Help Please. Uberti 1860 Army Action Locked.

[RMGBHP]

I received my new Uberti 1860 Army this week. I half- cocked and cocked it a few times to check function. Cylinder rotated well, no binding between Cylinder and Throat. Then the action locked. The Hammer will still half- cock and full cock, but when the Trigger is pulled, the Hammer will only go to about the quarter- cock postion. Bolt won’t release, so the Cylinder is locked. 
 

Any advice for how to release would be most appreciated!
 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

Remove the wedge that holds the barrel and slide the barrel off of the arbor. Slide the cylinder off of the arbor.  Now see if the action will work and carefully examine the frame and and hammer for debris. Most new cap ‘n’ ball revolvers need a thorough cleaning before use.

 

If the action doesn’t cycle with the cylinder removed, you should disassemble and thoroughly clean it, checking for dirt and foreign materials left over from the machine processes. This should be done with ANY new gun.

 

Carefully lube and reassemble the gun, checking for proper clearance and fit as it goes together.  
 

If it still doesn’t cycle properly, you’ll have to either turn it over to a competent gunsmith or return it to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

[Mister Badly]

One of my 1858 pistols had a machining chip inside. 

[Dusty Sights, SASS # 2782]

I'd start with the frame. 

Remove the back strap and trigger guard and look inside.  If nothing appears broken from this limited view, I'd remove the trigger /bolt spring and then the screws for the bolt, trigger and hammer and see what is causing the problem. 

[Sedalia Dave]

3 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

Remove the wedge that holds the barrel and slide the barrel off of the arbor. Slide the cylinder off of the arbor.  Now see if the action will work and carefully examine the frame and and hammer for debris. Most new cap ‘n’ ball revolvers need a thorough cleaning before use.

 

If the action doesn’t cycle with the cylinder removed, you should disassemble and thoroughly clean it, checking for dirt and foreign materials left over from the machine processes. This should be done with ANY new gun.

 

Carefully lube and reassemble the gun, checking for proper clearance and fit as it goes together.  
 

If it still doesn’t cycle properly, you’ll have to either turn it over to a competent gunsmith or return it to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

 

THIS ^^^^

[Oak Ridge Regulator]

I had a brand new mason conversion that did almost the same thing, took it apart and the slot the cylinder hand rides in looked like it was cut with a cold chisel and hammer, smoothed the many burr’s out and it worked fine afterwards, the slot the hammer rode in was also not a pretty machining job either. I think my gun was made with some pretty dull tooling

[RMGBHP]

Thanks for your input. I was hoping there might be a trigger timing trick to unlocking, short of disassembly. I’ve gotten tutored by Duelist1954 how- to videos, and have placed an order for the proper screwdrivers from Brownell’s. It’s past time to re- polish and deep- clean the actions of my Pietta 1860 and my Uberti Open Top again anyway. I’ll tackle all of them next Weekend.
 

I bought my new old stock Open Top from a SASS Member here years ago, and finally discovered the fun of shooting BP Cartridges in .44 Russian and .44 Colt. Much more fun than Smokeless. I’ve gotten back into casting and pan- lubing my own Bullets again too. I’m casting Mark Hubbs’ .44 Kerrs for the ‘60’s and a NOI copy of the .44 Big Lube for the OT. Dick Dastardly was out of real Big Lubes when I got hot to start. I’m having so much fun with my ‘60 that I had to get this new one. 
 

Thanks again. Happy Sunday.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

23 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

Remove the wedge that holds the barrel and slide the barrel off of the arbor. Slide the cylinder off of the arbor. ...

If you do this with the bolt head in the cylinder notch, it will make a longitudinal  scratch on the cylinder when you try to pull it off the arbor.  When you say the bolt is still locking the cylinder I don't know if you mean all the time.

 

22 hours ago, Dusty Sights, SASS # 2782 said:

I'd start with the frame. 

Remove the back strap and trigger guard and look inside.  If nothing appears broken from this limited view, I'd remove the trigger /bolt spring and then the screws for the bolt, trigger and hammer and see what is causing the problem. 

I would do this first, so you can get the bolt head out of the cylinder notch.  With the trigger guard off, you might see what the problem is right away.  Sounds a little like the bolt leg that rides over the hammer cam is caught underneath it or something, to keep the hammer from dropping with the cylinder locked.  BTW, there is no quarter cock (safety notch) on a percussion gun.  The first click is half-cock.  Does the bolt head drop out of the cylinder at half-cock to free the cylinder?  If so, then yeah do what Blackwater said and remove the cylinder.  But as for working the action with the cylinder removed, bear in mind that sometimes on these guns the hand will go too far forward without the cylinder in place and prevent the gun from going to full cock.  If that happens, push the hand back into the slot with a screwdriver or anything while continuing to full cock.

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Based on your description, my initial knee jerk thought is the hand is just a hair long and is not allowing the bolt to unlock before trying to carry the cylinder up.  Next up is insufficient hammer travel to reset the bolt.  Taking the gun apart will be required to fix either.

[RMGBHP]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I tackled my disassembly this Weekend, and solved the problems. The main cause was that one of the Screws used as an attachment point for a butt stock was too long. The left side Screw extended far enough into the Hand channel for the Hand to bind on it, locking Hammer and Bolt. Also a very rough Hand edge. I shortened the Screw and polished and cleaned it all up, working fine now.