Squaring off the cylinder

[Petrov]

I dont have a lathe so... Is there a tool that squares off the front of the cylinder? Half the chambers are catching the barrel. Local machine shops dont want to be bothered and local gun smiths are sight installers and not gun smiths. 

[RevolverJockey]

The hard part is you want to be spinning about the cylinder axis not the OD of the cylinder. If I didn’t have a lathe and wanted to try doing it I would put a best fit piece of threaded rod through the renter of the cylinder and spin it in a drill against a 1” belt sander. The more pressing question is why is it touching all of a sudden?

Lee

[Petrov]

29 minutes ago, RevolverJockey said:

The hard part is you want to be spinning about the cylinder axis not the OD of the cylinder. If I didn’t have a lathe and wanted to try doing it I would put a best fit piece of threaded rod through the renter of the cylinder and spin it in a drill against a 1” belt sander. The more pressing question is why is it touching all of a sudden?

Lee

New barrel.

[pskys2]

Doubt if its the cylinder that needs squaring, more likely the crane, bushings or other adjustments needed.

Brownells sells tools to stretch or shorten the barrel of the crane.  Ron powers sells shims also, get some of them to try.  Remember the ejection rod screws off CW, opposite of normal.

[Petrov]

It was way off before but it was such a loose factory gap it didn't matter, now it does. Cant see daylight through the top of the barrel cylinder gap and there is daylight on the bottom.

[Bill Sahlberg]

Should have between 6 & 10 thousandths between barrel & cylinder. It is highly unlikely your cylinder is not flush...

 

The barrel forcing cone is soft enough to run a good file over to open the spacing within parameters of the mfg to achieve a better fit.

[Cherokeewind]

This is not the "right" fix but if you can add a couple of end shake washers they might move the cylinder back far enough to eliminate the drag.

[Petrov]

2 minutes ago, Bill Sahlberg said:

Should have between 6 & 10 thousandths between barrel & cylinder. It is highly unlikely your cylinder is not flush...

 

The barrel forcing cone is soft enough to run a good file over to open the spacing within parameters of the mfg to achieve a better fit.

That would be an obvious and easy solution why did I miss it? 

[Petrov]

4 minutes ago, Cherokeewind said:

This is not the "right" fix but if you can add a couple of end shake washers they might move the cylinder back far enough to eliminate the drag.

There isnt any drag right now but I am a lazy bastard and hate cleaning so the drag will be there from powder.

[Petrov]

http://[url=https://postimg.cc/yWBb5yb0][img]https://i.postimg.cc/tRVGsrdv/KIMG0131.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://postimages.org/]pic share[/url]

 

[Toolguy]

The first thing to do is put the cylinder in the lathe with a dial indicator on the front face. Turn the lathe chuck (with cylinder) by hand and see if it has runout and how much.

If it needs to be faced off, it is then a simple matter to put in a cutting tool and skim it square. This is not an operation for anything hand held. You will just ruin the cylinder that way. A lot of cylinders come from the factory with the face at a slight angle, some more than others. The one in the picture looks like a lot. If you leave it at an angle, and make more cylinder gap, it's likely to get dirty from the chambers with a wide gap and bind on the chambers with less gap.

 

If you want, send it to me and I'll face it off properly the minimum amount to make it square.

[robertson]

6 hours ago, Toolguy said:

The first thing to do is put the cylinder in the lathe with a dial indicator on the front face. Turn the lathe chuck (with cylinder) by hand and see if it has runout and how much.

If it needs to be faced off, it is then a simple matter to put in a cutting tool and skim it square. This is not an operation for anything hand held. You will just ruin the cylinder that way. A lot of cylinders come from the factory with the face at a slight angle, some more than others. The one in the picture looks like a lot. If you leave it at an angle, and make more cylinder gap, it's likely to get dirty from the chambers with a wide gap and bind on the chambers with less gap.

 

If you want, send it to me and I'll face it off properly the minimum amount to make it square.

++

[ysrracer]

Bent ejector rod?

[Petrov]

10 hours ago, ysrracer said:

Bent ejector rod?

No everything is straight, I had a gunsmith convert this thing to PPC rig and do crane ball lock. 

[ysrracer]

21 minutes ago, Petrov said:

No everything is straight, I had a gunsmith convert this thing to PPC rig and do crane ball lock. 

 

I can't even spell "nug smith" I was just taking a guess.

[pskys2]

3 hours ago, Petrov said:

No everything is straight, I had a gunsmith convert this thing to PPC rig and do crane ball lock. 

So this revolver was a tuned ppc job and you put a new barrel on it and now the cylinder is rubbing the forcing cone on 50% of the cylinder?

[Petrov]

47 minutes ago, pskys2 said:

So this revolver was a tuned ppc job and you put a new barrel on it and now the cylinder is rubbing the forcing cone on 50% of the cylinder?

Just about.

I just shot it for the first time. It jams up on the tight spot after firing about 18 rounds and I need to pull the trigger REALLY hard to get it to cycle.

[pskys2]

1 hour ago, Petrov said:

Just about.

I just shot it for the first time. It jams up on the tight spot after firing about 18 rounds and I need to pull the trigger REALLY hard to get it to cycle.

I doubt if it's the cylinder then.  The new barrel, or something done during its installation is the new variable and likely the culprit.

Sound like a job for someone experienced with revolvers, like to custom.

[pskys2]

On a closer magnified view your gas ring looks off?  Any chance you could put the bolt back in that the ejection rod rides on?

 

[zombywoof]

how does the rear of the cylinder gap look top and bottom?

[Dr. Phil]

New barrel. Maybe the forcing cone needs to be squared?

I had the same problem with the 1st dun I had cut for moon clips. About the 3rd clip the action would begin to 'freeze up' as I called it then. My gunsmith took about .004 off the forcing cone, back to square with the cylinder. Gun shoots great to this day. Almost 20 years later.

[Petrov]

2 hours ago, zombywoof said:

how does the rear of the cylinder gap look top and bottom?

Looks identical

[Petrov]

3 hours ago, pskys2 said:

On a closer magnified view your gas ring looks off?  Any chance you could put the bolt back in that the ejection rod rides on?

 

Gas ring? Bolt back in?

Edited December 18, 2022 by Petrov

[Petrov]

3 hours ago, Dr. Phil said:

New barrel. Maybe the forcing cone needs to be squared?

I had the same problem with the 1st dun I had cut for moon clips. About the 3rd clip the action would begin to 'freeze up' as I called it then. My gunsmith took about .004 off the forcing cone, back to square with the cylinder. Gun shoots great to this day. Almost 20 years later.

No the cone SHOULD be fine. The gap grows and shrinks as I turn the cylinder.

[pskys2]

16 hours ago, Petrov said:

Gas ring? Bolt back in?

The Gas Ring is a pressed in part that extends from the cylinder and rides on the barrel of the crane.  I had a M29 that had one worn out and it can cause the cylinder to wobble on the crane.

The Bolt the ejection rod snaps into to secure the end of the cylinder via the ejection rod is what you were replacing with the ball detent.  It is a more secure method of aligning the cylinder, so if you put it back in, for a trial, and the problem goes away or is minimized it would point to problems other than they cylinder being square.

Just some thoughts on helping you narrow down the issue.