[MatthewVanitas]

Read through the Search, got some good info on the GP-100, making sure that it's the same for the Speed Six models.

So, IIUC, I have a few options:

a) Mix up a slurry of an very mild abrasive and an oil (CLP and JB Bore), coat the innards, and dry fire repeatedly.

b) Cut coils, one at a time, off the mainspring

c) Get the Wolff 3-spring kit, try each spring and figure out which porridge is too hot/cold and which is just right

d) Polish (not grind) the internals with a "jeweler's wheel" whatever that is. Is there any attachment for a (cue ominous music)... Dremel tool which can be used for polishing, at the very slowest speeds?

e) Dryfire the living heck out of it (with snap-caps, even though Ruger manual says not necessary)


Thanks for any info. Some time between now and property-tax time, my Speed Six and my S&W 28 will enter the Revolver Thunderdome (two wheelguns enter, one wheelgun leaves) and the loser will be sold to pay Travis county its blood money.

-MV

[Kor]

First thing to do is get the Wolff 3-pack of mainsprings, that will be the cheapest, quickest and easiest thing to try. Naturally, test-fire with a couple of boxes of factory ammo after installation, maybe take your tools and extra springs to the range at the same time just in case. Don't clip the original mainspring, if you cut off too many coils it's ruined, and you'll still have to buy a replacement to get the gun back in action.

I'm not sure you need to mix CLP with the JB Bore Cleaner paste, I believe it contains oil already. The -Six series and GP/SP series guns have a lot of space between parts in their lockwork design, so a lot of your abrasive paste will basically just sit there and not get worked in between contact surfaces. It's still an inexpensive and relatively easy thing to try, just be sure to remove the lockwork and ****** ALL that abrasive out afterwards. I might just dab some JB on the contact surfaces with a Q-tip first, then dry-fire it a few hundred times. Use snap-caps or fired cases in the chambers, if you don't, after a thousand or so dry-fires the firing pin will peen out the edges of its channel in the breechface - if the peening is severe enough, it will drag on your case heads and affect your trigger pull until you grind/polish that ridge off.

You can get Cratex polishing wheels for a Dremel tool, they are essentially hunks of pen eraser(mild abrasive mixed with latex rubber) on a Dremel mandrel. Brownell's and Midway should have them available, if you can't get them at a local Ace, Lowes or Home Despot. Cratexes are supposed to not remove much metal, but if you get carried away you can still remove too much metal with them. You may find it easier to polish the sear surfaces if you detail-strip the trigger group, but be aware that the trigger return spring is a BEAR to get back in place correctly. Polish surfaces mirror-shiny, but DON'T GET CARRIED AWAY - I ruined the original trigger on my Speed-Six that way, and had to buy a replacement from Numrich Gun Parts. Especially, DO NOT change any angles on the parts, just mirror-polish and MAYBE break any sharp edges SLIGHTLY. If tool marks are deep enough on the 'tail' of the trigger to catch your fingernail, DON'T try to polish them all smooth and flat - you may remove too much metal(as I did) and the trigger will no longer raise the hammer in double-action(it'll stub itself against part of the hammer instead). Just lightly kiss the area with the Cratex until your fingernail no longer drags.

Above all, go slow, re-assemble and test for function often...

[HSMITH]

Partner, I have been there and done that. Leave it alone. It will shoot any ammo you buy, do it accurately and reliably. Start hosing around with things and all that goes out the window.

I hope you take this for what it is, but you can't buy skill. Dry fire the heck out of this gun, shoot a couple hundred "shots" a day from it, but no more than 5 minutes at a time at first. Each day add 10 shots to the routine. say 100 before work, 100 before supper, and 100 before bed. Each day add 10 more. When you are at the thousand plus a day mark you will be able to pick up anything you find and shoot it better than you can imagine.


Just remember, practice without quality is just learning to do things wrong, When you can no longer hold a VERY tight group in dry fire stop. DO NOT continue. It will only help you learn the wrong way. If you can add 20 reps a day go for it, but don't feel bad if you can only learn from 2 more reps each day. Rush this and you will get what you paid for in return. Hold yourself 110% accountable for every shot even in dryfire and you will get better faster than ANYONE with a lesser commitment will ever believe.

[StrikeEagle]

In my view, the safest and best option is e) Dryfire the living heck out of it

That's what I did with my Security Six. It's also really fun to handle and do dryfire training. (Please do be safe!)

I don't trust spring replacements. A skilled gunsmith can stone it and polish it and tune it... but that's not me. If it's not you either, just snap it. :)

[Dienekes]

Second what HSSMITH said above. Only thing I would add is what Ed Mcgivern advised about DA shooting: Control the trigger movement in both directions, with same speed both ways and release it fully going forward to avoid "double clutching".

Took the Ruger armorer's course in 1990 and still have the course notes. (Kuhnhausen's book is good also. Have used them continuously since 1981 and have never touched a spring. ...If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

[Al Thompson]

Keep both guns, get a second job to pay the taxes. Security and pizza delivery are not stressful and tend to always be hiring. :)

[Onmilo]

Working a trigger job on a Security Six right now I can tell you that cutting the mainspring will only lead to misfires.
Wolff springs have made no appreciable difference in this particular revolver, the factory springs actually produce a better and more consistent trigger pull weight and feel.
I have polished the sides of the trigger well and hammer slot and am working on very precisely polishing the parts that need polishing using a very fine ceramic stone.
The trigger assembly slot and the hammer slot are critically dimensioned and must remain so for proper functioning in these handguns and the parts are investment cast.
Cut too much or even too fast and it isn't hard at all to mess one of these revolvers up to the point where parts replacement becomes neccessary.
Go slow, fit and recheck often.

[Confederate]

Wolff spring kits aren't generally known for their great quality, nor do I believe they are stainless steel. The best way I've found for reducing DA pull is to take the mainspring housing apart, then file down the shoulders of the spring guide, a little on each side. Doesn't take very long and you won't destroy the integrity of the springs.

I've oft heard the best way to slick up Rugers is to dry-fire them. Some folks call it the 500-snap trigger job. Needless to say, the gun should be unloaded and pointed in a safe direction.

[GrandmasterB]

I have done my own trigger work on several Ruger Security Six and Speed Six revolvers. It can be done.

Here is what I did:

1. Replace the trigger return spring with the reduced power spring available from Wolff
2. Polish the hammer, trigger, pins and bearing surfaces where there is contact between metal parts of the trigger mechanism. I used Flitz and a felt bob on a Dremel. I just polished, I did not remove metal. In a few places on one gun, I used a stone to remove some tooling marks and then polished. I removed VERY LITTLE metal in that case. The others didn't need that much work.
3. Replace the mainspring with either a 10lb or an 11lb mainspring from Wolff for the GP-100. That's right -- the GP-100 springs are available in lighter weights than the Security or Speed Six springs and they fit just fine. One gun fired everything with the 10lb spring, another had a few misfires but worked perfect with the 11lb spring.
4. Polish the mainspring strut and remove any burrs. Polish the contact point between the mainspring strut and the hammer.
5. Use a good oil or even a light (lithium) grease inside to maintain lubricity between the parts

This lightened and smoothed the trigger pull substantially and all the guns have been reliable for several thousand rounds since.