The file is for thinning the oversize hand so it fits the slot and put a thin groove on top of the hand like the original so the lock up of the cylinder extractor star is bank vault like. Where did you read that I would file the slotted frame groove?
Colt Python question
- Thread starter Gillis2
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The file is for thinning the oversize hand so it fits the slot and put a thin groove on top of the hand like the original so the lock up of the cylinder extractor star is bank vault like. Where did you read that I would file the slotted frame groove?
Misunderstood. Is it a specialized file? Where did you get it Brownells? PS: Still have the Ed Brown?
Every replacement hands are made oversize and sometime require filling so it fits properly in the frame groove, sometime they fit w/o any thinning but the groove on top has to be made with a few file passes so it locks good in the star notches.
Nah, the EB as sold.
I just use a thin square file and use one edge to make a very light groove on the top end of the hand where in engages the star notch.
I use fine emery paper (1200-1500) on a piece of glass and measure with the micrometer down to the 10,000ths of an inch to ensure the tightest fit possible without binding. That's where the majority of time I spend timing a S&W goes. Being that the groove in the frame will not be uniform, when I do this I land up re-assembling and disassembling the gun several times to get a perfect fit.
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That's pretty time consuming indeed and I know that Colt requires that kind of tolerance to function to their full potential (perfect lock up). S&W's don't need that kind of precise fitting. A replacement oversize hand will 99% of the time drop in straight in the frame groove without any hard fitting needed beside a nice little file rub on top to smoothen things up.
The ones I get from Brownell's never drop in . With the Colt V spring mechanism, it is more about understanding the sequence of events and most of the time, new parts are not even needed. Peening and filing/polishing will fix it.
Luckily that new parts aren't required, unless you are a machinist or have a bin full of NOS Colt parts you're basically SOL
There are some repro parts available such as screws , pins and hands etc.
I have a pretty big stash of parts myself.
