Want help getting the barrel off your Colt or Replica open-top revolver?
Some notes pertaining to your 19th Century firearm
Your firearm was manufactured many, many years ago and of course, it carries no guarantee of any sort. It is however, a small and treasured piece of history so you will want to do all you can to preserve it, here are a few very simple things you can do to in order to help insure your antique weapon's continued longevity:
1) never dry-fire the gun: several critical internal parts can easily be damaged or even ruined by doing this. When the gun actually fires a cartridge, the cartridge primer absorbs the blow of the hammer, cushioning the impact that might otherwise damage the firing pin, hammer or lock frame. Old gun parts, especially small parts are notoriously hard, with some bordering on brittle; the impact of a falling hammer hitting the frame can cause the part to shatter, sometimes firing pins break or even hammer spurs. In extreme cases we have seen hammers broken in half.
2) never attempt to pull the trigger when the hammer is in the ½ cock, loading or safety position: the searing area of these triggers are very thin and fragile on many old guns, pulling the trigger while the hammer and trigger are in either above position can cause the tip of the trigger and/or the hammer notches to break out which will in turn cause the gun to malfunction, these areas can be difficult and expensive to repair. The pertains not only to single action revolvers but also to many single shot, lever action as well as some pump guns.
3) never slam the barrel closed with top-break or tip-up action revolvers: Doing this can easily bend the lock frame or the top strap of the barrel and you might very well cause irreparable damages.
4) springs and hardened steel parts in these guns are very prone to breakage. One must always remember that they were made 100 or more years ago, before the time when much was known about steel alloys and the proper heat treatment of them. If a spring or small part suddenly breaks, don't be surprised; they all did it regardless of quality, this is just a part of owning an old gun that you will have to expect. If you will carefully follow the hints #1-2-3 above, your chances of experiencing a broken part will be minimized greatly.
5) black powder ammunition, yes. Smokeless powder ammunition, NO! These firearms were manufactured in the black powder era of steel alloys that were at best, flawed by modern standards and certainly were never heat treated to withstand the pressures generated by smokeless ammunition. The use of smokeless powder ammunition even with very light loads can severely damage or ruin your revolver.
6) fitting hard rubber grips, be careful! Much of the damage done to hard rubber (what they used to call "gutta percha") grips is the result of someone trying to force a pair of grips onto a gun that they did not come off. Bear in mind that any gaurantee the maker may have offered on those grips expired several generations before you were born so you get only one chance to do this right. Hard rubber is exactly as its name implies "hard", its also brittle and after being around for 100 years or so, its a bit like a potato chip.With older firearms, each grip frame is a little different from the next, even though you may have two guns of the exact make and model that doesn't mean the grips will interchange. Use caution, if a grip doesn't fit easily and pefectly, without any effort; DO NOT FORCE IT! Either take the time to carefully fit the grip to the gun or have a skilled gunsmith do it for you.