[rrengineer]

When a cylinder is fitted with a new base pin bushing and it is ground to fit, the result is the clearance gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone to be 16 thousands. Is this too much? There is no end float in the cylinder. This is a black powder frame 1st gen SAA. Would this mean this gun had been shot with more modern smokeless ammunition at one or more times in the past? Is the gap OK to shoot black powder cartridges?

 

[LeverActionBill]

RR. Not neccesarily.

Ideally the gap should measure 5-8 thou.

But with BP you can strestch that to 20 thou. Of course the less the better.
The more the gap with BP the more the fouling - but it really won’t affect accuracy.

 

[phyllis1]

Some accomplished gun smiths claim that for shooting BP, the gap should be at least .012. Otherwise fouling will be a problem. I shoot a 1st gen with a gap of .016 and it shoots fine, but it does throw some embers.

 

[bighipiron]

Some accomplished gun smiths claim that for shooting BP, the gap should be at least .012. Otherwise fouling will be a problem. I shoot a 1st gen with a gap of .016 and it shoots fine, but it does throw some embers.

Yes that can be the problem. Not the accuracy so much as getting some powder burns on your hand with a big cylinder gap and shooting black powder.