For those who have used fire-formed .38spl in a .41 Colt...Chamber adaptor idea

[41 Colt]

Or even used masking tape on the outside of the case, do you still eject the cases alright with the stock .41 Cal ejector? .38spl & .41 Colt have pretty close to the same rim dimensions.

I came up with an idea to have .38spl chamber adaptors made by a buddy who runs CNC lathes in his shop and just swap the .41 Colt barrel with that of a Official Police in .38spl. That way I wouldn't need to find and time a new cylinder in the gun.

 

[H Wally]

When I was playing with the idea of following the 38spl fire forming instructions on "that" website that I can't currently find I put a 38spl casing in the gun and it ejected fine. I guess maybe different companies are slightly different in their specs? I'd imagine you'd be ok. It's a pretty easy check for your gun if you find a piece of brass

 

[starpuss]

Yup they ejected fine.. But MUCH better if you install a 38 colt star on your 41 colt cylinder. i shot well over 250 rds in my 1892 of Fire formed Brass.

& yes it's not hard to make chamber adaptors to fit the 41 colt cylinders. Or why not buy & Time a 38 colt one that will work fine with 38 spl

 

[41 Colt]

Or why not buy & Time a 38 colt one that will work fine with 38 spl

I would have the proper "forcing cone" portion of the chamber throat machined into the adaptors. Accuracy isn't very good with my 1892 in .38spl and I suspect it's the bored-thru cylinder.

 

[starpuss]

I would have the proper "forcing cone" portion of the chamber throat machined into the adaptors. Accuracy isn't very good with my 1892 in .38spl and I suspect it's the bored-thru cylinder.

accuracy Was Real good on the ones i used. (38 colt cylinders) much better then 41 colt was.

what did yours shoot at XX yards?

or you can find a REAL colt 38 spl cylinder for yours. (thats what i did on some of mine. But there REAL hard to find and most sellers will say it's 38 spl but send you a 38 colt one... needs to be made in 1907+ & some (Officer's Model) to be 38spl.

 

[41 Colt]

Mine needed the timing fixed and forcing cone adjusted so that may have played a factor, but at about 10yrds the groups were about the size of my palm IIRC. I've fixed the timing issue and ordered forcing cone tools from Brownells and will take it out again and report back.

I talked to my friend today. He says making the adaptors would be pretty easy, I just need to draw up a more detailed sketch with exact measurements. One thing we both are concerned about is if the adaptors would move when the gun is fired. We thought about a tapered press-fit with some green loctite. Threading the adaptor in was another option but I don't want to permanently alter my cylinder. I was also thinking I would sell some sets and I'd want them to be easy to install. I wonder if there would be enough room to give the adaptors a rim, except where the extractor is, and still allow the cases to headspace properly?

 

[starpuss]

Mine needed the timing fixed and forcing cone adjusted so that may have played a factor, but at about 10yrds the groups were about the size of my palm IIRC. I've fixed the timing issue and ordered forcing cone tools from Brownells and will take it out again and report back.

i did not test mine at a Sand bag. or shooting Rest. but mine WAS MUCH better then yours. i was doing 2"-3" at 25 yards Standing up! (i have a Video of it , that ill upload next week. , she is so good i can take the H*** off a ******* at 15 yards.


and i say loctite them in. i did that on a .22mag one year ago and the guy is still using it! (shoot well over 1,000rds)

you should also install a new extractor to fit the 38. (the 41 & 38 are not the same), But the 41 still works. but not as nice.

 

[41 Colt]

or you can find a REAL colt 38 spl cylinder for yours. (thats what i did on some of mine. But there REAL hard to find and most sellers will say it's 38 spl but send you a 38 colt one... needs to be made in 1907+ & some (Officer's Model) to be 38spl.

I just got one of those cylinders with a late model Colt DA Navy, I was surprised. I think the gun is just a parts gun, so I may part it out.

 

[41 Colt]

Well I fixed the timing, cylinder gap and gave it an 11 degree forcing cone. Accuracy was better, still got lead spitting though. At 10yrds DA I got 10 shots in 2 3/8", 5 shots SA in 1 1/4" groups. At 20yrds it was pretty opened up.

I then used the .38spl chambered cylinder I previously mentioned. With that I got 10 shots DA in 2 1/8", 5 shots SA in 7/8" groups at 10 yrds. DA groups were around 4" at 20yrds and a nice 5 shot group of 2". Shoot REAL high at 20 yrds, but it's an improvement.

No lead spitting with the proper cylinder now, and it's a lot punchier. This one I'd like to shorted to a 2.5" snubby, but I need to figure out how to mount a blade front sight, and find one.

This is from another forum, I hope he doesn't mind, but I want it too look like this with a nicer finish.