Finagler 6853 Life Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 I spent the better part of two hours trying to fit the lifter of a short stroke kit in my 73. File it down a few strokes, test fit it. File it down a few more strokes, test fit it. Did you ever want to grab the dremel tool and go for some serious metal removal? I resisted temptation. After I got that fitted, I find the carrier is hitting the bolt as the bolt goes forward. Do a little light filing and burr removal on the carrier. There was a lot of light filing and test fitting. I think I can take the 73 apart and put it back together with my eyes closed or in my sleep. The next project is filing the dovetail on the speed sight to fit the dovetail in the barrel. I think if you want to know a synonym for tedious, it will also include the word, gunsmith. 7 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Thou speak'st truly, O wise one! Many's the time I watched a master gunsmith doing just that. Each and every time, I absolutely marveled at the man's patience, his precision, and his ability to reassemble that complicated mess of parts! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Try making V springs for L.C. Smith doubles and fitting them when the Left and Right are different and you don't have a Spring to compare to ... then comes the tempering ,,, and don't mean the smiths temper. Jabez Cowboy 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Like many cowboys, I have tinkered with my own guns. It made me grateful that I didn't have to feed myself and my family with my gunsmithing ability. 4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Be glad it wasn't an 1860 or 66. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 just wait until someone brings ya a BOX with more than 1 torn apart , in it CB 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 (edited) 16 hours ago, Finagler 6853 Life said: I spent the better part of two hours trying to fit the lifter of a short stroke kit in my 73. File it down a few strokes, test fit it. File it down a few more strokes, test fit it. Did you ever want to grab the dremel tool and go for some serious metal removal? I resisted temptation. After I got that fitted, I find the carrier is hitting the bolt as the bolt goes forward. Do a little light filing and burr removal on the carrier. There was a lot of light filing and test fitting. I think I can take the 73 apart and put it back together with my eyes closed or in my sleep. The next project is filing the dovetail on the speed sight to fit the dovetail in the barrel. I think if you want to know a synonym for tedious, it will also include the word, gunsmith. With all the accessories sold for dremel, there is not a single undoer. Edited June 11 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 4 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 My Colt gunsmith buddy Bill Fuchs is good at all aspects of Colt SAA repair and restoration. He's inspired me to make grips for my 1860 Armys. But it took me most of a month of off and on work to make two grips. He chuckled at me. He makes most excellent grips out of all kinds of materials. Total elapse time over a couple of days for glues to cure and finishes to dry. But only minutes compared to my hours at a time. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Some how, dat don't look like and 1860 Army?? Before I retired, I lost count of the guys that brought me a box with more than one gun's worth of parts. And, of course, the customer always wanted to know "Why does this cost so much??" If the customer admitted to owning a Dremel, I instantly doubled my estimate. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 1 hour ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said: Some how, dat don't look like and 1860 Army?? Before I retired, I lost count of the guys that brought me a box with more than one gun's worth of parts. And, of course, the customer always wanted to know "Why does this cost so much??" If the customer admitted to owning a Dremel, I instantly doubled my estimate. That's Bill's work. Here's my efforts. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Some the the hardest work will be when somebody else tried to 'smith' a gun and failed. Then YOU get that 'reworked' gun to fix. Its one thing to fix a factory 'gremlin'. Its a totally other ballgame to fix an 'owner induced' gremlin. ..........Widder 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 4 minutes ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said: Some the the hardest work will be when somebody else tried to 'smith' a gun and failed. Then YOU get that 'reworked' gun to fix. Its one thing to fix a factory 'gremlin'. Its a totally other ballgame to fix an 'owner induced' gremlin. ..........Widder Yep! I bought a brand new KBI Liberty hammered coachgun at an auction to benefit our club. According to the club President the club VP “slicked it up a little bit”. The fool £#€$ed up is what he did. I fired it in 1 match for 3 or 4 stages. One of the barrels sometimes misfires…light strikes. It doesn’t lock up tightly. It did the first 10 rounds. It appears it’s the only shotgun in the world that there are no parts available for it. Still pizzes me off. Any Saloonatics want it? Not kidding. I bought a Rossi 92 24” octagon barrel .45 Colt from a SASS member in 2016. “It’s had less than a hundred rounds through it. I used it for one match and it’s been sitting in the back of my safe for ten years…Oh, and by the way, I slicked it up a little bit.” (I have found those 7 words are usually a precursor to blood pressure enhancement.) The gun wasn’t slick. It was sloppy. During operation it sounded like an old automated printing press that was on it’s last legs. Some hardware was stripped or cross threaded. Springs too short. Parts too loose. It’s gone. I sold it…after fixing all the (bleep) ups in the gun. There are 3 things an idiot should stay away from when planning to “fix” something. Scotch, Whiskey and Dremel tools. Trouble is, idiots don’t know they’re idiots. Oh, and if you’re reading this and you realize “Hey, I sold that gun to Pat Riot!” you would be wise to keep quiet and not respond. I am vindictive. