Uh Oh!

[deerslayer303]

Hello,
Its me again blowing up the board . Anyway how much cylinder play (movement) is acceptable? I just got done completely disassembling my Old Army, cleaning it and reassembling it. Now that its back together with the hammer at half cock I can move the cylinder back and forth (forward and back) I don't know how much but enough I can notice it. Now when I hold the hammer all the way back and hold the trigger at the same time I cant move it at all. With the hammer pulled back I can see some light between the forcing cone and the cylinder. worried. This pistol is used, and made in 1973 doesn't look to have been fired much. I'll try to post a pic of her. I haven't shot this gun yet and wanna cover the bases before doing so, one of the reasons I busted her down and gave er a bath.

 

[the rifleer]

Its fine, as long as it locked up tight in the firing position its not a problem. There has to be room between the cone and cylinder otherwise it would not be able to rotate.

Very few revolvers actually move the cylinder forward against the barrel, and they stopped doing that because it doesn't really increase the performance. The only thing is you have to make sure your hands are behind the cylinder or else you might get some hot gasses on your hand.

 

[madcratebuilder]

with the hammer at half cock I can move the cylinder back and forth (forward and back) I don't know how much but enough I can notice it.

No worries mate, it's at half cock.

Now when I hold the hammer all the way back and hold the trigger at the same time I cant move it at all.

That's good, you want a tight lock up with the hammer at full cock.

With the hammer pulled back I can see some light between the forcing cone and the cylinder. worried.

That's called "barrel gap". The spec for most open tops is .008, if it's tighter than say .004 you well start having cylinder drag as powder residue builds up. A wider gap allows more flame and gas to escape, I don't get to concerned until it exceeds .015-.020.

 

[deerslayer303]

I was messing with the gun again, and yes with the hammer at full cock and me holding the hammer down and pulling the trigger at the same time the cylinder locks up real tight. But with just the hammer at full cock in the firing ready position I can still move the cylinder back and forth (muzzle to grip), I need to measure how much slop. I think I will take it to my gunsmith and let him look it over.