1873 pistol problem

[leadslinger]

I have two 1873 single action pistols.
One works perfect, while the other is giving me great grief.
The bad one:
It doesn't matter if I shoot reloads or factory,
the primers swell backwards and restrict the cylinder
from rotating freely.
When done shooting the 5 rounds, i have to remove cylinder pin,
open gate, put to have ####, and tap out cylinder with soft mallet,
as it is jamed in frame because of high primers.
I shot a four stage CAS match this past Sat, it started right away and got worse as match went on till i required the mallet to empty gun at end of last stage.( yes it cost me time in the match)
Does anyone know what this is caused by, timing or head space?
Yes its still under warrenty, but would really like to know what
the cause of this is.

 

[EdGCNM]

Interesting. Weird that it happens with factory loads. I've certainly seen primers set back and jam the action with a combination of reloads (old brass with loose primer pockets) and high pressures (.357, .44), but not that. I'm curious what people come up with to explain it myself. Can you even get a timing issue with a single action revolver? And it headspaces on the rim, so how could that be a factor?

 

[johnone]

Lead slinger;
I would bet the problem is the bushing in your cylinder....
Easily corrected if not butchered....
What make is it ??
John

 

[BCRider]

Just for the heck of it check the inside face of the recoil shield where the firing pin exits to strike the primer. On some of my own revolvers there's what seems to be a pressed in bushing set into the face there. If your gun is the same and for some reason the bushing is not there or it is set in below the recoil shield's face then there won't be enough support for the primer. This is a real shot in the dark though since it's hard to suggest stuff like this over the 'net sight unseen.

The only other thing I can suggest is to compare it over all to the other one that shoots fine. Check for how the rounds fit and how much clearance there is in the cylinder to recoil shield gap. If one is significantly wider this may be the issue. There needs to be SOME clearance but not a lot. If the bad gun is particularly tight on this then it may just not have enough room for even slightly swelled primers. If there's a lot of room on the bad gun by comparison then perhaps there's a spacer or something missing. But then that would show up in the lockup I would think. For signs of that check that the cylinder locking tab is lined up with the deepest part of the cylinder notch.

 

[leadslinger]

i received an email from a smith that said it could possibly be fireing pin hitting off centre which it does and also on a slight upward angle.
The space between cylinder and recoil shield is also criticle i am told.
Anyway its going back for warranty , they said they would just replace gun.
I can live with that.