Cylinder Fitment

NavySCPO · #51 11-26-2020, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stu1ritter

George, parts showed up from Brownell and are fitted. While all the instructions say to not shorten the center pin, I had to. Not much about .030" and the ejector rod had to be shortened slightly and chamfered on the inside to make it easier for the ejector rod end to pass off the locking bolt when opening. It was a quick touch of the center pin on a fine grinding wheel and then polished on emery paper. Slight chamfer on the locking bolt end of the center pin. Probably took 15 minutes. I'll start cutting ratchets tomorrow.

Stu
Cylinder Fitment-img_3337-jpg

Stu, George, armorer951, and others kind enough to chime in, received all my parts from Brownell’s and Numrich today, and between having to stop and help with tomorrow’s feast, got it assembled.

Is this (photos) what you saw and had to slightly shorten the center pin and taper the other end for smooth lock up? That part seems reasonably easy, of course I haven’t been able to close the cylinder to check the hand/ratchet fit.

Thank you! Really looking forward to finishing it up...although I’m sure I’ll follow previous advice and have a competent gunsmith complete the ratchet cutting, out of my league I’m afraid.

It’s after midnight so...Happy Thanksgiving to all, sincerely hope each and every one of you have much to be thankful for!

stu1ritter · #52 11-26-2020, 08:07 AM

Danny, yes, that's just about what my center pin looked like but my ejector rod was a bit longer than yours. Pretty easy to make it fit.

Stu

NavySCPO · #53 11-27-2020, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stu1ritter

Danny, yes, that's just about what my center pin looked like but my ejector rod was a bit longer than yours. Pretty easy to make it fit.

Stu

Thank you Stu, got the center pin shortened, and lock up is very tight, seems like an easy enough adjustment but wanted to ask a question first to make sure I haven’t missed something.

The cylinder rotates freely when holding the hammer back slightly, however, when I pull the hammer back completely, it will not lock in position. I believe timing is in alignment, because at each of the 6 positions, I can insert a range rod with K22 head, and it goes in smooth to the rear of the cylinder with no obstruction at all.

So if I take it to a gunsmith for ratchet cuts should this cure the lock up, or could it be something else?

Thank you again!

armorer951 · #54 11-27-2020, 05:37 PM

Yes sir.....in the scenario you describe, the hand cannot pass the uncut ratchets, and they must be fit in order for the hammer and trigger to finish their rearward movement. It may fail to cycle fully in DA for the same reason.

Carter

NavySCPO · #55 11-27-2020, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armorer951

Yes sir.....in the scenario you describe, the hand cannot pass the uncut ratchets, and they must be fit in order for the hammer and trigger to finish their rearward movement. It may fail to cycle fully in DA for the same reason.

Carter

Thank you Carter, yes sir, it does exactly the same in DA. I thought that was the issue, sincerely appreciate your explanation and confirmation. Far too easy, at least for me, sometimes to chase after imagined issues, and cause other problems in the process. That’s especially easy for those of us with limited skills.

armorer951 · #56 11-27-2020, 07:41 PM

Danny,

Yep. That's why experience is so valuable. It helps me recognize a mistake when I make it again.

armorer951 · #57 11-30-2020, 09:11 PM

Here's another possible conversion cylinder project on a model 25-5. Used a 625 cylinder and had Mark at Pinnacle High Performance cut the stainless cylinder for moon clips. The gun will now shoot .45ACP, .45 Colt (and probably other stuff) out of the 625 cylinder. The other original cylinder remains in-tact, although it is plagued with the "oversized" chambers, and never shot consistently.

I believe I purchased the 625 cylinder from Midway. A fun project.

NavySCPO · #58 11-30-2020, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armorer951

Danny,

Yep. That's why experience is so valuable. It helps me recognize a mistake when I make it again.

Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

Well, I decided I need experience in cutting ratchets, or I’ll never learn, I figured the worst that could happen was I would end up buying another extractor from Numrich and start over.

Thanks to the wonderful advice provided here, and careful study of the S&W Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen, I figured it out. Only focusing on a single ratchet, I slowly (very slowly) began to shape with the Barrette #1 file. Put the cylinder back in, test, and file again. It took about 4 or 5 tries, until, to my great satisfaction the cylinder locked in place on that single position. What a great feeling to go through 5 positions, and then the 6th locks!

I’m sure this is pretty common for a qualified gunsmith, but for me it was an incredible experience! Now, on to the other 5 and I will have one sweet conversion and a nice walk in the woods 22 LR or 22 Magnum.

Thank you all for the advice, nothing quite as satisfying as doing it yourself.

NavySCPO · #59 12-18-2020, 02:38 PM

Well I’ve never been a great shot with a pistol, but pretty happy with this final product. Finished cutting the ratchets, then had to wait for an Arkansas stone to smooth them out a bit, nice action now.

CCI 22 WMR with the 648 cylinder installed. Not great, but not bad for a 70 year old with lousy eyesight. I didn’t adjust the sights, want to shoot the 18-3 in the 22 LR cylinder to see how POI changes.

NavySCPO · #60 12-19-2020, 04:39 PM

Interesting...the 22 LR actually shot a bit wider pattern, just over 3” where the 22 WMR shot under 2”, could just be my old eyes. Both were CCI 40 grain FMJ to keep the testing as fair as possible.

The bullet placement was very close to the same, which is the opposite of what I expected from previous reading. Thinking that it would change from one caliber to the other in the same gun, POI was very close, no sight adjustments were done (yet).

Thanks again to George, Carter and Stu for providing such great advice and support. It sure was a fun project and lots of fun to shoot, and shoot cheap. Just one more reason this forum is such a special place!