Pietta '58, bought used through Gunbroker. Fired maybe 75 balls through it using Goex 3f 25-30 grain loads and 454 balls w/ wads or crisco.
This is my first cap and ball gun and it shot great. Most fun ive had shooting in a while, I'm hooked.
I'm also stupid:
Cleaning after a day at the range, I installed the hand incorrectly; on the wrong side. Don't ask how, like I said I'm stupid. After realizing the mistake and removing the hand I saw that the spring has compressed against the body of the hand. I attempted to gently straigten it out but it snapped off. Ordered new hand from VTI Gun Parts and installed it correctly. When pulling back the hammer and advancing the cylinder, all seemed ok. When releasing the hammer with my thumb over the back of it, the cylinder rotated backwards. I removed the new hand and compared it to the original one and saw that the new hand is slightly longer and had a sharp edge to the end of it compared to the rounded off edge of the old one. So, I take the new hand to the Dremel and shave it down a bit. This did not help things any. No the cylinder wont advance at all, even though its still longer than the original. So, I order A new hand AND a new cylinder stop thinking that maybe this had something to do with it. Couldn't hurt right? New parts arrive yesterday and they are installed correctly. Now the cylinder advances too far. It moves past where the chamber and the barrel line up. the hammer would fall to the left of a nipple or even worse; Deal a cap a glancing blow and the gun could possibly go boom.
That's where I am now. No more gunsmithing attempts. I don't know where to go from here. Has anyone else had to modify new parts to work in their weapons? Any help? Constructive criticism please, I know I'm an idiot.
This is my first cap and ball gun and it shot great. Most fun ive had shooting in a while, I'm hooked.
I'm also stupid:
Cleaning after a day at the range, I installed the hand incorrectly; on the wrong side. Don't ask how, like I said I'm stupid. After realizing the mistake and removing the hand I saw that the spring has compressed against the body of the hand. I attempted to gently straigten it out but it snapped off. Ordered new hand from VTI Gun Parts and installed it correctly. When pulling back the hammer and advancing the cylinder, all seemed ok. When releasing the hammer with my thumb over the back of it, the cylinder rotated backwards. I removed the new hand and compared it to the original one and saw that the new hand is slightly longer and had a sharp edge to the end of it compared to the rounded off edge of the old one. So, I take the new hand to the Dremel and shave it down a bit. This did not help things any. No the cylinder wont advance at all, even though its still longer than the original. So, I order A new hand AND a new cylinder stop thinking that maybe this had something to do with it. Couldn't hurt right? New parts arrive yesterday and they are installed correctly. Now the cylinder advances too far. It moves past where the chamber and the barrel line up. the hammer would fall to the left of a nipple or even worse; Deal a cap a glancing blow and the gun could possibly go boom.
That's where I am now. No more gunsmithing attempts. I don't know where to go from here. Has anyone else had to modify new parts to work in their weapons? Any help? Constructive criticism please, I know I'm an idiot.