TFB Armorer's Bench: Colt 1851 Maintenance

Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb below, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. I had a friend ask me about how to shoot a cheap black powder revolver he picked up. It’s an old ASM Colt 1851 Army reproduction. While I was showing him the basics I noticed that things were not quite right. He mentioned he was going to try to clean up the rust but when it was in my hands I could tell that we were dealing with a broken gun. Could it function? Yes. BUT not correctly. When at full cock the cylinder was free to rotate forward as it pleased. I knew the issue and told him what part to order up. Let’s dive into doing Maintenance on a Colt 1851!

More Colt Content on TFB:

• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Colt 1877 Disassembly
• TFB Armorer's Bench: Diagnosing and Assessing a Colt 1877 Lightning
• TFB Armorer's Bench: Commentary on The Colt 1877 Revolvers
• Wheelgun Wednesday: Colt Police Positive Special
• Wheelgun Wednesday: Colt Revolvers – The Sleeping Giant Reawakened

TFB Armorer’s Bench: Maintenance on a Colt 1851

Here, we at TFB hope to inform, entertain, and even inspire any would-be gunsmith or armorer out there. Ideally, with the information I provide and with the help of our sponsors, you can have some useful knowledge about the conservation and improvement of firearms technology while at the same time sharing experiences and teaching each other new tips and tricks along the way in the comments. Digging deep into what it is to be an armorer or gunsmith has significance but what is important is what those people do to show they’ve earned that title. I am happy to share my experiences and knowledge and hope it is informative!

Make your personal safety a priority:

1. Practice proper gun safety. Always make sure before the firearm hits your bench that it is unloaded and safe to be handled.
2. Wear the proper safety equipment. The main one would be safety glasses (decent ones) since parts are often under spring tension and you may work with high RPM tools. Other honorable mentions would be latex gloves or a respirator when working with potentially harmful solvents and oils. Also hearing protection when working with loud machinery or test-firing firearms.
3. Modifications, alterations, and customizations will void your firearm’s warranty 9.5 times out of 10. Please take that into consideration before attempting any at-home gunsmithing.
4. If you are unsure about proper safety practices, disassembly procedures, or warranty standards, stop, put down the tools, and consult a competent gunsmith.

Where Experience Shines: Colt 1851 Maintenance

I’m not the bragging type but I did know exactly what was wrong with this gun before I even took out a single screw. You may recall an older TFB Armorer’s Bench article ( Diagnosing and Assessing a Remington 1858) where everything will seem all too familiar. This is because most of the American single-action revolvers of the mid-late 1800s had similar operating principles, ones that soldier on into modern day. A hand intersects with ratchet teeth on the rear of a cylinder, pushing them upward and rotating the cylinder. When the hand has reached its apex a part called the bolt (looks like a little half-moon button) springs up and locks into the notch on the side of the cylinder. This locks the cylinder in place and prevents it from moving while being prepared to fire or fired.

So! If out cylinder rotates when the hammer is cocked but does not lock up upon full cock what does this mean? Something is going on with the bolt mechanism. Could there be crud in the bolt hole preventing movement? Yes especially with a black powder revolver but it's unlikely since that part is always moving or outward when the gun is being fired. It would clear itself. The bolt is a fairly thick nub and they are not prone to breakage unless someone was fanning the revolver. This leaves the spring which is responsible for lifting the bolt up through a hole in the frame.

In Need of Attention: Colt 1851 Maintenance

Skipping ahead again and taking things apart just enough we can see several issues. The wedge screw has seen some better days. That is an easy fix and one of the most enjoyable fixes I can do on short notice. Next would be scattered surface rust speckling throughout besides the larger deposits on the inside bits. If this had a steel frame I would assume things would be much worse off.

The Repairs: Colt 1851 Maintenance

Turning our attention to the mucked-up screw we can follow a procedure I have explained before on TFB Armorer’s Bench ( TFB Armorer's Bench: Cleaning Up and Fire Bluing Screws). The screw is placed in a jeweler's block, its high spots beaten and peened down flat and into the cut, then recut with a screw file (these are expensive and I don't own any) or a hack saw blade.

From there the screw is polished by chucking it into a drill and kissing it with sandpaper and polishing compound if need be. With a polished in-the-white screw head we can flame blue it with a torch. This is done with a sort of wicking motion over the flame. The screw will turn gold, purple, and then black. When it is the desired color it gets quenched in oil to freeze it where it stands.

Next up let’s address the rust. The speckling is so minimal that this does not require the more involved setup of my normal conversion process. Again this is a topic I have covered before on more major projects. For this I boiled the parts in water for around 15 minutes and carded with some very fine steel wool. It’s time-consuming and messy but things clean up nicely. The spots from the speckles will still be there (it can only be new once) but there won't be any more rust.

Lastly, we have that pesky broken spring. It is as easy as placing a new one in its place. I wish it was more complicated or interesting than that but this was more of a “know what to look for” sort of topic.

Final Thoughts: Colt 1851 Maintenance

There you have it, folks! Another revolver back in action and out in the wild ready to make sparks, bangs and clouds. If you haven’t experienced the fun of a black powder retro gun make sure to check one out. It's not a cheap hobby to get into per se but the entry fee is affordable so to speak. Luckily small parts like the bolt spring are very common and pretty universal across the board. See you next time!