Uberti 1851 "conversion" revolver, cylinder locked...help

[Arcosdad]

Hello all,
I haven't shot this gun much. Took it out yesterday. First cylinder, fine. Second cylinder, got one round off and she locked up solid. No half #### even. Doing a bit of googling, it turns out that these are known for this. Some say to add a washer to the end of the arbor to make it a few thou longer so it seats solid. Cimarron says use the wedge pin screw to anchor it better. Has anybody run into this with this model? Designed before the days of threaded barrels!

Here's what she looks like.

Thx, A/ D

 

[calmex]

Is there ANY chance you had a primer-load and that the actual bullet is lodged in the bore halfway between the cylinder and the barrel? That would cause that kind of lock-up.

 

[Arcosdad]

Nope, definitely not. First round roared downrange and I marked bullet strike, then cylinder locked.

 

[Alex McKr]

Arcosdad:

Short arbors are known to be problematic with Uberti revolvers, for some time.

What happens with Colt-style revolvers with a short arbor is that, when the wedge is inserted,...especially if in a bit too far, it tends to pull the barrel upward, so that the gap between the front face of the cylinder and corresponding face of the forcing cone is no longer parallel. Might not be noticeable at first but, a problem soon appears as fouling builds up. Then, the gun jams. Luckily, this is an easy fix.

Do you know how to check whether the arbor is too short?

Would take up too much space here but, there are several youtube sources which explain how to check and correct. A very recent capandball you tube video explains how to perform the check. I believe Mike Beliveau (duelist1954) also explains the process in detail, in one of his videos. Blackie Thomas explained the arbor fix in one of his Percussion revolver series of videos a while back too. He explains how to do it in a very clear and easy to understand manner. Using a thin washer. There are likely others. Should offer some insight into how to correct the problem.

Hope this helps

Al
ps: it sounds like you may already have a handle on how to fix the arbor problem. Please let us know how you make out.