Ruger single action gate jumps open

[westernrover]

I was shooting some .357 target loads yesterday. Then I decided to shoot a couple of hotter hunting loads. I only loaded two because they're costly to shoot. I noticed after the first shot, cocking the hammer back was hard because the cylinder wouldn't rotate. I tried another two, same thing. Another two, again. There was something happening with the loading gate that was jamming the gun up.

I decided I needed to shoot more volume of higher recoil loads to see what the issue was, if recoil was causing the loading gate to jump open. I went out today and shot 50 hot loads. After 48 (8 cylinders full), there was no issue. Of course, the last two of the 50 were in the cylinder by themselves. After the first shot, the gate opened about a quarter of the way and was pulled forward, blocking the rim of the spent cartridge.

Cocking the hammer back in such a condition rotates the cylinder with the lock gouging the stops. So now the turnline on the blued cylinder looks like it's been keyed.

Searching, I found at least one other account that Rugers will do this when the cylinder is only partially loaded and there are no case heads supporting the loading gate.

It would seem this is a consequence of not recessing the chambers so the cylinder supports the loading gate.

 

[murf]

yes, it is. the solution is to load all chambers with cases, loaded or not.

luck,

murf

 

[243winxb]

To help prevent scoring of the cylinder, when closing the loading gate be sure that a
chamber is directly aligned with the barrel. This can be achieved by rotating the
cylinder so that a cylinder flute is equally spaced on either side of the topstrap,
closing the loading gate, and then verifying that the cylinder is locked in place.

From owners manual.

 

[edwardware]

I seem to recall a note in Kuhnhausen on that. . .

ah, there it is:


In short, there's an easy fix, and a hard fix. The easy fix is accomplished by tuning the gate detent spring. The hard fix is hard.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Just keep all six chambers loaded, and the problem goes away. If you only want to load and shoot two rounds, load the remaining four chambers with fired brass.

 

[MikeJackmin]

Perhaps Ruger can fix it for you?