problem ? with pietta 1860 army

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kab37

New member
Hi, just bought brand new Pietta 1860 army. Out of box hammer screw finger tight - ok tightened it. At 1/2 cock cylinder will not rotate - should it ??
My Pietta 1851 Navy cylinder does.

pistol really tight, have not tried to fire it.

Do I have a problem? Cannot find a Pietta help/service center.

Thanks, Kab
 
D

Doc Hoy

New member
Kab

Pistol is not working right. If you can do so, take it back to the place that sold it to you.

These revolvers are not hard to fix, but why bother?
 
D

Doc Hoy

New member
Kab

Penso (I think) that the lock-up of the the cylinder at half cock is created by a malfunction in the bolt. This is easy to see, but you must remove the cylinder to see it. At half cock the lock-up tab on the bolt should remain below the surface of the frame. This means the the bolt will not engage the notches on the cylinder and the cylinder is permitted to free-wheel at half cock. (That is the way it is supposed to work.) When you go to full cock you will see the lock-up tab appear above the surface of the frame. The tab on the bolt will lock the cylinder in place and the pistol is in battery.

Most of the time, this is an easy fix but it requires more or less total disassembly of the pistol. The fix is to remove the bolt. Then, gently spread the two legs of the bolt further apart so that the bolt more positively engages the notch on the hammer.

Challenges:
1. The pistol is easy to take apart but hard to put back together.
2. The bolt is likely hardened or tempered so it is easy to break the leg while trying to spread it.
3. Disassembly of the pistol would likely void any warranty.

I think your best COA is to have Bass Pro fix or replace the pistol. Very likely they will do so, but the wheeny behind the counter won't likely understand the actual problem. Have him drag out a different pistol and compare the operation one to the other.
 

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K

kab37

New member
refusal

so far Bass Pro is refusing to deal with issue. "send it back to Pietta". Will try management tomorrow

-kab
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Kab

I would be interested in knowing how that turns out. Seems very odd, they would not stand behind the sale. They could go out and buy a bunch of seconds and rejects, sell them as first quality, and then just tell the buyers to go hang.
 
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Howard31

New member
Problem with Pietta 1860

On many new Pietta's they hammer the wedge too tight. Tap the wedge back until the spring lip just touches the Barrel
 
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armoredman

New member
Short arbor is another real problem. I do know a guy in Benson AZ who does stellar work on Pietta and Uberti revolvers, and I have first hand experience with his work.
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Some additional help

These articles (Pt 1 and 2 can be found under Larsen Pettifogger Open top Colt tune up) are at least interesting to read and go a long way to enlighten the reader on open top Colt functionality. The article attached to this post is part three which is more recent.
 

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K

kab37

New member
bass pro

Thanks all for interest. Two things happened vat Bass Pro when I went there this AM

1. They demonstrated that my cylinder rotation was ok with another Pietta 1860 Army - Mea Culpa.

2. They will not stand behind Black Powder sales.

WARNING: Do NOT buy Piettas from them.

-Kab
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
In point of fact...

They say, no warranty on firearms in their documentation. Sound outrageous but I have not bought an OTC firearm in about 20 years. I am prolly completely out of touch.

I hope the three articles are helpful. They are required reading for all BP revolver shooters.
 
K

kab37

New member
Doc, just to end this,

Nowhere on the sales slip, the gun, the arms room, anywhere, do the list their warranty policy.

-kab
 
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Doc Hoy

New member
Kab, You are right

It is hidden in the website. You must look for it through a search. If you find it, you will realize that the list of things they do not cover is somewhat lengthy.


Consider this: A person buys a handgun which fails and as a result the buyer or someone else is injured. The warranty does not immunize them from a lawsuit.
 
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