Chapter 6 – Centaures the Glorious Shooting Irons and then Some

6.2 Cowboy Action Shooting – Need for Some Tuning

 

6.2       6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5   4.2.6 4.2.7 4.2.8 4.2.9

Cowboy Action Shooting – Need for Some Tuning (by Michael „Socks“ Mayer, translation Jörg „Magic Joe“ Ullrich) Springs Hammer Stop Centric Alignment of the Hammer Nipples How To Prevent Caps from Popping Off the Nipples Polishing the Sliding Surfaces Adjusting the Timing Iron Sights Thoughts about Tuning

 

6.2.1

Springs

 

The main spring or hammer spring can be replaced by a weaker one or ground down. When opting for grinding this is a delicate job. You need to work very careful to reach a smooth and even surface of the spring. A thorough polishing is highly recommended. Every weak spot, scratch or unpolished file mark is a potential breaking point!

 

6.2.1_1 Thin aftermarket hammer spring

 

The original cylinder stop/trigger spring is a leaf spring and quite prone to breaking. This usually happens in the middle of a match. It should be replaced by one of the almost unbreakable piano wire trigger/bolt springs.

 

6.2.1_2 Aftermarket piano wire trigger/bolt spring instead of the original, fragile leaf spring

 

6.2.1_3 Cylinder stop/trigger spring – replacement piano wire spring installed

 

Another leaf spring is responsible to working the cylinder rotation. This spring of the so-called hand is another candidate for breaking. It can be removed and replaced by a coil spring with a transfer bolt, after drilling a hole into the frame’s back side (see pictures below). The screwed-on backstrap keeps coil spring and bolt in place and provides the necessary spring tension.

 

 

6.2.1_4 Cylinder’s hand with leaf spring pulled; to the left transfer bolt with coil spring

 

6.2.1_5 Close-up of coil spring, bolt, modified hand

 

6.2.1_6 Frame with additional drilling hole above the left frame screw thread

 

6.2.2

Hammer Stop

 

A hammer stop can be installed. It serves to limit the hammer’s movement down to the necessary distance only. This will reduce unnecessary wear of other moving parts. For the installation of a hammer stop you must cut a thread into the trigger guard from the top and fit a screw into place. The hammer’s travel way then can be limited by screwing in or grinding off the screw which directly affects the hammer spring resting on top (see pictures).

 

6.2.2_1 Screw fit into the trigger guard

 

6.2.2_2 Hammer stop – mode of operation

 

6.2.3

Centric Alignment of the Hammer

 

Aligned correctly, the screwed-in hammer should fall into a snug fit in the frame driven by just its own gravity. Some Centaures present themselves with too much clearance between the hammer and the frame. This causes the hammer to move slightly to the left or right dragging along the inside of the frame. This dragging in turn will slow down the hammer and might cause failures to ignite the caps.

 

6.2.3_1 Such thin washers will secure the centric alignment of the hammer

 

This situation is eliminated by fitting thin washers on the hammer screw. They ensure the hammer’s centric alignment.

 

6.2.4

Nipples

 

The cones of the original nipples installed at the Belgian factory are of almost cylindrical shape. This shape might cause the caps to slide off the cones. To overcome this situation exact measurements of the distance between the nipples and the hammer’s striking surface were taken. Then the factory nipples were replaced by new ones, specially produced according to these parameters from beryllium copper.

Those beryllium nipples have a thread measurement of .225 x 32G.

 

6.2.4_1 Beryllium nipples especially made for Centaures, available through Vorderlader Shop in Eschenburg, contact info see chapter 7.2

 

In the U.S.A. you can purchase nipples available by the brand name of SliXShot. These SliXShot nipples were recommended by competition shooters on the western side of the Atlantic after extensive field trials. These nipples feature relief vents in the side of the cones‘ walls. They are supposed to direct the gas blow-out to the sides, thus preventing the cap from being blown off. Unfortunately, these nipples do not seem to be regularly available in Europe. Hence, they could not be tested.

