1902 American Eagle

[spacecoast]

Thanks Alexander - I'll probably do just that as she is a tight shooting sweetheart and although a "mutt" she is unique and a great conversation piece and research project. I plan to contact the previous owner and see what history he might have on the pistol and also with the unrealistic hope that perhaps the "old" barrel might still be around. Right now her head spacing seems a bit off as she won't always lockup but that may be the old leaf main spring is tired - I have a new spring coming and hopefully that will correct things.

It's possible that the 7.65mm ammo might not have enough recoil to reliably operate the toggle and return to battery since the gun was originally 9mm. Obviously it's your gun, but it would be a shame to break something numbered and irreplaceable on that rare frame or receiver by shooting it. I'd love to have an Old Model Shooter, but if I had a Fat Barrel (even minus the correct barrel) it would not be my shooter.

By the way, if you do change out the barrel I would be interested in buying your 7.65mm artillery barrel.

[longbarrel]

Thanks for your comments - all good points! I reload so I've worked up different loads sufficient to action pistol reliably but it still lacks the snap-back to lock up reliably. I agree it would be a shame to break any numbered parts and plan to find another firing pin & cut the relief into it to safeguard the breech block. Extractor & ejector are not numbered and I have spares. As far as the 7.65 "arty-barrel"I think it's a rarity in its own right & just has too much "neat" factor to give it up. I am definitely a shooter more than a collector and if it was too valuable to shoot I'd probably sell it off to a true collector.

[Dwight Gruber]

Originally Posted by longbarrel

...it still lacks the snap-back to lock up reliably...

If 7,65 ammunition ejects adequately and chambers a round, the recoil spring is not the first place I would look, although it is certainly weakened over time.

It is more likely that the additional mass of the long barrel with the artillery sight is too much to permit final lockup--it is certainly more than the pistol was originally "tuned" for. No amount of load manipulation will compensate for this.

--Dwight

[longbarrel]

Thanks for your observations Dwight, I certainly appreciate all the input I'm receiving from everyone so far. To be honest I never thought about the mass of the barrel, sight etc being a factor and that's why I love this type of "think-tanking". To give you a bit more info to evaluate I have been leaning toward the conclusion that the head-spacing may be slightly off on this barrel as it took heavy pressure to lock up the toggle. I then adjusted the overall length of the casing and tried some rounds with casings I trimmed back .0002" and found this almost got me to a steady lock-up without overly powered ammo about 60% of the time. At this point it only takes a little pressure to complete lock-up and that's why I thought the original double leaf spring might be tired. Unfortunately I lack the capability to accurately confirm chamber dimensions and use these McGyvered tests instead. My new spring should be here by the end of the week and I'll post my results in thanks to all who have assisted me.
My apologies to anyone I'm giving heart attacks to and I'll definitely treat the old girl with more respect but she'll still go dancing!
Also thanks to everyone for the pics of your own guns; however, it does raise one question as I notice the markings on many are white and stand out more than mine and I was wondering why this was?
Sincere thanks -- Bruce