fixing old colts

dannej

October 01, 2002 06:37

I have an old Colt Police Positive in .22 WRF that shoots but the action is loose and the pistol not very accurate. Does anyone know of a gunsmith that tightens these old actions?

0

• 

  rhmc24

  October 01, 2002 06:54

  If the problem is only wear typical of old Colts any gunsmith can lengthen the 'hand' which will usually help the timing situation. The 'hand' is the little pusher part that turns the cylinder. Beyond that, the job can get involved to the point that you could buy a good plinker for less than it might cost. Hope this helps. Robert

  0
• 

  Xracer

  October 01, 2002 07:51

  If the cylinder is loose when the hammer is cocked, the cylinder is most likely misaligned with the bore, and you're probably splitting lead out the sides. Best not to fire it until you get it fixed.
  
  You (or your gunsmith) may be able to get a new hand from GunPartsCorp.

  0
• 

  JudgeColt

  October 02, 2002 10:02

  So as not to mislead the new member, many old Colts show loosness in the cylinder when cocked, but without the trigger being pulled. Some loosness, as long as the cylinder stop engages fully, is not too much of a problem. Because the hand gets a lot of shock when the revolver is fired, wear occurs to the hand. However, it is this "holding" function of the hand that helps make Colts more accurate than other revolvers, because it removes all "play" in the cylinder at the moment of firing. As long as the cylinder is tight when the trigger is held to the rear after firing, it is probably safe to shoot and will unlikely be spitting lead.
  
  Many early PP revolvers in WRF were used with corrosive ammuntion and the bores and chambers can be badly pitted, which deteriorates accuracy.
  
  Often, just putting in a new hand will take out most of the cylinder play, with no particualr gun smith skills being required. (Any "D" frame hand will probably work.)

  0
• 

  dannej

  October 13, 2002 09:09

  Thanks for the info and sorry for the delay in reply (been hunting).
  
  Judge Colt, the cylinder is vey tight when the trigger is pulled. The bore is pretty good with no obvious pitting. But the gun is not very accurate, shooting groups of five inches at fifteen yards off sandbags. Also when I shoot some old ammo headstamped with an 'H' the action locks up. You have to open the cylinder to get it to rotate again. Using currant CCI ammo this is not a problem.
  
  I also notice that when the trigger is pulled there is noticable movement of the cylinder before is locks in tight. Timing?

  0

Please sign in to leave a comment.