1885 Low Wall RF to CF...DONE! (but question)

[Rbertalotto]

I woke up early today and headed out to the shop with my just received 1885 Low Wall.

This rifle started life as a RF in 32 SHORT and I need to convert it to CF for a reline and chamber in 32-20

And I also needed to repair a nasty job someone did on the firing pin retainer screw.

I'll be writing a whole article with loads of pictures on my web site later today.

But here is how it turned out:






Going into this I knew the firing pin would not be centered on the primer once I finished. I'm surprised the RF pin hit the cartridge as the breech block sits quite low in the receiver.
Once I reassembled the rifle I threw a 32 Short Colt in the chamber with a live primer to see if it went bang....No Joy!


And it appears to me I'm going to have to make a new link to get the breech block higher and the firing pin centered...Am I correct here?





Are links available in various lengths or will I need to make one? If available, from who?

Here is a before and after of the firing pin retainer screw:


I bored it out and used a 1/4-28 bolt as an insert. I had to drill and tap a hole for a 6-48 screw. This was a challeng as the hole needed to be drilled ay an angle to clear the firing pin and not bind.






Once a bit of blending with 220g sandpaper...don't look to bad!



Any help on the link issue is much appreciated.

[Don McDowell]

I would suggest visiting with either Eron Ahmer, or Steve Garbe about the best route to take on fixing that.