Base Pin

[Mutt]

Tired of having a tough time pulling the BASE PIN ON MY SINGLE ACTION PISTOLS

Ordered a tool from Brownells today for that purpose .Costly but if it keeps from scratching a 1200 dollar gun , $28 piece of spring steel is well worth it. Did not know until today such an instrument existed . Shoulld be here in about 10 days . Hope it works as advertised .........

...........................MUTT

[Buck Elliott]

I bought one years ago.. Mine is a rod with a puller machined into each end of it.. One end for Colts, &c., the other end for Rugers.. It has saved a lot of effort and frustration over time, not to mention being easier on the guns than most other methods..

The tool is 5" long, over-all, and 5/8" diameter, made of Hardened steel. There is a flat section about 1 1/4" long milled into each end, with a proper-sized notch cut into the tip. The tip is beveled to give good access to the steps or collar on the basepin..

Most Colts don't have a basepin problem, but a lot of Rugers and older Italian SAs have basepin bores in the frame that don't line up exactly.. Sometimes, the holes were reamed a bit, or a slightly under-sized pin was used, to make everything fit, at assembly.. Cylinder slop was the unhappy result of such match-ups..

When I worked at Freedom Arms, i would line-hone the basepin bores in the frames, even though they had been line-bored to begin with.. A double-shoe arbor in a Sunnen Hone did the trick, and dimensions were held within 0.0001" diameter. It was a highly skilled job, requiring a steady hand, and a good eye, and great concentration.. The results were worth the effort.. Cylinder basepin bores were similarly honed, on a long-shoe arbor. I am not aware of any other manufacturer that takes the time to do that kind of work. Basepins themselves were run on a centerless grinder, to the same tolerance...

[M. M. Wright]

I had one of the pullers from Brownells. It worked great. Let a friend talk me out of it at the last Wanamacher show. Now I have to order another or try my hand at making one. I think Eddie Janis sells them too.

[J Miller]

I guess I've been lucky. I've only had base pin problems when I've caused them by slipping the collared pin in out of alignment and with my OM Ruger .357. That one was fixed by reducing the end shake on the cylinder.
The rest, my Ubertis and other Rugers don't seem to care how dirty they are, they come right out.

Buck,
Could you describe how a centerless grinder worlds for machine challenged persons such as me?

Joe

[AJMD429]

Buck,
Could you describe how a centerless grinder worlds for machine challenged persons such as me?

Gosh, Joe, everyone knows that. I can't believe you have to ask...

I'd tell you myself, but, er... well right now I'm kind of busy, and besides, I know Buck would like to tell you himself...

[DPris]

Guess I've been double-lucky.
The only time I've ever had a sticky basepin in any SA was a USFA Rodeo. Nice gun otherwise, but I had to take it to my gunsmith to get the pin out. After which he had to fabricate a new one to replace it.
New pin comes out easily.
Denis

[Griff]

I guess I've been lucky...
Buck,
Could you describe how a centerless grinder worlds for machine challenged persons such as me?
Joe

Gosh, Joe, everyone knows that. I can't believe you have to ask...
I'd tell you myself, but, er... well right now I'm kind of busy, and besides, I know Buck would like to tell you himself...

+1
Ok, so both ME & Joe are the only ones that don't know.

[Base Pin Maker]

Mutt, check for burrs at the notch, sometimes a burr is kicked up by firing, and can be polished a bit and makes it easier to get the pin out. Kelye

[kimwcook]

Well, I've got Kelye's base pins in both my Colt SAA's and they're tight. I actually had to spin the pins in a drill press and take some material off to get them to go in and out without super effort. I do need to pickup one of those tools though. Sometimes if I'm not real careful I can get'em stuck and then it's a real pain.

[Buck Elliott]

Simply put, a centerless grinder consists of two opposing, rotating wheels.. The Grinding wheel turns on a fixed axis, while the other, the Pressure wheel is on a movable axis, to allow for adjustment of the Part diameter. The pressure wheel axis can also be rotated, to facilitate auto feeding of parts through the machine. The part to be ground is placed between the wheels, and rests on a Blade, or support, and is held in place at three points: by the two wheels and the support blade... The part is rotated by the wheels, and a minute anount of material is removed by the grinding wheel. Cylindrical or grooved parts can be fed into one end of the machine and dropped out the other, by angling the axis of the pressure wheel, as stated above... To grind something like a base pin, with an enlarged head profile, the axes of the wheels are kept parallel, wiith the head or first step of the pin acting as a locater against the end of the support blade.. It is possible to achieve very tight dimensional control by this method, as there is virtually no deflection of the part (pin) away from tool (grinding wheel) pressure, because of the 3-way support.

Hope this helps...

[J Miller]

Thanks Buck, it does.

Just for the record, I have a Belt Mountain over sized Colt base pin in my Uberti Cattleman. It might have been over sized for a Colt but it was a real nice fit in the Uberti.

Joe

[Charles]

I have had lots of tight base pins. I just take a piece of brass rod and file one end so it will get a bite on the pin and tape the other end with a small hammer. It has always worked for me.

[Buck Elliott]

Even the tip of a small screwdriver will work, if you're very careful.. But I still recommend Brownell's pin puller..

I have some Belt Mtn base pins for my old Vaqueros, and they fit perfectly.. They even have the Colt-style heads, which are a lot better looking than the OEM pins.... I think I'm the one who talked Kellye into making them...

[rossim92]

I have this problem with my taylor smokewagon .357 magnum sa. I posted this a while back when i first joined this forum.Some advice from several other members told me to soak the pin and cylinder for a while with a cleaning agent. Was told they made a pin puller just as you described here.. I just happened to have a pair of pliers that are notched in the teeth of the jaws. Just cover with a rag and give a straight pull and it pops right out. Just do what works best for you. I don't shoot very much, but hopefully, over time with more shooting and cleaning, the wear factor will make it easier to remove in the future.

[kimwcook]

I don't shoot very much, but hopefully, over time with more shooting and cleaning, the wear factor will make it easier to remove in the future.

Not in my experience or not enough I can tell the difference.

[rimrock]

My base pin comes right on out with thumb and forefinger after loosening the torx head hold screw, but there's no cylinder play at all. Fitted by Ten Ring Precision in San Antonio, Texas.

rimrock

[chadbr]

I learned 2 things in one thread! YES!

Made my day - thanks for the info.

Chad