repair instructions/parts for old break tops.
Over the years, I have accumulated several old break top revolvers. Most in good working order, Some aren't. Being retired, I have decided to try to fix a couple of the old guys. Not necessarily for shooting, But just as a learning process. Problem is, I am having difficulty location manuals, instructions and parts for these. I don't want to just start taking things apart. Simply because I can never seem to get them back just right. My local gunsmith refuses to even work on them. However, He has volunteered to check them for safety if I can get them up and running. Information and hints greatly appreciated.
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DISCLAIMER- am NOT a gunsmith.
For most of the top breaks, there IS no manual. They were from an era when a smith was expected to be able to examine a gun, and see how the parts worked together.
Assembly- many of these had a solid frame, and parts were fitted together somewhat blind inside the frame. You will need a good supply of profanity, and slave pins. Slave pins will loosely hold the jigsaw puzzle of pieces together temporarily, take the place of a 3rd and 4th hand.0 -
Some of the old Stoeger catalogs had good exploded views of various firearms. http://www.gunpartscorp.com/ has some and I think steve's pages has some too.
A good set of punches, needle files, stones, screwdrivers is important. A proper well lit work space will help. A really clean area without a bunch of stuff is nice for finding those tiny pesky spring loaded parts that sometimes fly out will save lots of time.
One each of the coil and flat spring kit's from Brownell's is handy.
Find other dead stuff for free to take apart, try to fix and then put back together. Salvaged little springs and ball bearings can be useful, gun screws are usually finer thread and not found elsewhere. The mechanical and mental skills to repair stuff are acquired best by hands on practice.
My favorite line from my watch maker father (who taught me the love of a basket case challenge) the parts will only fit together one way correctly.
A digital camera and computer to document the disassembly is cheap and will speed up the reassembly in most difficult cases.
Google gun repair books. I like jerry k's.
added: I'd bet they would work on them if you paid them for their additional time it takes. Cost effective; not likely. I have many unpaid hours fixing stuff that was Gramp's so the great grand kids could have some family history. My rule "it's broke now, it could be real broke when I'm done" and you need to buy they materials for the repair. There is a difference between gun assembler and gun smith.
Making a part by hand with a file and a drill is way more entertaining than anything on the boob tube.0 -
The J.B. Wood book covers 3 H&Rs, 2 H&As, and 2 IJs, plus a Secret Service Special and an 1880 S&W, whatever he means by that.
http://www.amazon.com/Digest-Revolvers-Assembly-Disassembly-Firearms/dp/1440214522/ref=cm_cr_pr_orig_subj
David Chicoine covers the Smith & Wessons but not the minor makes.
http://www.amazon.com/Antique-Firearms-Assembly-Disassembly-comprehensive-ebook/dp/B0056JSME6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387308296&sr=1-1&keywords=David+chicoine
He also has a number of monographs on different individual models.
Note that these are disassembly and reassembly guides.
For actually making repairs you are pretty well on your own. Parts are scarce and getting scarcer.
Mr Chicoine covers repairs of Colts, Smiths, and a few others in his older and more expensive book.
http://www.amazon.com/Gunsmithing-Guns-Old-West/dp/0873497694/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387308483&sr=1-2&keywords=David+chicoine0 -
" My local gunsmith refuses to even work on them."..............you have a VERY smart gunsmith. A lot of the old revolvers had many parts changes over a long production time and none of them were noted. 0 -
Top breaks generally are found in non-working condition because of two factors: 1. They were cheaply made. 2. They were made to use only black powder and some genius shot smokeless out of them, stretching the frame and/or lock up assembly.
The guts of them are pretty simple. But you can't fix a stretched frame.
If the issue is 'other' such as a broken main spring, hand, handspring, worn sear, worn cylinder, etc., some used parts are available, but by no means all; a well stocked shop with CNC machine and lathe could surely make most needed parts, but for guns that in general are worth no more than $200 in excellent condition- with a few exceptions of course- it's hardly worth it.
Your best bet is to forget the whole thing, but if it is a simple fix, try gunparts corp; make sure to send them EXACT scale drawings of what you need.0 -
One of my ex's uncle was an ace at fixing them. He was career Army retired, and had been an armorer while in. As a young man with limited resources, I bought several in non working condition. And he fixed them. And I watched parts of it.
From what he told me, the internals on these old top breaks were all fairly similar. Be it IJ, H&R, S&W etc. And if you mastered one, you could figure out the rest. He said most of the time the fixable problems were with the Flat springs. Either the spring itself was broken, or the part it engaged,such as the sear, was worn. And if the engagement place in the part could be repaired, one could fit a new spring. But it was a tedious trial and error procedure. Not only did the spring need to be the correct length. But it may be curved or bent. He literally bought bundles of small flat spring steel. Which was and probably still is fairly cheap.0
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