Hi there.
Firstly my apologies for this looong post.
Finally my first post here after dropping in from time to time to lurk and learn from the wisdom of others.
I'm not too experineced with single actions at all and I hope someone way more experienced than I am will point me in the right direction. Thanks for a great forum.
I have an early 80's NM SBH .44 Mag which really hasn't been shot much.
The cylinder lock-up is (in my opinion) not what I expect. I don't have set of range rods to check, but I've done the light at the recoil shield and squint down the barrel (of the unloaded SBH!) and cocking the hammer to check alignment. I've no idea how to quantify the movement with some sort of measurement.
There is some (more than I expect) side to side play and if I twist the cylinder to one side it stays there, slightly out of alignment.
I've heard that the oversize base pins of Bowen, or Belt Mountain, aid lock-up, but I'm wondering if the problem isn't the cylinder latch / latch (bolt) notches relationship. There's a little side to side play on the latch if I remove the cylinder and I once read somewhere of some of the custom 'smiths installing spacers or something to take out that play.
Any ideas / comments / suggestions are welcome. Maybe I'm just too paranoid about the lock-up!
I'll post some spearate queries about sizing my bullets to my cylinder throats too. I'm really keen to get make my SBH a great shooter.
Thanks for any input.
Wim
(JHB, South Africa)
