Hand, Pawl, and feeling stupid.

[jstein650]

I'm pretty familiar with the internals with regard to revolvers. Is the 'hand' the same as the 'pawl'? The little slide bit that ratchets the cylinder around?
As long as I'm here, I read that there is an aftermarket pawl/hand that allows the SA guns to free wheel when loading. How does that work? The biggest gripe I have with new Ruger SA's is that the damn cylinder won't back spin when loading. Go one iota too far, and you've got to spin another 360. PIA.

 

[BCRider]

There's a kit for the loading gate disconnect model Rugers that actually keep the hand engaged so that the chambers can be pulled back against the hand for loading.

The old "four click" Colt action guns always enjoyed that little feature. When in half cock we can pull the cylinder back against the hand and simply drop the cartridge down the gate and it slips right into the chamber. Same with unloading where we can index it past the click then pull it back against the hand and shuck the empty out slick as snot.

As for terminology yes, the hand and pawl in clockwork terms are the same thing. But in gun-speak the vernacular is to call the teeth on the back of the cylinder the "pawls" if I'm not mistaken.

 

[jstein650]

HA! This may sound simpleton, but that answer contains a wealth of info that I've been wondering about. Thanks BC.

 

[CraigC]

There are two different modifications to correct the indexing issue. One is the freespin pawl, which has a leg at the bottom that keeps it from engaging the ratchet when the gate is opened. There is also a modification of the factory pawl which involves filing off part of one of the pawl teeth.

Then there is the Power Custom half-cock hammer/trigger kit. This makes it operate similarly to a Colt SAA or Old Model in that when the hammer is placed at half cock, the chambers line up with the loading port. This is an immense improvement, even though it doesn't really feel like a Colt or Old Model. If you open the gate with the hammer at rest, it operates normally. Some gunsmiths like Jim Stroh also offer this service by modifying the factory parts.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I'm pretty familiar with the internals with regard to revolvers. Is the 'hand' the same as the 'pawl'? The little slide bit that ratchets the cylinder around?
As long as I'm here, I read that there is an aftermarket pawl/hand that allows the SA guns to free wheel when loading. How does that work? The biggest gripe I have with new Ruger SA's is that the damn cylinder won't back spin when loading. Go one iota too far, and you've got to spin another 360. PIA.

Yes, the hand and the pawl are the same thing, just different manufacturers names for the same part. And in Colt speak the bolt is the part that pops up and locks the cylinder in place, some companies call the same part the cylinder stop.

As for spinning the cylinder backwards for an easy reload, that is really a very new idea. Such a thing never existed in the old days. You put the hammer at half cock, you loaded one, skipped one, then loaded four more. Then you brought the hammer to full cock and lowered it on an empty chamber.

Nobody felt the need to spin the cylinder backwards in the old days. Or at least, there was no such thing on a Colt or Remington style single action revolver. Ruger three screws too.

Of course, Smith and Wessons were always a different story.

 

[BCRider]

Driftwood, I started out with my guns doing the load one, skip one thing. But I ran into a case or two where I'd managed to reload a couple of high primers which pretty much stalled me mid stage in my cowboy shooting. So now I just load five in a row, close the gate and roll the cylinder to ensure it moves readily then find the missing rim and put it next to the upper frame rail before going to full cock and lowering the hammer.

I know that the answer is to produce pristine ammo. But what with being less than perfect this seems like a nice last second check.

Hey, it's paid off too! ! ! ! One time I was using some factory ammo and the cylinder stuck hard. Turned out that the Winchester ammo I was using had some casings with bad impact burrs on the rims which prevented them seating fully. So you never know.

 

[Jim Watson]

I load 'em like BC.
For the same reason, seen too many high primers at the CAS loading table. Also dirty chambers, thick rims, bulged necks, etc.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

I do the old educated thumb trick after all my ammo is in the box. My thumb finds any high primers. Must say, I have not yet had a high primer that stopped a Single Action from rolling. So I still do the load one, skip one, etc thing. Has worked for about ten years now. Knock wood, I have a big match coming up this weekend.

As for needing to reload one on the clock, I have not seen that in years. Pretty much nobody in these parts does that anymore.

Just watch now, I'll have two or three reloads on the clock this weekend.