Re: I "SNAG"ed A Couple Tool Boxes Yesterday

On 6/19/2024 6:19 PM, Snag wrote:
 > On 6/19/2024 6:30 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
 >> On 6/19/2024 3:24 PM, Snag wrote:
 >>
 >>>    A question since you have gunsmithing experience . This .36 Navy
 >>> revolver has always shot about the width of the front sight to the
 >>> left . The octagonal barrel is not clocked precisely to the frame ,
 >>> if I can rotate the barrel just enough to bring it into alignment it
 >>> will also correct the windage . How big a deal is this to do ? One
 >>> thing - the finish on this revolver (and my CVA .50 Plains Rifle) is
 >>> straight out of the Browning Arms tanks in SLC , courtesy of my
 >>> friend since childhood , The MudShark . Muddy was killed in a
 >>> motorcycle accident a few years ago and I'd rather leave it the way
 >>> it is rather than risk damage to the finish .
 >>
 >> First off.  I hack at my own stuff more so than I am any kind of
 >> gunsmith or have any real gunsmithing experience.  Mostly I make parts
 >> and I replace parts.
 >>
 >> There is a lot to unpack in that question.  Exactly how do you plan to
 >> twist it all?
 >>
 >> If I recall in the old CVA imported kit guns (I built a .36 Navy when
 >> I was a kid) there are pins in the front of the frame that align with
 >> holes in the barrel assembly.  While not a wide stance it is a 3 point
 >> alignment with the cylinder pin.
 >
 >    This one was built from a Navy Arms kit , around 1975 or 76 . The
 > barrel is threaded into the frame or I wouldn't be asking ... the barrel
 > is not quite tightened to the point that the vertical flats are parallel
 > to the vertical sides of the frame .
Ah, you said Navy and I assumed it was a Navy model.  Not an Army (or other) model made by Navy arms.  LOL.
The Colt Navy replicas or just Navy is a half frame.  There is no frame there for the barrel to thread into.  Further most of those (even Confederate Navy models) were .36 caliber.  Usually when people say .36 Navy they are referring to a model 1851 Navy.
Side Note You May Already Know:
Although a number of notable lawmen and outlaws of the wild west probably carried 1851 Navy revolvers, Wild Bill Hickock is probably most known for carrying a pair of them.
You may well be able to turn the barrel a tiny bit with some serious muscle.  I watched Mike Scherz of Gila River Gun Works (RIP) do just that with a rifle, although I forget exactly how he gripped on to each thing exactly.  I seem to recall he had a tool that exactly locked into the action of the rifle he was working on.  I've also seen Mike stop, remove the barrel and throw it back in the lathe to take an almost invisible shaving off the back face before trying again. I don't recall why exactly.  Maybe it already had a front sight.  I don't remember.
In Mike's first shop of his own (Gila River Gun Works) I installed his alarm system.  On a slow day I'd stop in and lean on the railing between the shop and the machine shop and watch him work. He got a bit of a reputation for building "guide guns" on the Mauser action, and eventually moved to Idaho to be closer to the majority of his clientele.   I have a Mauser 30-06 he built in the safe, but its nothing special except to those of us who knew Mike.  He had an action come in with pitting.  He was pissed off and was going to throw it in the trash.  I told him if he set it up with a floating barrel (as much as it can) in an inexpensive sporting stock I'd buy it for cost plus his labor.  That way he wouldn't lose anything and I'd have a good deer rifle reasonably cheap.  I've had people try to buy that rifle from me after they heard Mike set it up.  I actually took it back once and had him reset the head space for the ammo I was using.  Its not a target rifle, but its better than the average sporting rifle.  Well if you discount the mediocre stock Mauser trigger.  LOL.
 >    The timing is dead on . The bolt locks up just as the sear engages
 > the hammer . It's never shaved lead .
Timing isn't just the bolt lockup.  Its also the line up of the rifled portion of the barrel with the chamber.  You alluded to that I think with the comment about shaving lead, but there is a slight cone on the back of the barrel on many (most?) revolvers which can catch the bullet if its only slightly out of alignment at lockup and not noticeably shave lead. This can possibly affect accuracy.
I'm not trying to talk down to you.  I don't know how much you know and I may not know much (any?) more than that.
 >    I was mostly looking for ideas on holding it - probably by the barrel
 > - while I used some kind of "wrench" - likely to be a chunk of local
 > hickory properly shaped for the task - to tighten the frame/barrel a few
 > degrees to bring the front blade to center over the barrel .
I have a Columbia (Columbian? (I have both)) vise on the back work bench with a square slide.  I have pieces of plywood cut out to just fit around that, and match the jaws.  When I cut plywood jaws I try to cut several at once, so I can use them without worrying about tearing them up.  A couple with leather glued to them at the top are very handy for finished parts.  I always inspect for stray metal chips and splinters before using them.  I used that vise last year to straighten a smashed trigger guard on a 32SW Long S&W New Regulation Police by clamping the frame in the vise, and beating out the trigger guard with a brass drift.
--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff
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