Recrowned my Open Top

Ian

Ian

Notorious member
This revolver is one of my absolute favorites but is almost unshootable because the POI is about a foot high and 4" to the right at 15 yards. The rifling grooves don't follow the bore, either; they get deeper on the left side at the muzzle and shallower on the right, just barely visible. It doesn't lead.

I bought another barrel for it from an Italian revolver parts house and it seemed better inside, but when I went to fit it tonight I noticed the muzzle wasn't cut square. Hmmm.....so I checked the original one with a machinist's square and it wasn't square either, apparently they just cut these with a saw and file/buff the marks out. SMH.

Anyway, here's how I had to set it up in my mini-lathe to recrown it. Pin-gauged the muzzle bore at .443", chucked up a scrap of 1/2" extruded aluminum rod, turned it to .448" and tapered the end slightly, and pressed the barrel onto it about 3/8" with the tailstock screw. Then I faced the muzzle at 90⁰ to clean it up, cut a radius on the outside, then went in and cut a 15⁰ crown, cutting all the way past the bore diameter into the aluminum a bit.
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Maybe tomorrow I'll go shoot it and see if it shoots straight now.
 
RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Every Italian repro I have owned and wanted to shoot, I had to "dink" with in one way or another. Being made for CAS, six inches at 30 feet is acceptable, but redo crowns, align cylinder pins and recut forcing cones. It is all part of the repro game. By the way, you did a nice job.
 
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Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Thanks, Ric. I forgot to mention that I crowned the original since it fits the frame and base pins. If it still doesn't shoot to POA I'll have to assume it's the rifling and fit the replacement barrel.

I've had to replace almost all of my Uberti 1873 SAA base pins because they are so soft and get peened so badly by the cross bolt that they get stuck in the frame. Brownells to the rescue. My Dad's Bisley repro required an oversized base pin and some fitting. So far the timing has been at least acceptable on all of them.
 
RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Exactly my experience also, CNC set up is OK on the frames for timing, but crowns, forcing cones and material selection leaves a lot to be desired.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
25 rounds from sitting position, 15 yards, both hands, no rest. Boy am I rusty. Anyway, the crown job cut the horizontal divergence by half and eliminated the extreme vertical. I'm going to open up the left side of the vee notch in the back of the barrel to try and correct the last 2" of windage. The notch is narrower than the blade and needs fixing anyway.

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Joshua

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
Nice work Ian! You sure make that little lathe seem pretty capable.

I’ve got a taco problem!!!

I’ve got enough saved up for a new plastic .308 or 7mm-08, and a new Leupold.

BUT! If I wait another month I’ll have enough to buy a Grizzly 7x14.

If I want to upgrade later on they are very portable, and seem to hold their value well.

If I play my cards right I could be turning in a month or two! As opposed to waiting a few more years.

Josh
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
I'd get the lathe. I wished many times that I had foregone a gun purchase or two and bought my lathe sooner. You don't realize how badly you needed one all these years until you actually have one.

Ps if you upgrade later you won't want to sell the little one because you will have found out by then how useful the mini is for case prep.
 
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Cherokee

Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
I bought a 7x14 mini lathe years ago. Tried to learn how to use it; made a few useful things. Lathe work just does not seem to be my talent. Now its used primarily for case prep.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Heheh....

Now you REALLY get to spend money. 1/2"x1/16" Jacobs chuck, 5/16" HSS blanks, live tailstock centers, faceplate clamp kit, 4-jaw chuck, bigger 4-jaw chuck, drill index, tooling grinder, quick change tool post with extra holders, threading tools, boring bars, HSS inserts, misting system.......and so forth.
 
Joshua

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
Ian said:
Heheh....

Now you REALLY get to spend money. 1/2"x1/16" Jacobs chuck, 5/16" HSS blanks, live tailstock centers, faceplate clamp kit, 4-jaw chuck, bigger 4-jaw chuck, drill index, tooling grinder, quick change tool post with extra holders, threading tools, boring bars, HSS inserts, misting system.......and so forth.
Click to expand...
All that is true! But it’s downhill from here. I had to get over that initial cost hump! These smaller purchases will fly under the radar, I.e. monthly hobby/entertainment budget(code name: Taco Money).

Also, I’ve been doing ok selling off somethings. For example, I’ve got six dozen NOS Easton arrow shafts that I need to list. The sale of those should cover a big part of a Jacobs chuck and a 4-jaw.

Josh
 
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