[SAKOHUNTER]

Well my OA came today and I am quite pleased. Bought it LNIB off Gunbroker for $395....not really LNIB because of some handling marks and a buggered screw head (grip screw) but nonetheless I am happy.

Trigger is pretty decent because it has no creep but it is kinda stiff.

Will a lighter spring help?? If so, how light can I go and still pop a cap and where can I get one? Thanks!

http://nas4.atlanta.gbhinc.com/GB/060815000/60815522/pix3814044485.jpg

[Aries-]

wooooo its shiny and peeerty ! :)

if you fire it its gonna get all dirty :)

[MutinousDoug]

A lighter spring may help some but sear engagement surfaces determine creep and let off, by and large.
Disassembly and inspection of those engagement surfaces under a lupe will tell you a lot regarding wear and actual surface to surface engagement.
Hope your screwdrivers fit your Ruger better than my (numerous) sets do, 'cause if you plan on shooting that thing alot, you'll be taking it apart a bunch.

HTH

[mec]

I took one coil off the trigger return plunger spring and it lightened mine considerably. I left the mainspring at full strength to avoid problems with poor ignition and hammer blowback.

[sundance44s]

Nice buy ..and at that price a new set of screws wouldn`t be bad .The Ruger does have a coil spring ..to bad they didn`t make it adjustable ... i would order a new spring with the screws and cut a rung at a time off the one in the gun till i got what i wanted .

[Shawnee]

Hi Sakohunter...

FWIW....

I have the same ROA though mine was made in 1976. Am having the trigger "redone" by Jule (BigIron Barrel Works) who is quite cautious and meticulous about such things. On mine, he has worked first on the notches and, after I've fired it a couple hundred times to determine metal wear, we'll then decide about altering spriings etc. This approach is being taken because the hardness of the steel, at least in some of the early models, varied a bit.
The work Jule has done so far is excellent as the trigger pull that was mushy with considerable creep and overtravel has already become lots crisper and thus "feels better and lighter" even though the lbs. have not been drastically reduced.
Will be interested to hear how you fare with the spring alterations!:)

[SAKOHUNTER]

Thanks guys!

The more I dry fire it the more I like the trigger, actually.

While dry firing I noticed that on three of the chambers the cylinder rotates counterclockwise a bit when the hammer falls....giving a 1/4 moon barrel to chamber miss-alignment.:confused: If I let the hammer down slowly with my thumb then it doesn't do that.

Do I have timing issue here or is the trigger hitting three of the nipples? The manual says it's ok to dry fire.

[Jamie C.]

Sounds like it's out of time, and the hand isn't pushing the cylinder around far enough for the bolt to catch.

If you cock it quickly, you may not notice this as much, since the hand will tend to "throw" the cylinder around far enough to catch. And cocking it slowly may not allow any of the 6 chambers to lock into place, if the hand is worn too short.

Try this: Cock the revolver as slowly as possible, then try to turn the cylinder. If it moves when at full cock, or you hear the bolt fall into place when you try to turn it, it needs timing work.


J.C.

[SAKOHUNTER]

"Try this: Cock the revolver as slowly as possible, then try to turn the cylinder. If it moves when at full cock, or you hear the bolt fall into place when you try to turn it, it needs timing work."

Tried that and no movement....can't tell about hearing the bolt?? 4 clicks each time.

I also took the nipples out then dry fired it and it worked perfectly...no movement at all??

[Jamie C.]

Tried that and no movement....can't tell about hearing the bolt?? 4 clicks each time.

It should click 4 times when it's cocked regardless of whether or not the bolt was falling into the right place... (the bolt would still click when it hit the cylinder) What I was wanting you to listen for was a click when the cylinder moved, if it did move.


Next thing to try is, with the nipples out, place your finger or thumb on the side of the cylinder, then while keeping the digit in contact with the cylinder ( You don't need to push hard on the cylinder. You just want to drag on it a bit ), cock the gun. SLOWLY. Once the gun is fully cocked, check to see if the cylinder is locked up, or if it needs to rotate just a bit more for the bolt to catch.


J.C.

[SAKOHUNTER]

"Next thing to try is, with the nipples out, place your finger or thumb on the side of the cylinder, then while keeping the digit in contact with the cylinder ( You don't need to push hard on the cylinder. You just want to drag on it a bit ), cock the gun. SLOWLY. Once the gun is fully cocked, check to see if the cylinder is locked up, or if it needs to rotate just a bit more for the bolt to catch."

Ok..did that and it locked up every time.

[Jamie C.]

Hmm... This has me wondering if you have a weak bolt spring, and the hammer is somehow jarring the bolt out of the notch when it falls... ( All of the bolt notches are clean, with sharp edges, aren't they? Same for the bolt? )

Also... is there any movement in the cylinder, front to back? Or any lateral wiggle?

Tough to figure this stuff out without seeing the gun... :(


J.C.

[4v50 Gary]

Sakohunter: For Pete's sake, take the darn thing out and shoot it. Don't worry about the action yet and all this concern is academic if the darn gun shoots. Besides, shooting 'em is more fun than just sitting at home speculating about 'em. Congratulations on your acquisition. My first was a Ruger Old Army and I have it to this day.

[SAKOHUNTER]

Edges and notches appear to be sharp. Hardly any movement front to back and very little lateral movement.

Here are some pics:

[SAKOHUNTER]

Sakohunter: For Pete's sake, take the darn thing out and shoot it. Don't worry about the action yet and all this concern is academic if the darn gun shoots. Besides, shooting 'em is more fun than just sitting at home speculating about 'em. Congratulations on your acquisition. My first was a Ruger Old Army and I have it to this day.

I knew that was coming! :D

Just being paranoid I guess....:o

[Duncaninfrance]

I agree 1000% with Gary - get the b***dy thing dirty and give it some exercise:cuss: :cuss: :cuss:
And just thank your lucky stars that you have one at all :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Jamie C.]

Gotta go with the rest of 'em on this one, SAKOHUNTER... take it out and shoot it and see what happens.

If it did okay with all the checks I suggested, odds are it'll shoot just fine.

If it don't, come back and tell us about it and we'll try again. ;)


J.C.

[SAKOHUNTER]

Thanks guys for the help...I guess I will go burn some powder and see what happens! :D

[SAKOHUNTER]

I decided to send it back to Ruger and I got it back today. Turns out it was out of time and Ruger fixed it for free and paid the freight back.

Finally I can go burn some powder!:D

[SAKOHUNTER]

After futher reading of the repair ticket.....

They replaced the hammer, trigger, cylinder latch, cylinder latch spring, cylinder, and base pin.

Damn, I am impressed with Ruger customer service!:cool: