Speed Six action

[L-Frame]

I just bought a new Ruger Speed Six, or at least very near new. The action is fairly heavy and gritty, in other words what I have come to expect from most new Ruger revolvers.

How do the Ruger sixes smooth up with an action job? About the same as the GP's? Will extensive dry firing help much?

Any real good guys in the Phoenix area for smoothing Ruger double actions? Thanks.

 

[defiant73a]

The first thing to do is to take it apart and clean it thoroughly--get all the old oil/preservative/gunk out. The second thing to do is to buy a set of snap caps and dry-fire it a few hundred times. It should make a big difference.

 

[Rexster]

IMHO, the double-action Sixes are generally not as smooth as the GP100. One thing common to all Ruger revolvers is that the mainspring has a strut, and if the strut is rough, the trigger pull will suffer. For years, struts tended to be VERY roughly finished, and I doubt dry firing will solve a rough strut situation. Recent GP100s and SP101s seem to have much smoother struts.

 

[johndoe1027]

Odd, I had banghead: ) an older one that was really smooth. Unfortunately I did not make it that way. Good luck with (what I consider to be) an awesome gun!

Have you tried looking to see if there are some parts you could polish a bit? I have started doing that to my guns one by one and it makes a HUGE difference.

 

[Cosmoline]

Ditto cleaning for a start. I've had Sixes that were apparently *never* cleaned after decades of shooting. I've owned about a dozen Sixes, three SP101's and two GP-100's. The Sixes have smoother actions than most GP/SP Rugers. There should not be much grit. It's possible there's a burr catching the mainspring. You can get a new spring set from midway and swap it out pretty easily. The superior trigger pull is one of the main reason so many of us favor the old Six line over newer Rugers.

 

[GrandmasterB]

Wolff sells reduced power trigger return springs as well as reduced power hammer springs. I like the trigger return springs, but the reduced power hammer springs are often stiffer than the factory springs! But there is a solution, buy a 10lb or 11lb hammer reduced power hammer spring for a GP100 and use it in your Speed Six. It will fit and work perfect and is lighter than the reduced springs for the Six line.

Also, removing burrs from the hammer strut helps as stated above. There are a few other places to stone/polish in the trigger group. If you are comfortable detail stripping the gun, just polish the contact points and you will get good results when coupled with the spring changes.