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1851 Colt 45 ACP Frankingun II
- Thread starter Sharps40
- Start date
On the conversions, the hammer nose will strike hard on the firing pin (which overhangs the recoil shield) and the plate and the edge above the firing pin....forcing plate/cylinder forward into the breech of the barrel and really beat up the firing pin due to that little notch at the base of the hammer face.
Hammer should stop on the frame ideally. I trimmed the hammer back and widened the groove to better align the sights for 7 to 10 yards.
See the hammers below, modified hammer face on top, factory percussion face below it.
The face of the hammer and the angle under the overhand (that strikes the top edge of the plate above the firing pin) were stoned back. Note, I also angle the hammer face so it better meets the angle of the firing pin.
Now when assembled the pin is fully struck but there is less than .003" forward movement in the plate/cylinder assembly. All optional, but should make hammer/firing pin last a lot longer....I suppose for an occasional shooter all this is not really needed. In any event, when you mod the plate to screw to the recoil shield (see the 1860 FrankinTop project) its imperative to fit the hammer nose thusly.
Hammer should stop on the frame ideally. I trimmed the hammer back and widened the groove to better align the sights for 7 to 10 yards.
See the hammers below, modified hammer face on top, factory percussion face below it.
The face of the hammer and the angle under the overhand (that strikes the top edge of the plate above the firing pin) were stoned back. Note, I also angle the hammer face so it better meets the angle of the firing pin.
Now when assembled the pin is fully struck but there is less than .003" forward movement in the plate/cylinder assembly. All optional, but should make hammer/firing pin last a lot longer....I suppose for an occasional shooter all this is not really needed. In any event, when you mod the plate to screw to the recoil shield (see the 1860 FrankinTop project) its imperative to fit the hammer nose thusly.
Drilling for the coil spring and plunger hand conversion is easy. I simply use my trusty old b square scope drill jig. It scissors, set the table perpendicular to the bit, level the jig and gun frame and push a .108 hole thru the frame into hand way. Deburr, polish the shank of the bit and the inside of the hole, clip and shape the sank of the bit, clip a spring and done. (after removing the leaf from the hand and smoothing its backside of course.)
Action parts laid out for final assembly. Mods are wire trigger/bolt spring for a Colt but shortened to fit on the trigger arm. Coil spring and plunger for the cylinder hand. Coil spring and strut from New Model Ruger Blackhawk into the modified hammer (large hole drilled at 2 o'clock).
With no further action work, trigger breaks clean at 1 lb 10 ounces. Hammers just slightly hard to thumb back with the very heavy duty 24 lb Ruger factory mainspring, but mainsprings are available from 14 to 28 or so lbs, so lots of room to tune. I'll probably try a 19 lb to start with.
With no further action work, trigger breaks clean at 1 lb 10 ounces. Hammers just slightly hard to thumb back with the very heavy duty 24 lb Ruger factory mainspring, but mainsprings are available from 14 to 28 or so lbs, so lots of room to tune. I'll probably try a 19 lb to start with.
