Colt Peacemaker known issues?

[Sniper Pete]

I've had similar issues with mine. It boils down to 3 issues. The first is variation in the cartrige seals. Some are too loose a fit, - some too tight. To overcome this, I made a brass pusher tool,. This tool is just a shouldered brass tapered pin to countersink the pellet in the cartridge. No more pellets left in cartridges and tighter groups!

Then it started happening again, but much worse! This time no gas most of the time, other times the gun would jam in the half cocked position on squeezing the trigger. Apart it came....

First fault was there were still casting flash/burrs on the trigger sear. Also the end wasn't finished square. Half an hr with a swiss file fixed that.

On reassembly I found I had a smooth, light consistent trigger. Only problem was it now dropped into the halfcock position every time.


Apart it came - Again!
After an inspection of the tumbler end of the hammer, I found the halfcock notch to be quite open and the belly of the base of the hammer bulged out, - ensuring the tumbler caught the sear in halfcock position. Turns out some wally had been spinning my gun on their finger in half cock position and also squeezing the trigger with the hammer halfcocked!! ( I was away making some tea)
The remedy was gentle light tapping on the belly with a toffee hammer and a piece of leather to close the sear notch up a little, followed by a little filing of the tumbler belly. Relube and reassemble. The action is now smoother than when it was new, the groups are tighter and the velocity is up.
Sorted!

Zippy,

Thanks for your response.
None of my guns has ever been used by anyone likely to mistreat them. Just me and the gunsmith!

I treat all my guns respectfully. They are all as good as new (when I bought them). They've NEVER been used outdoors, nor in the wet; not dropped, just fired and cleaned lightly occasionally.

That's why I'm a bit narked. This shouldn't be happening, and for the second time! The reason I posted this thread being I was trying to see if it was a known fault, because I cannot see that I'm doing anything to cause this once, let alone twice!
One way or another it will hopefully be repaired (and not do it for the third time).

"you might have a subtly bulged halfcock notch in the tumbler" (sounds painful!)

[zippy]

Zippy,

Thanks for your response.
None of my guns has ever been used by anyone likely to mistreat them. Just me and the gunsmith!

I treat all my guns respectfully. They are all as good as new (when I bought them). They've NEVER been used outdoors, nor in the wet; not dropped, just fired and cleaned lightly occasionally.

That's why I'm a bit narked. This shouldn't be happening, and for the second time! The reason I posted this thread being I was trying to see if it was a known fault, because I cannot see that I'm doing anything to cause this once, let alone twice!
One way or another it will hopefully be repaired (and not do it for the third time).

I'm very careful with my stuff - and I was extremely narked! However looking inside one of these things was a revelation. The design is brilliant, the materials indifferent, the assembly workmanship - shoddy. I think all the SAAs are born with problems or potential problems, Just because the manufacturers wont spend anything on quality control and internal finish. This goes for most of the replica BB/ pellet firers. They all need a proper lube and polish as a bare minimum. You always need 1 boffin/Toymaker in your clan if you want to shoot rep's!

[Sniper Pete]

I'm very careful with my stuff - and I was extremely narked! However looking inside one of these things was a revelation. The design is brilliant, the materials indifferent, the assembly workmanship - shoddy. I think all the SAAs are born with problems or potential problems, Just because the manufacturers wont spend anything on quality control and internal finish. This goes for most of the replica BB/ pellet firers. They all need a proper lube and polish as a bare minimum. You always need 1 boffin/Toymaker in your clan if you want to shoot rep's!

I wish I was confident enough to strip down and repair my guns, but I'm mature in age - my eyes aren't so good and the hands a little shaky to be messing with tiny springs, screws, ball bearings etc;

[Aimstraight]

If it is a potential problem with pellet skirt/seating, you may want to ask the gunsmith what pellets were used to test fire it before they returned it to you....which ones pass their test.

