Bob Wright
Hawkeye
I put in a range session this morning, taking this old Super Blackhawk out fo some exercise:
This is a New Model, but my habit is still to load five rounds. As I rotated the cylinder to load the fifth round, it stopped, tight as could be. Now a round had not yet come under the firing pin, so I knew the problem was not a high primer. Well I had to pull the base pin and remove the cylinder. Running my finger over the standing breech, I discovered the problem ~ the firing pin bushing/recoil plate protruded slightly, just enough to stop cylinder rotation, catching the cartridge rim.
I pushed the bushing back with the handle of a screwdriver enough to get a cartridge to seat under the firing pin. With the cylinder back in place, I fired one round, which was enough to seat the firing pin bushing.
At clean-up time, I dry fired the gun and noticed the bushing easing out. I re-seated the bushing, using a 3/8" dia. steel rod wrapped in duct tape. But I needed to stake the thing in place, but how?
Well, I had a small center punch, but not long enough to do any good. The solution? I slid the center punch down the barrel, then inserted the steel rod behind it. Holding the point of the punch on the joint at the perimeter of the firing pin bushing, I struck the rod a sharp blow with a heavy mallet. Good! Got a stake mark at nine o'clock on the frame/bushing joint. One more time put another stake mark at the three o'clock position. The stake marks are smooth enough to allow functioning, yet should hold the bushing in place.
Bob Wright
This is a New Model, but my habit is still to load five rounds. As I rotated the cylinder to load the fifth round, it stopped, tight as could be. Now a round had not yet come under the firing pin, so I knew the problem was not a high primer. Well I had to pull the base pin and remove the cylinder. Running my finger over the standing breech, I discovered the problem ~ the firing pin bushing/recoil plate protruded slightly, just enough to stop cylinder rotation, catching the cartridge rim.
I pushed the bushing back with the handle of a screwdriver enough to get a cartridge to seat under the firing pin. With the cylinder back in place, I fired one round, which was enough to seat the firing pin bushing.
At clean-up time, I dry fired the gun and noticed the bushing easing out. I re-seated the bushing, using a 3/8" dia. steel rod wrapped in duct tape. But I needed to stake the thing in place, but how?
Well, I had a small center punch, but not long enough to do any good. The solution? I slid the center punch down the barrel, then inserted the steel rod behind it. Holding the point of the punch on the joint at the perimeter of the firing pin bushing, I struck the rod a sharp blow with a heavy mallet. Good! Got a stake mark at nine o'clock on the frame/bushing joint. One more time put another stake mark at the three o'clock position. The stake marks are smooth enough to allow functioning, yet should hold the bushing in place.
Bob Wright