As Dragoon says, spreading the bolt legs can help and maybe backing off on the trigger/bolt spring screw as well. Had the same problem with a Uberti '51 Navy.
 
I think you guys may be on to something. So if I'm holding the gun upside down with the barrel facing away from me, the cam leg on my left should be bent outward?
 
I have found a lot of variety in the hammer cams, hands and bolts between different manufacturers of all single action clones (Colt). Timing can sometimes be tricky. Some times I have been able to do some adjusting but one I had required a different part and fitting by an expert.
 
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