Spiller and Burr Malfunctions

M

Model12Win

Moderator
Hello all, well I got a new Pietta Spiller & Burr yesterday in the mail from Dixie Gun Works.

I thoroughly cleaned and degreased it and lubed it with Balistol. Well I went to the range today unfortunately, I had some issues.

I fired two cylinder worth. The good news is I had no cap jams, all rounds went off the first time, and non of the caps fell off.

The bad news is that the gun would get stiff and extremely hard to pull the hammer within 1-2 shots! How can this be? I did not have any cap jams... I would take the cylinder out, wipe off the cylinder pin, put some oil on it, reassemble and the gun would run smooth. But within a couple of shots, everything just got so stiff and I had to manually rotate the cylinder.

What's going on here? I've never had this happen on my '51 Navy Colt. I am very sad that my new gun doesn't work so well. :( My load for today was 15 grains of GOEX FFFG powder, a wonder wad, and .375" Hornady balls.

If anyone can give me any ideas to keep my Spiller and Burr from locking up almost instantly, I'm all ears. I think this will be a good shooting gun once I can figure that issue out. It's a real looker and I plan to refinish the grips to remove the UGLY "maroon red" Italian varnish and instead make them look like proper and authentic oiled black walnut.

Please let me know all. Thanks!!
 
I have one, and the only malfunction was the cylinder pin got bent and had to be replaced due to overzealous use of a cheater pipe plus and oversized ball, lol! I suggest fully disassembling to check to see nothing is buggered up in the works, and then go through the process without actually loading it, to determine where your binding is coming from.
I am wanting to shoot mine now that I fixed it, but it's been over 100 wetbulb by the time I get done workin for the day, and that's just to hot and humid to want to walk out into the woods to my little range. Good luck and let us know what you found out
 
Check the barrel cylinder gap. It could be binding there.

If it's not barrel-cylinder, then check the center pin to see if it's straight (or if it's holding the cylinder at an angle).

If not that, then it's the lockwork.

a) Is the bolt dropping on time? If the bolt/cylinder stop doesn't drop, the hand can't rotate the cylinder.
b) If the bolt is dropping, is the hand rotating the cylinder? If not, perhaps the spring (if there is one) isn't pushing it forward. It could be a burr in the hand's window (opening in frame for hand to pop out of the frame and engage the cylinder).
c) If none of the above, take it apart. Clean it. Check for burrs.
 
I am going to speculate that the binding is from fouling being deposited on the base pin inside the minimal clearance between the base pin and it's passage through the cylinder. Remingtons have the same problem.
This is one of the reasons that a very small barrel cylinder gap is important like on the order of .002/.003. The reason being, as Colt found out, that the angle of incidents is equal to the angle of reflection. Basically this means that ejecta from the barrel/cylinder gap strikes the base pin at 90deg and then is reflected along it's length or right into the cylinder hole. A close B/C gap keeps this to a minimum. Colt addressed this problem with a recessed diameter section that is present on some better replicas. The cartridge conversions and later SAA had a gas ring between the face of the cylinder and frame to prevent this.
The Remingtons and Spiller and Burr can be modified but it takes some machining or as stated earlier keep the base pin well lubed and load off the gun and wipe the base pin.
 
Balistol is not a good lube for that tiny cylinder pin. Use some Bore Butter or something thicker. You can keep a bottle of Windex(without ammonia) to spritz it down with to keep it running.
 
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