Help me fix this family relic

[Miller854]

I decided to post this in the milsurp section because it saw military service and I thought the most likely place where people would know where to find a replacement part would be. So I need help in finding a new cylinder for a colt .455 new service eley produced in 1914 of October. While shooting it with reloads and the cylinder expanded from the pressure and now while revolving it locks up and takes quite alot of force to get it moving. Both me and my father believe it would be safer to get a replacement instead of keep shooting it as it is. I would like to find a new cylinder to install to keep it shooting but to keep the original for my father. So far the only thing I can find is other revolvers and I do not want to ruin another handgun just to keep this one working. Please I would like some help to keep this piece of my family and our country shooting so I can pass it on.

It saw service in world war one on the Canadian front with my great grand father and from the stories I have heard it saw ALOT of action. It was given to my father because my great grand father knew he would appreciate it and he asked him to keep it working as long as he could. The original hand grips are cracked and missing a piece on the left side from an apparent raid on a German trench. Since I was not around to meet my great grand father my father lived with him in Nova Scotia when he was growing up and has told me everything he knew or found out about him. In my fathers teen years my great grand father would tell my dad some of these stories and suffice to say from my dads own mouth "it put the fear of god in me". So please if anyone knows of a place to find a replacement cylinder both me and my father would greatly appreciate it. Thanks -Miller854

 

[Miller854]

this is what the expansion looks like

there is glare from the flash but the small oval to the upward left of the middle notch there it is.

 

[smellie]

Friend, I hate to be the guy who tells you this, but your cylinder is toast.

The loads have been 'WAY too hot and the chamber has expanded. That the expansion shows itself so very clearly in ONE SPOT tells me that that is a weak spot in the original cylinder. That your loads are too hot is told to me by the fact that this very cylinder handled the Proof loads, which were very much over-pressure.

The gun is a family treasure. I can appreciate that. If you want to keep shooting with it, I would weld a plug into the faulty chamber, DROP my handloads down to where they ought to be, and continue on, very carefully. The little bulge can be removed on a lathe in about 5 minutes and your gun will then function properly..

BETTER YET would be to REPLACE that cylinder completely. The gun itself is a Colt New Service. They were made for many years and spare parts ARE available. A new cylinder should not cost more than $100, which is pocket-change compared to the cost of a brand-new gun which has absolutely zero history..... and even less family connection. Try the Equipment Exchange on this forum, then start trying other fora. Somebody will help.

Sorry to be the bearer of rotten news, but that's the way it is.

Hope this helps.
.

 

[CanadianAR]

replace the cylinder as smellie says but make sure to keep the old one too.

 

[ATOM]

What smellie said.

Once you've got all that done, b*tch-slap whoever was doing the reloading and then introduce him to the concept of reloading manuals. My favourite gun store in London, Ontario, used to have what I seem to recall was a Colt missing the entire top of the frame and a large chunk of cylinder. You got away lucky.

 

[IMagius]

Yup ... if you are seeing that much swelling in the cylinder, you can consider yourself as lucky as anyone cen get ... usually you don't see that, and ti turns into a grenade instead.

Whatever the loads are, they are probably triple what it should be to do that kind of damage.

I would say that cylinder is for display purposes only at this point - I would not be putting my life/hands/face anywhere near it when live ammo is concerned at this point.

As for parts, they are available, but I couldn't tell you where, other than to check the EE, and post a WTB.