Howdy
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Ruger.
I love that video. Hello, some of us have known about this problem for years. He just discovered it.
This problem has been occurring ever since Ruger first started putting transfer bars in their revolvers sometime back in the mid 1970s. Let's not go into why Ruger felt it was necessary to put transfer bars in their revolvers, that would be beating a dead horse.
I first discovered the problem about 30 years ago shooting stout 45 Colt loads out of my old New Model Blackhawk that I bought back in 1975.
Here is the cylinder pin from a New Vaquero. There is a spring plunger poking out of it on the far left. The idea is when the cylinder pin is latched in place, the spring loaded plunger will push the transfer bar back so it can clear the frame mounted firing pin as it rises. If the cylinder pin is not properly seated, if it is sitting a bit too far forward, the spring plunger will not contact the transfer bar as it rises, and the transfer bar can jam under the firing pin. This in turn prevents the hammer from going all the way to full cock. Note: Even with the cylinder pin improperly positioned in the frame, sometimes the revolver will function fine. Trust me on this.
With a heavy recoiling round like a 45 Colt with a 250 grain bullet, sometimes the recoil would make the cylinder pin jump forward. Actually, the whole gun jumps back, but if the cylinder pin latch is not doing its job effectively, inertia can cause the pin to stand still while the rest of the gun jumps backward. If this happens, the spring plunger at the rear of the cylinder pin can no longer do its job of pushing the transfer bar back to clear the frame mounted firing pin. This can happen in ALL modern single action Rugers with a transfer bar, Blackhawks, Vaqueros, Single Sixes and has been made clear here, the Wrangler too.
Here is a photo of a Vaquero with the transfer bar rising and clearing the firing pin because the spring plunger at the rear of the cylinder pin has done its job correctly.
This problem is so common that an entire cottage industry sprang up around it. You can buy spring sets for Rugers that include reduced power hammer and trigger springs, and increased power cylinder latch springs. The idea is you replace the standard spring inside the cylinder latch with the stronger spring so the latch will have a better grip on the pin and not allow it to slip past the latch in recoil. I just checked Wolff Springs, and they list spring sets for every Ruger imaginable except the Wrangler. I have no idea if one of their Single Six springs might fit a Wrangler, it might be worth a call to find out.
Now I am going to say something that some of you are not going to like.
The Wrangler was created to compete in the same price category as the Heritage line of single action 22 Rimfire revolvers. I have never fired a Heritage 22, I handled one years ago and thought they were crap, so I have never bought or fired one. I also do not know if they have a transfer bar inside or not.
The manufacturer's suggested retail price of the Wrangler is $249. The manufacturer suggested retail price of a Single Six varies from $629 to $699. These are off the Ruger website, I have no idea what the street prices are.
My point is, do you think Ruger is going to put the same amount of care into assembling a $249 revolver that they will with a $629 revolver? Boy oh boy, I can hear you all already fuming over this. I do not own a Wrangler, but I have fired one at my club. Put a cylinder full of ammo through it with no problems. I watched that video, and was amazed how much forward and back play the cylinder pin had even when it was latched in place. I have a whole bunch of Ruger New Models (the ones with the transfer bars) and none of them has that kind of slop. With all my New Models, if the pin is latched properly in place, the transfer bar rises with no problem and never catches on the firing pin.
Clearly, a 22 rimfire should not have enough recoil to cause the cylinder pin to jump out of engagement like the one in my 45 did. But if there is that much slop in the assembly as it comes from the factory, even the minuscule recoil of a 22 could perhaps shove the cylinder pin forward enough so the transfer bar jams when it tries to rise. Even without the cylinder pin slipping past the cylinder pin latch.
What to do? I would call Ruger and see what they have to say. I would bet a donut they are aware of this problem. Perhaps there was a run of Wranglers made that simply have too much slop in the cylinder pin latch. Perhaps they will offer a fix, perhaps they will not. I can guarantee you that if they get enough complaints, there will be a minor redesign. Perhaps extending the spring plunger further out of the cylinder pin. Perhaps putting a stronger latch spring in the latch. Perhaps redesigning the latch. Perhaps completely redesigning the cylinder pin like some of the old Rugers, where instead of a relief cut completely around the cylinder pin for the latch, there was a simple straight cut across the pin.
This photo shows a standard Ruger cylinder pin at the top, I don't really remember if it is from a Blackhawk or a Vaquero. Notice the relief cut for the cylinder pin latch goes completely around the pin. This is so the pin does not have to be oriented before inserting it in the frame. Below it is a Belt Mountain cylinder pin. Notice the transverse cut across the top of the pin to engage the cylinder pin latch. This is actually a superior design, it provides more surface area engagement with the latch than the cut around the Ruger pin does. The downside is the cylinder pin must be lined up carefully before inserting it in the frame. There is a relief cut in the flange on this pin on the opposite side that fits around the bottom of the barrel to align the pin properly. If one is not careful inserting this type of pin into the frame, it can jam against the barrel and it takes a great deal of gnashing of teeth to remove it. Trust me on this. Anyway, Belt Mountain used to make pins like this for Rugers, but I don't know if they are still in business.
By the way, this can happen with a Colt too, except there is no transfer bar to jam against the hammer mounted firing pin. With a Colt you don't know the cylinder pin has jumped forward until it falls out of the gun and you spend time crawling around in the grass trying to find it.
One more thing. Don't try to sue Ruger if that rattlesnake bites you while you are trying to figure out what is wrong with your Wrangler. Ruger has really good lawyers.
