Disclaimer: Modifying your pistol without proper knowledge and precautions can result in fatal injuries!
Got all my parts and started slicking it up last weekend but only getting around to posting it now.
Full disassembly was pretty straightforward. Most of the screws had already worked themselves loose over the week I've been dry-firing it.
One thing to be aware of is the hand/pawl detent. When you remove your grips and backstrap, check to see if there is a tiny screw above the left backstrap screw. If you do, you have the new frame and the handspring without the attached leaf spring. Carefully remove the screw to remove the hand/pawl detent. Be careful as this tiny little spring as is under tension and can go flying across your bench.
Removed the screw holding the flat trigger spring and the screws retaining the hammer, cylinder lock and trigger group. Note the rough edges on the inside frame.
Using a 600grit diamond file, I knocked down the sharp edges on the inside of the frame. I used a Q-tip and traced the inside of the frame along the cutouts for the pawl etc. Anywhere the cotton fibers stuck to, I deburred it.
I filed down a few ugly burrs on the edge of the sear areas on the hammer that would rub on the inside frame.
All the contact areas on the frame screws were polished using a felt wheel and some Fitz Polish. The sear areas on the hammer/trigger were carefully polished/stoned to remove burrs. Be careful not to alter the hammer cam. This controls the timing to your cylinder lock.
Using a small strip of 600grit emery wet/dry sandpaper and a small diameter dowel, I removed most of the high rough machining chatter from the ejector tube.
Sorry, no pic, hands were too greased up and dirty to handle the phone/camera.
Reassembled the gun using the Wolff Reduced Power Uberti Cattleman SAA spring kit.
- Replaced the ejector rod spring with the smaller diameter one from the kit. This removed all the minor hangups the original factory spring imparted.
- Replaced the factory base pin locking spring with the heavier one from the kit. This will prevent the base pin from working itself loose from heavy loads.
- Replaced the factory mainspring with the reduced power one from the kit. This reduced the effort required the pull back the hammer.
- Replaced the factory flat trigger/cylinder lock spring with the rounded one from the kit. This reduces the chances of the spring breaking that is prone with the factory one.
I made sure to degrease the threads on the screws and apply blue Loctite.
I'm not a HUGE fan of the skinny, rounded trigger that came with my gun. Unfortunately, I could not use the new wider Target trigger I bought as it will not fit with through the standard triggerguard. I've checked with Taylor's & Co to see if I can order a target triggerguard. Worst case, I will buy another trigger and flatten the surface so it is not as rounded OR remove most of the material on the Target trigger and widen the trigger slot on the current trigger guard to match. The Target trigger is a bit wider than I'd like so the second option is sounding more appealing if I get the cojones to take that on.
All parts lightly lubed and reassembled with the new Wolff springs, my Uberti 1873 Cattleman is pretty slick now. It went from a 3.5lb gritty factory trigger to 3lbs after a week of watching TV and dry firing it to a very crisp 2lbs after slicking up with the new springs. The hammer cocks back with less effort than the factory setup and much smoother now as all the burrs and high areas were knocked down.
My 22LR kit now fits and works!
Now for fitting the new 45ACP cylinder.
Got all my measurements for the current 45Colt and the unfitted 45ACP cylinder and bushing. I started off using a file to remove the bulk of the material which isn't much. Next I move on to removing minute amounts using 600grit wet/dry emery sandpaper on a sheet of glass for a flat surface.
Fitting the cylinder bushing for proper cylinder to barrel gap spacing.
Fitting the cylinder and getting the proper end space. A Sharpie gives me an indication of the high spots that needs some tweeking.
Lot's of fitting, tweaking, fitting, tweaking, fitting... you get the idea.
Cleaned up the parts and applied some cold bluing.
Tested and checked timing and cylinder alignment and all seem to pass with flying colours.
All done. Now I have a 3-caliber 1873 Cattleman.
Got all my parts and started slicking it up last weekend but only getting around to posting it now.
Full disassembly was pretty straightforward. Most of the screws had already worked themselves loose over the week I've been dry-firing it.
One thing to be aware of is the hand/pawl detent. When you remove your grips and backstrap, check to see if there is a tiny screw above the left backstrap screw. If you do, you have the new frame and the handspring without the attached leaf spring. Carefully remove the screw to remove the hand/pawl detent. Be careful as this tiny little spring as is under tension and can go flying across your bench.
Removed the screw holding the flat trigger spring and the screws retaining the hammer, cylinder lock and trigger group. Note the rough edges on the inside frame.
Using a 600grit diamond file, I knocked down the sharp edges on the inside of the frame. I used a Q-tip and traced the inside of the frame along the cutouts for the pawl etc. Anywhere the cotton fibers stuck to, I deburred it.
I filed down a few ugly burrs on the edge of the sear areas on the hammer that would rub on the inside frame.
All the contact areas on the frame screws were polished using a felt wheel and some Fitz Polish. The sear areas on the hammer/trigger were carefully polished/stoned to remove burrs. Be careful not to alter the hammer cam. This controls the timing to your cylinder lock.
Using a small strip of 600grit emery wet/dry sandpaper and a small diameter dowel, I removed most of the high rough machining chatter from the ejector tube.
Sorry, no pic, hands were too greased up and dirty to handle the phone/camera.
Reassembled the gun using the Wolff Reduced Power Uberti Cattleman SAA spring kit.
- Replaced the ejector rod spring with the smaller diameter one from the kit. This removed all the minor hangups the original factory spring imparted.
- Replaced the factory base pin locking spring with the heavier one from the kit. This will prevent the base pin from working itself loose from heavy loads.
- Replaced the factory mainspring with the reduced power one from the kit. This reduced the effort required the pull back the hammer.
- Replaced the factory flat trigger/cylinder lock spring with the rounded one from the kit. This reduces the chances of the spring breaking that is prone with the factory one.
I made sure to degrease the threads on the screws and apply blue Loctite.
I'm not a HUGE fan of the skinny, rounded trigger that came with my gun. Unfortunately, I could not use the new wider Target trigger I bought as it will not fit with through the standard triggerguard. I've checked with Taylor's & Co to see if I can order a target triggerguard. Worst case, I will buy another trigger and flatten the surface so it is not as rounded OR remove most of the material on the Target trigger and widen the trigger slot on the current trigger guard to match. The Target trigger is a bit wider than I'd like so the second option is sounding more appealing if I get the cojones to take that on.
All parts lightly lubed and reassembled with the new Wolff springs, my Uberti 1873 Cattleman is pretty slick now. It went from a 3.5lb gritty factory trigger to 3lbs after a week of watching TV and dry firing it to a very crisp 2lbs after slicking up with the new springs. The hammer cocks back with less effort than the factory setup and much smoother now as all the burrs and high areas were knocked down.
My 22LR kit now fits and works!
Now for fitting the new 45ACP cylinder.
Got all my measurements for the current 45Colt and the unfitted 45ACP cylinder and bushing. I started off using a file to remove the bulk of the material which isn't much. Next I move on to removing minute amounts using 600grit wet/dry emery sandpaper on a sheet of glass for a flat surface.
Fitting the cylinder bushing for proper cylinder to barrel gap spacing.
Fitting the cylinder and getting the proper end space. A Sharpie gives me an indication of the high spots that needs some tweeking.
Lot's of fitting, tweaking, fitting, tweaking, fitting... you get the idea.
Cleaned up the parts and applied some cold bluing.
Tested and checked timing and cylinder alignment and all seem to pass with flying colours.
All done. Now I have a 3-caliber 1873 Cattleman.
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