Do you ream .45 ACP cylinders? Are there any headspace problems afterwards?
Why do you list two sizes for .44 cal? Which do I need?
Almost all 44's will need .4305" The larger .4325" is only used when an over sized 44 barrel is present.
Do I need to remove the ejector/crane from my double action cylinder?
Which guns are undersized?
Which Rugers are undersized?
Which S&W's are undersized?
Are the Italian SAA clones undersized?
What if my cylinder isn't undersized, will I still be charged?
How do I remove the cylinder from my Ruger Redhawk?
Not really. Most of the work is done from the rear of the cylinder and it's being there only presents a minor inconvenience. If you're not comfortable with removing it, there is no need to do so.
Every gun is a law unto itself. I've worked on most of the brands out there, and all the calibers I offer at one time or another. See below.
Every gun is a law unto itself. I can say which guns I see the most of, and in what calibers. Far and away Ruger's make up most of my work. Of the Rugers, 90% of them would be .45's. Most new models, as well as some old models. Both blue and stainless.
I've seen a bunch of the new stainless .41 Bisleys.
I've also found that Ruger .32's and 40S&W-10mm-38-40's seem to always be quite a bit undersized, though there aren't as many in circulation. The .30 Carbines tend to run very tight, though we do not offer .30 as one of our calibers.
As far as S&W goes, the stainless steel .44's seem to always be ever so slightly undersized. Some of the newer .45's as well.
While I have done a few AWA's, the Italian guns seem to be oversized more often than undersized. That is to say, I return more of them back to the owners without working on them, than any other .45 cylinder.
You will be issued a refund, minus the shipping costs. We do however ask you to try and determine if you have a problem before you send your cylinder.
Try this link from the NRA. http://www.nrapublications.org/TAR/RugerRedhawk.asp
Why's it take longer than it used to?
("It's dead Jim!") This started out as a favor and turned into a hobby business. Originally I would pick the cylinders up at lunch, do them on my free time, and mail them back on my way home from work. That's why for a long time the standard quote was "same day", or "next day" turn around. Situations changed and I was no longer able to do that. So it became "3 days maximum." That gave way to "3 business days". But after spending way too many late nights at the work bench to be sure I kept my word, I'm down to "Around three business days." More often then not, it's less than three days.
As I've said before, when this starts to become too much like work, I'll stop. Well the "worry" is often more trouble than the work itself. So no more doing them in the wee hours. No more forcing myself to do them when I really don't want to, or shouldn't. Neither of those things help the quality of the work, or my attitude towards the "business" in general. I started to dread doing them, it started to become more work (worry) than I wanted. So rather than stop all together I cut myself some slack. So on a rare occasion a cylinder may take 4-5 days, but I'm sure you'd agree it's better to make you wait a few extra days than to force myself to do the work half heartedly, half awake, or under the weather. (I got to where I dreaded doing them, so I stopped.)
Why are you "Cylindersmith" if all you do is throat?
Well.. because when I started there were two other people already doing it, and they both had "Throat" in their name and I needed something different. ;)
No, I do not do rechambers (at least to anyone else's guns). I also don't do chamber polishing or chamfering. I played around with both of those and generally speaking they were more trouble then they were worth. Chamfering and polishing both lead to bluing issues, as well as "it's not enough"-"It's too much" headaches that I wanted nothing to do with.
Are you a professional gunsmith or machinist?
This is a hobby business, not my profession. It helps fund my hobby. It mostly keeps me in primers, bullets and the occasional firearm. (more often then not though it's gas money) While I've worked in metal fabrication, it really isn't relevant to this type of work. I'm just a life long gun tinkerer and hobby gunsmith. To date I've done easily 500+ cylinders, originally doing them free for friends and internet acquaintances. Then for the better part of a year I did them at my own expense, with all the proceeds going to the "PCM Fund". That was getting costly, and in need tools, it was time to either make it a business or stop all together. So it became the hobby business it is today. When it becomes too much of a job, I'll stop.
Here is sort of a long rambling page I posted on the old Sixgunner.com as an open letter explaining where I was. http://www.cylindersmith.com/open.htm
