Colt revolver issue assistance.

S

Straitshot

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I recently acquired a Colt Diamondback 4" .22 cal. The revolver has a single action firing problem that I believe may be from a slight timing issue. The revolver seems to function flawlessly when operating in double action but when you cock the hammer to fire it in single action mode and pull the trigger when the hammer attempts to drop I think it catches on the hammer strut and will not drop to allow the firing pin to strike the cartridge base. On occasion it will barely touch the hammer strut and drop to the fired position but you can feel it bump the hammer strut as it drops which causes a slight delay.

Has anyone else experienced this in either the Diamondback or Python and if so what did you do to remedy the problem, and is it even possible short of sending the revolver to Colt?

P.S. I forgot to mention that if I swing the cylinder out so the arm is not contacting the ratchet on the cylinder the revolver seems to operates in single action flawlessly and the hammer drops smoothly to the fired position.
 
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Quick guess/question---when you cock the hammer to single action does the cylinder lock fully into place or can you nudge it a bit so the bolt locks fully into the cylinder?

Also, have you tried cocking it vigorously so that the cylinder "flies" into the lock position, which is probably what is happening in DA
 
When you cock the hammer slowly in at least two positions the cylinder needs a little nudge to lock. The four other positions lock without being nudged.
 
Straitshot said:
When you cock the hammer slowly in at least two positions the cylinder needs a little nudge to lock. The four other positions lock without being nudged.
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The revolver's timing is off. You need to take it to a smith who knows how to work on a colt. Not many around nowadays.

-TL
 
I ordered a new strut from Numrich Gun Parts and two new plate screws. The screws on the revolver look as though they have been removed before.

With the cylinder closed and the revolver is fully cocked you can see the hammer strut when viewing into the open hammer slot. I can take a wooden toothpick and slightly push down on the hammer strut, pull the trigger and the hammer will drop smoothly every time. I am wondering if the strut spring is too strong and forcing the strut to protrude out from the hammer too far?

I suppose since the timing is slightly off the best thing would be to send it to a good colt gunsmith. If I ship it to a smith will I need to go through an FFL since I do not have an FFL license?
 
The hammer strut you keep mentioning, I just can't figure out what it is. I thought it was the hammer spring, but apparently not based on your later descriptions. What is the part number in the Numrich schematic?

The cylinder has slow timing, and SA functioned fine without cylinder in the window. These two facts gives good hint to the problem. A good smith is still the best option.

I don't think you need a ffl to send a firearm to a licensed smith for repair. The smith should be able to give you clear instructions on how to do it.

-TL
 
Here is a photo of the hammer strut. Numrich part number is 174720E and is number 21 on the schematic.
 

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I see. It is for DA operation though. It shouldn't affect SA, unless it was installed incorrectly. But DA has been fine, has it not?

-TL
 
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With that Colt design, there could be several causes for that problem. One is a too-light trigger pull, usually caused by amateur tinkering. That might require replacing parts, a costly solution for those old Colts.

Other causes could be roughness in the trigger flat, dirt in the action, a weak mainspring, a weak strut spring, etc., etc. I think that expert (and expensive) care might be needed; I don't know if the factory even works on those guns any more. With so many possible problem areas, I don't want to even make a suggestion;

(FWIW, Colt's name for that part is "strut"; the nearly identical S&W part is officially called the "sear". In the Colt auto pistols, the "strut" is the part that is driven by the mainspring and drives the hammer. Confused?)

Jim
 
I'm one of those tinkerers James warned you about, and not sure what you are talking about, but if you are locking up on two chambers (bolt drops into cylinder notch) but not on the other four? Then you can stretch the hand at the notch that picks up the cylinder for final lock up by using a punch. If this is as confusing to you as it to me as I reread my post, then you should see a Colt Smith. Good luck on that.
 
What the OP seems to be saying is that when the hammer falls, the strut is hitting the top rear of the trigger. That may be because the gun depends on a fairly heavy pull to be sure the pressure of the finger will move the trigger up and back out of the way before the hammer strut strikes it in falling. But that heavy pull is due to the proper fitting of the trigger and the hammer notch. Tampering with it can result in excessive wear, and/or a pull that is too heavy or, as in this case, too light.

That is why no one but an expert should work on Colt DA revolvers. They seem easy to work on, with fewer parts than other revolvers, but the interaction and relationship between and among those parts is a nightmare. That is why Colt revolvers of that design became too expensive to compete against what may appear to be more complex designs (S&W/Ruger) but are actually simpler to work on.

Jim
 
I might be less likely to work on my Colt DA revolvers than in the past due to the lack of parts, but it's not rocket surgery. If you read gun rags in the sixties and seventies a lot of the fixes for the Colt's were addressed, and I lied about being less likely to work on my Colt's.
 
Well, I'm no expert like you Denis, but I've been playing with Colt DAs since the seventies and never ended up with one in a shoe box. I may be, however, a bit slow as hinted since in the eighties I owned 3 Diamondbacks and currently own none. I stand by my statement that Colt actions aren't brain science. Does anyone else hate auto correct?
 
I have decided to send the revolver to Frank Glenn. He was recommended to me by several Colt owners as a quality gunsmith on Colt revolvers.
 
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