Regarding the so-called frozen nipples I use copper or teflon paste on the threads of the nipples to prevent this from happening. These pastes are inexpensive and work flawlessly for me. Some shooters prefer to wrap teflon tape around the thread. This procedure is too cumbersome and fiddly for my thick fingers.

 

6.2.5

How To Prevent Caps from Popping Off the Nipples

 

Caps falling off the nipples before the ignition are not acceptable. They must have a snug fit on the nipples. If the caps do fall off the nipples have to be replaced.

Cap fragments falling off after the ignition can sneak their way into the revolver’s mechanism and cause jams. Finding the right caps will require some testing. After our torture test we only use Remington’s No. 10 percussion caps. In conjunction with the above-mentioned switch to aftermarket nipples we could eliminate most of these typical problems.

Incidentally, for some time already I suspected the slot in the hammer’s striking surface – originally cut for placing the hammer on the safety pins at the cylinder’s breech side – to be responsible for biting into the caps’ soft copper and pulling them off the cones when cocking the hammer again to fire the next chamber.

In our shooting sport we only load just five chambers but rest the hammer safely on the sixth empty chamber. Hence, we have no need for the hammer’s cut resting on the safety pin. Therefore, I had the cut welded and the surface polished.

 

6.2.5_1 Slot in the hammer’s face welded and polished!

 

Some purists will perceive this as a condemnable sin. They are right but safe ignition under the time pressure of a match is more important to me than historical correctness.

The internet tells us about another method, where a pin is installed at the top of the frame exactly where the hammer’s slot will be in the moment of ignition. This shall prevent caps from falling off or being pulled off. Allegedly this works quite well. But then again, this is considered as modification of a substantial part of the gun. In many countries, Germany, included this task is required to be carried out by a certified gunsmith.

 

6.2.6

Polishing The Sliding Surfaces

 

Polishing significantly reduces the friction of all moving parts. You have to be careful not to remove the hardened surface of the steel, however. If that mishap happens you will have to re-do the hardening. If you don’t dare to do it on your own, you better leave this job to a knowledgeable gunsmith.

 

6.2.7

Adjusting the Timing

 

An expert can rework the revolver’s mechanical parts in such a way that cocking the hammer into the loading position exactly corresponds with the cylinder bolt stop popping-up in the cylinder’s notch. When doing so, be sure that every single cylinder bore exactly aligns with the barrel.

 

6.2.8

Iron Sights

 

In Cowboy Action Shooting fast target acquisition is the name of the game because it saves precious time. Therefore, you may consider opening-up the rear sight notch in the hammer a bit and make possible sideways corrections of the point of impact (POI) by filing away the material asymmetrically.

It is suggested you plan your work carefully because once the steel is gone you can’t make it come back!

 

6.2.8_1 Rear sight on the hammer top opened-up a mite for faster target acquisition

 

Centaures of early production were fitted at the factory with the historically correct low profile front sights. For the use in our sport this type of front sight should be replaced by a higher one. While you are contemplating you may want to consider the new higher front sight to be made of German silver. This way it will look authentic. Incidentally, Centaures of later production date feature higher front sights (see chapter 2.1), compared to the Italian clones or Colts of the 2nd or 3rd generation percussion 1860s. This gives you the edge when adjusting the point of impact (POI) to your favorite load.

 

6.2.9

Thoughts about Tuning

 

You decide if you feel tuning your guns is actually needed and will benefit your shooting style. Tuning is not a must. There are very successful shooters out there who use their guns just as they come out of the box. I proposed above a few options after trial and error because they work for me. I am certain the measures described can significantly improve the gun’s functional reliability. On the other hand I admit that some of the improvements are at the expense of the originality. However, most of the alterations are reversible. Please, consider that the tuning steps suggested are for Cowboy Action Shooting (C.A.S.). They are in line with the rules of the Bund Deutscher Sportschützen (BDS) and the Single Action Shooting Society (S.A.S.S.). Therefore, no extreme tuning measures were suggested, like the replacement of the main spring of leaf type by a coil spring.

 

6.2.9_1 Magic Joe firing: Quick target acquisition saves time

 

 

Updated February 22, 2024

© Michael, Neely & Wolf 2007/2024

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