Cylinder pin escapes on 44 Mag SAA

Real Gun

New member
The cylinder pin is not secure on my Sauer Western Marshal 44 Mag, all the innards strictly SAA in design and interchangeability. Before I spend the gunsmith minimum of 60 bucks, covering up to an hour and parts, I would like some confirmation on whether a stiffer cylinder pin release spring would solve the problem.
 
You may be able to purchase a stiffer spring from Wolffe Springs and do it yourself. And if its the base pin itself that turns out to be the problem then get in touch with Belt Mountain and see if they can help you out. These are things you can do yourself that a gunsmith will probably do and charge his time and mark up on.
 
Hmmmmmmmmm. Several things could be your culprit.

First, take out the cylinder latch assembly. There are three components to this, the latch screw, the latch screw nut, and the spring. If the nut shows any peening, or battering, that might be your problem; it should be straight and square. Next examine the base pin itself, the groove where the latch latches should be well formed and lacking any sign of battering. Those parts that do need to be replaced.

And make sure they are screwed down tight.

In case you're not familiar with them, here is where to go for parts:

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

Bob Wright
 
That old cylinder pin latch just was never intended to handle the recoil of a .44 Magnum. It can be tinkered with, but Belt Mountain (and I think some others) make replacement pins that stay put. The problem is not only that the inertia of the pin itself causes it to move forward under recoil, but that the vibration of the frame actually causes the latch to disengage itself sideways.

Jim
 
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