SAA disassembly/cleaning info?

TacticalTrunkMonkey

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I recently picked up an Uberti 1873 Cattleman in 45LC, my first revolver, and took it to the range last week and had a blast, very accurate and my fiancee even enjoyed it though she found it a little heavy. Anyway I searched around the net and haven't found much on disassembly and cleaning and was wondering if anyone has some links to info? I did manage to find an image that shows it stripped but not the process. I'm cautious when dealing with unfamiliar firearms, I'd hate to take something apart and watch a spring shoot out never to be found again.
 
You're right, I'm having a hard time finding anything at YouTube.

There's only a couple of spots to watch for. First remove the lower frame joining screw. Then remove the two screws for the back strap. When you move the back strap and grips away from the main frame watch for a small spring sticking out of the back mating surface of the frame. It's only about 1/16 diameter. And ahead of that spring is a very small ball. Use care in getting both of these out. But it won't jump away because you eased off the pressure slowly when you removed the rear strap. Just don't have the back of the frame pointed down when you do this or these parts could fall out and bounce away.

From there you won't have any surprises as all the parts are big enough and there are no more springs that will try to escape to a better life. With the front strap and trigger guard combo removed you'll see the trigger return and cylinder bolt combo leaf spring. Remove that screw. Then you can loosen the screw for the main spring and with a little pressure swivel it to one side. Ease off the pressure and remove the screw the rest of the way. With that all done you can then remove the two side screws that are the pivot pins for the trigger and cylinder stop bolt and for the hammer. Did I mention that it's a very good idea to use a digital camera with macro feature to snap pictures of all stages and parts orientation as you go along? Use the camera to record the orientation and which side the trigger is on and the stop bolt is on as they come out. Similarly as you slide the hammer unit out the hand will come with it as it is hinged to the hammer. Take note of how it is oriented with a couple of pictures or at least a sketch. That's it. Including the two finger spring and pivot pin screws there's a whopping 7 parts that make up the action. 9 if you count the main spring and its screw. OK, 11 including that tiny spring and the ball.

And if you don't know how to remove the cylinder it's actually very easy. Push in the spring loaded side pin and then pull forward on the cylinder shaft that sticks out the front of the frame and is nestled in by the ejector plunger housing. With that out just roll the cylinder out of the gun if it didn't fall out on its own.

I only seldom do the full strip down and clean the internals. Even my black powder guns don't muck up the inside of the actions all that fast. Usually just pull the cylinder pin and drop out the cylinder and then clean the barrel, all the cylinder chambers and the center hole. Oil the chambers and bore very lightly and then swab "dry" to leave just the lightest of films. The cylinder pivot pin gets a touch more oil, but only a touch, and no swabbing out. Same with the advancing pawls on the back of the cylinder. I like to keep those visibly but lightly oiled.

For my black powder guns I do a full strip and cleaning every third time out with them. And of course the cylinder and barrel after each day out with them. For my smokeless cartridge pair they get a full strip, clean and lube about every 500 rounds. In between I do the cylinder and barrel every couple of hundred rounds.
 
Much appreciated for the info. I didn't know removing the cylinder for a quick cleaning was so simple, cheers. I'm going to fully take it apart this weekend and put it back together to get the hang of it. Thanks.
 
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