[Doug.38PR]

This has been a recurring problem on my 1944 OP in one of the notches, if you rock the cylinder back and forth (while pulling it upward towards the top strap slightly) you can ride the bolt back up the ramp from one of the notches.

I sent it to Cylinder & Slide about 4 years ago with this, among other, problems. Bill Laughridge kindly told me that it the cylinder has just seen a lot of abuse over it's time and there might not be anything that could be done with it as far as that notch goes as there is not much room to work with.

The good news is the gun works fine, shoots fine (and I honestly wouldn't think twice about using it for self defense). This doesn't appear to affect the purpose for which the gun was intended. To shoot and shoot well.

I wondered if the cylinder notches could be reinforced somehow. Jerry K's Shop Manuel for Colt suggest's against peening on notches as this could affect alignment. Years ago I wondered about the possiblity of filling in the notches and cutting new notches. But I have a hunch, even if possible, it would be a pretty expensive process. I've thought about getting another prewar OP one day. But this gun, as it's my first handgun ever, justh as a special place to me and it's still my favorite out of all my guns. like to see it fully restored somehow.

 

[JudgeColt]

If the cylinder notches have displaced metal, peen it back into place, making sure the bolt still fits the resulting notch. It will not affect alignment. If the bolt has slightly rounded edges, replace it. A trick that can help in extreme cases is to alter the bolt so that it rises further.

If you have to manipulate the cylinder to create the problem, then it is much ado about nothing. Don't do that, and everything will be fine!

 

[Doug.38PR]

so by peening? Taking a brass pin and hammering it slightly to bend or "mesh" the displaced metal back into place?

 

[Doug.38PR]

What kind of brass too do I need to peen this? I don't want to hammer it at an angle and made a bad situation worse, but rather mesh up enough of the metal at the ramp edge to secure the notch.

I was poking arouind the notch with the thin top of a screwdriver last night and it doens't feel like there is a whole lot to work with.

 

[JudgeColt]

I cannot imagine that brass will move steel much. Use a smooth, slightly crowned steel punch and work very carefully.

 

[Doug.38PR]

could I have some kind of illustration? I'd like to know EXACTLY what I'm doing before I make a slight issue into a disaster