Skirt diameters vary, I remember measuring up Geco and Hobby in the past, I put the numbers on here somewhere; think Geco were slightly smaller. A smaller pellet might not necessarily help if the cartridges vary too (e.g. too loose fit). Zippy seems to have found the answer with a pellet seater.

[gingernut]

I had a similar problem with shooting pellets from my Remington Cowboy.
Gun quite happy with bbs so gave up shooting pellets with it.

Not the answer here I know but I suspect some pellets eg Superdomes might be too tight for the Peacemaker.

I have a few pellet Peacemakers and have not had this problem.
I use Gecos and AA fields.

How old and used is your Peacemaker?

[Sniper Pete]

I had a similar problem with shooting pellets from my Remington Cowboy.
Gun quite happy with bbs so gave up shooting pellets with it.

Not the answer here I know but I suspect some pellets eg Superdomes might be too tight for the Peacemaker.

I have a few pellet Peacemakers and have not had this problem.
I use Gecos and AA fields.

How old and used is your Peacemaker?

Hi Gingernut,
I got the revolver in December 2016, so it's just over 18 months old. Its first failure was at 14 weeks.
These days it probably gets used once every 1-2 weeks, say 100 shots each time. I tend to rotate use between my pistols and revolvers.
I use Bisley Practice in all my pistols, but Webley Accupell in the revolvers. I have tried many other pellets and overall they seem above average and are (normally) trouble free.

[gingernut]

Seems high usage.
!6 cylinders a session.
Maybe its worn out?

Bisley Practice should be ok.

[Sniper Pete]

Seems high usage.
!6 cylinders a session.
Maybe its worn out?

Bisley Practice should be ok.

It may be so, I'm not sure.
Months ago I posted a thread, trying to find out the estimated life span of these Co2 pellet firers. I didn't get any clear indication, so I'm none the wiser!

I made a mistake regarding pellets. I use Bisley Practice in all my pistols and Webley Accupell in the revolvers. I have been through my earlier replies and corrected my error.

[Sniper Pete]

Seems high usage.
!6 cylinders a session.
Maybe its worn out?

Bisley Practice should be ok.

Sorry I made a mistake (Getting old). I use Webley Accupell in the revolvers and Bisley Practice in the pistols.

[gingernut]

Dont know about Accupells.

I read somewhere that Umarex test the Peacemakers to 2500 rounds.
Not much compared to the old Crosman 600s which were cycled on test rigs for hundreds of thousands.

The truth is that most modern co2 guns are not built to last and many cant be repaired.
The exeptions being the original Umarex pellet firers CP88,1911 etc.

But I hope yours can be sorted.

[Sniper Pete]

If it is a potential problem with pellet skirt/seating, you may want to ask the gunsmith what pellets were used to test fire it before they returned it to you....which ones pass their test.

Skirt diameters vary, I remember measuring up Geco and Hobby in the past, I put the numbers on here somewhere; think Geco were slightly smaller. A smaller pellet might not necessarily help if the cartridges vary too (e.g. too loose fit). Zippy seems to have found the answer with a pellet seater.

Hi Aimstraight,

I use Bisley Practice in all my pistols and Webley Accupell in the revolvers. I have experimented with (many) others and overall these were above average for performance. I usually buy 10 tins (of 500) at a time. Get a bit of discount doing this with some sellers.

I dont use a pellet seater - but I use a biro cap , which seats them exactly at the correct depth in the magazine (or shell if using revolvers). This also irons out any (slight) variation in skirt shape. Any pellet too damaged or misformed gets chucked away.

I also now wash and lubricate all my pellets. I used to take the p**s out of people doing so, but it DOES improve performance. I even sometimes WEIGH pellets and sort them into batches by weight. That REALLY brings pellets into good target groupings, but I only do so occasionally. If I were competing then I'd always weigh first. It's quite time consuming and pretty boring doing so.
These days I plink cans and have a variety of targets types, and I'm purely a back garden shooter now.