Purchased a Centennial Arms 1860 Centennial .44 revolver from a seller here on CGN. It was obvious that the revolver needed help, and it was priced accordingly. Most apparent was a broken off nipple. The other problems were less obvious and much more serious. These were among the first reproduction revolvers sold during the US Civil War Centennial, so it is at least 40 years old. The revolver had been shot a lot, and serious mechanical problems had developed, and unsuccessful efforts had been made to correct them. The pistol had been shot loose, with excessive end shake developing; the breech ring against which the cylinder bears had depressions peined in it from the cylinder slamming back and forth. The cylinder could move so far foreward that the hammer could not fire the caps. The cylinder pin had come loose in the frame. To counter this, a hole had been drilled vertically, underneath the hammer, and a blind pin driven in. The root problem was that the threads on the cylinder pin had been distorted, to the point that they could no longer properly engage the threads in the frame.
An easy out had been hammered into the broken off nipple, and it too had been broken off. Carbide and diamond burrs did the job, and a little chisel removed the remains of the nipple shank. The old cylinder pin was removed, the frame threads cleaned up, and a new cylinder pin was made from high grade steel. It was fitted to the frame, and turned to fit the cylinder and barrel. The breeching collar was lightly faced off. The cylinder and barrel were refitted, the wedge slot was cut in the cylinder pin, and a new wedge was fitted. Barrel/cylinder gap are now minimal, there is only enough end shake for black powder functionning, and caps fire reliably. The wedge can still be tapped in another 1/8" of an inch, if it becomes necessary to tighten things up in the future. All told it took about 5 hours labour to restore the revolver to operating condition.
An easy out had been hammered into the broken off nipple, and it too had been broken off. Carbide and diamond burrs did the job, and a little chisel removed the remains of the nipple shank. The old cylinder pin was removed, the frame threads cleaned up, and a new cylinder pin was made from high grade steel. It was fitted to the frame, and turned to fit the cylinder and barrel. The breeching collar was lightly faced off. The cylinder and barrel were refitted, the wedge slot was cut in the cylinder pin, and a new wedge was fitted. Barrel/cylinder gap are now minimal, there is only enough end shake for black powder functionning, and caps fire reliably. The wedge can still be tapped in another 1/8" of an inch, if it becomes necessary to tighten things up in the future. All told it took about 5 hours labour to restore the revolver to operating condition.
