rifle modifications

[William H. Shuey]

I have a Chattahoochie Amoskeag repro which is serving me rather well except that the bands keep coming loose and sliding up the barrel during an event. Will I get in trouble with the SAC if I do a little creative woodwork and add band springs to the rifle?

Bill Shuey
1st Maine Heavy Artillery

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Biil
If band springs are not on the original gun then I do not think that it will pass SAC inspection. Rather going to all the work of putting on ban springs I would try something else. Like soldering a thin piece of brass to the inside of the band. :idea:

Just my idea maybe it will work and maybe it wont.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Your problem is not at all uncommon on the Colt pattern 1861 Special Model (or even the Enfield), and save the lower band, most original clamping bands on this particular model are loose even today. This was one of the reasons for the change in the regulation Model 1863 (Type I) by reintroducing the barrel bands in the Type II variant. While it might be possible to add barrel band springs to a regulation Model 1863 thereby converting it into a Type II or Model 1864, such a modification on a Colt pattern arm would represent an entirely new model arm that was never manufactured. That is not to say that something cannot be done to relieve your problem.

Probably one of the least intrusive, though by no means innocuous, modifications would be to relieve some of the metal from the inside surface of the clamping bands. Using a flat, thin, diamond file or emery cloth (i.e. Norton’s Sand-Wet waterproof sandpaper, 220 to 400 grit, is another alternative), after removing the screw from each band, relieving some of the metal from the inside face of the threaded side of the clamping band would assist in tightening the clamp on the upper and lower bands though this would have lesser effect on the middle band due to the entrapped sling swivel unless you also relieve it of a portion of its thickness. Equally relieving the screw-head side of the band would have some effect but be very careful not to remove too much metal and chance injuring the recess as this would only serve to elevate the screw-head and ultimately defeat your purpose. In this manner, you probably need not remove more than maybe a thousandth of an inch to achieve the desired effect, so after a few passes of the emery cloth or sandpaper, frequently reassembly and retightening the band to check its snugness would be recommended.

I have heard mention of other alternatives, including inserting pins through the bands to hold them in place and the ilk, but these other techniques are not quite as "invisible" as reliving the clamps of some of their inner surface metal. As I noted above, it's a problem inherent to the British P/53 Enfield and its derivatives, and might even be considered as analogous to the "Edsel" given the rapid abandonment of the clamping bands in favour of band springs among later U.S. model martial arms.

R. McAuley
37th GA

[Bruce Cobb 1723V]

I found a great way to stop this. Put electrical friction type tape under the barrel bands. Layer it if you must to stop the movement. It works great and is cheap too.