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I have an old workhorse BP pistol, an 1858 copy. Not a great gun but fairly accurate. The timing is very slightly off (too far clockwise by a degree or two). When loading the balls into the cylinders using the rammer if I let the cylinder click, the rammer does not go into line with the relevant chamber. Thus will not push the ball in. So my method of coping with this is that I do not allow the cylinder to click that last couple of degrees and the rammer works fine. Ball swages as it should.

Once caps are on, looking directly in line with the sights, barrel and nipple. the same degree or so also shows here but she fires nicely and groups well. However sometimes I can feel debris on my face a split second after I have fired. It is disconcerting and not pleasant. So can any of you suggest or confirm the cause. I think because the ball is not completely in line with the barrel there is an increased flashback of burning powder.

I have stopped using this BP pistol but looking through the internet there is such a wide range of information I do not know who to trust. I live in south Bucks and if I cannot fix it myself I would like a recommendation for a local pistol smith to do so.

Thank you in advance

I have seen exactly the same problem on a fairly new Pietta /Remington, I had assumed without stripping it down the hand was a tad too long and it was over indexing.

If it is a Pietta then spares are readily available from Henry Krank. Mine was a bit of a wreck timing wise, and someone had dry fired it repeatedly and hammered the nipples and trashed the hammer. I was really lucky - when I bought the service kit and fitted all the bits I only needed a slight tickle with wet and dry to smooth things out on the timing front and it's been fine.
Not very accurate with the original sight set up, though. Nowhere near point of aim.

You won't get anything from Kranks at the moment. They already ordered from Pietta earlier so won't be getting another shipment for months. I tried and that was the answer they gave me.

Graham M wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 7:44 am You won't get anything from Kranks at the moment. They already ordered from Pietta earlier so won't be getting another shipment for months. I tried and that was the answer they gave me.

You can buy directly from Pietta and it's wayyy cheaper even with postage and import duty.

I’m a little more ruthless than you fellas. An Italian M/L revolver starts to fail, bin it. Three hours of gunsmith time would actually buy you a fairly decent replacement.

Sim G wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:22 am I’m a little more ruthless than you fellas. An Italian M/L revolver starts to fail, bin it. Three hours of gunsmith time would actually buy you a fairly decent replacement.

maybe if it is still in BP spec and not near enough £900 nitro jobbie that is slicked and tricked