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 19 hours ago, Finagler 6853 Life said: I spent the better part of two hours trying to fit the lifter of a short stroke kit in my 73. File it down a few strokes, test fit it. File it down a few more strokes, test fit it. Did you ever want to grab the dremel tool and go for some serious metal removal? I resisted temptation. After I got that fitted, I find the carrier is hitting the bolt as the bolt goes forward. Do a little light filing and burr removal on the carrier. There was a lot of light filing and test fitting. I think I can take the 73 apart and put it back together with my eyes closed or in my sleep. The next project is filing the dovetail on the speed sight to fit the dovetail in the barrel. I think if you want to know a synonym for tedious, it will also include the word, gunsmith. I am curious. Why would a “kit” need fitting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I cringe when I see some variation of "action job" or "slicked up" in a gun ad. The seller invariably thinks those phrases automatically add a hundred or two to the asking price. Anymore, I see it as reducing the value, so we're already two or three hundred dollars apart before negotiations even start. More often than not, when I see "slicked up" in the description, unless it's cheap or a particularly unique or intriguing gun, that's as far as I need to read - it's pretty much an automatic deal breaker. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 8 hours ago, Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 said: just wait until someone brings ya a BOX with more than 1 torn apart , in it CB I bought 2 original solid frame 97s plus a box of parts. Seller said there was enough parts to rebuild both plus some. Did state that there may be a few missing screws. By the time I got them both working I could disassemble and reassemble them in my sleep. The biggest issue was that there were also some 97 clone parts mixed in with the original ones. Learned volumes about which parts appear interchangeable but in reality were not. Sadly the one part that was the reason bought the lot I couldn’t use. I need a complete mag tube assembly for an original take down. But the assembly is for a Chinese clone. Still trying to find someone who can swap the Chinese one for an original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 well I have not seen a Chinese clone that is a take down , reckon I learned some thing new try Outlaw Gambler for a mag tube or take a chance on flEa bay Chickasaw Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finagler 6853 Life Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 6 hours ago, Pat Riot said: I am curious. Why would a “kit” need fitting? I don't know for sure but I suspect it is to accommodate manufacturing tolerances. It is all part of the instructions that come with the kit. Nothing terribly hard or complicated. Just tedious. There are a number of parts I've bought and installed over the years that say they might need to be fitted by a gunsmith. I remember a set of grips I bought years ago that needed to be shaved away some to make them fit properly. Then more sanding and buffing them down so they didn't look like they were fitted with a chainsaw. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finagler 6853 Life Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 16 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said: Be glad it wasn't an 1860 or 66. I've got a 66. I sent it to a real gunsmith as it is so old, no one makes aftermarket parts for it. The pivot pins in the links are a smaller diameter than later production so short stroke kits won't work with it. I just had that one slicked up and made to work reliably, which it wouldn't do when I got it. That might be why I got it at such a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MizPete Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Yeah. People mess it up then expect miracles. This is why I will NOT do (sewing) alterations for the public. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finagler 6853 Life Posted June 12 Author Share Posted June 12 3 hours ago, MizPete said: Yeah. People mess it up then expect miracles. This is why I will NOT do (sewing) alterations for the public. You do not want to hear about my (mis)adventures with sewing machines. I still have all my fingers is all I'll say. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 22 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said: I cringe when I see some variation of "action job" or "slicked up" in a gun ad. The seller invariably thinks those phrases automatically add a hundred or two to the asking price. Anymore, I see it as reducing the value, so we're already two or three hundred dollars apart before negotiations even start. More often than not, when I see "slicked up" in the description, unless it's cheap or a particularly unique or intriguing gun, that's as far as I need to read - it's pretty much an automatic deal breaker. Now that you mention it every gun I have bought that was “slicked up” was a problem gun in one way or another. None were “slicked up” by someone that knew what they were doing. Only one was slicked up by someone that didn’t know what he was doing but he told me that and I knew it going forward with the purchase. I bought that gun just to help the guy out in a financial bind he was in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 47 minutes ago, Pat Riot said: Now that you mention it every gun I have bought that was “slicked up” was a problem gun in one way or another. I bought a pair of "slicked up" Uberti .44-40's here several years ago at a pretty good price - "slicked up" by the seller. When I brought them home, I found one of them had a trigger pull of about 4 ounces, and the other one about 8 ounces. I literally couldn't feel the trigger before the hammer fell. A good bump on the butt or side of the gun would drop the hammer. Both hammers could be made to fall with moderately light pressure on the hammer spur. He was pretty proud of his "action jobs". I never did fix them, and sold both of them, at cost, to another Cowboy shooter buddy of mine in Billings, with full disclosure that they needed new hammers and/or triggers to be safe. He fixed them and still uses them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 AS the old German said : Das machine werks , IS NOT for ze finger pokin' und mittin grabbin !!! Chickasaw Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.