Stupid question from a first time revolver owner
- Thread starter Genome77
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Perhaps, but why on the cylinder face? And why on the chamber edge?
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Master Blaster
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The ding looks like a rockwell hardness test mark, no problem.
The Crack and casting flaw, the crane needs replacement.
The Crack and casting flaw, the crane needs replacement.
danez71
Member
If it is a hardness test, and I think it looks like it, it was probably done on the end of an solid rod and the cylinder blank happen to be cut from that end.
The position of the dent compared to the chamber edge is just random from when it was put in the machine to make the blank into a functional cylinder.
If the hardness test was done on the side of the rod, the chance of it being visual increases dramatically.
Blue Brick
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Interesting thread...
Bill460
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I can almost guarantee that is exactly what it is....... And your pictures are EXCELLENT!
mcb
Member
You typically don't do harness test on parts your going to sell to a customer due to the fact that it leaves a mark on the part. You sample one or two parts from a larger heat treat batch for testing and then do not put those test samples parts back into the production stream.
Bill460
Member
I believe Ruger hardness tests 100% of their Magnum revolver cylinders, due to the high pressure they are subjected to. In the past this may not have been the case. But today with the litigation factor, they more or less have to. It isn't worth the legal risk not to, in the event one should possibly let go.
mcb
Member
Interesting. That really should not be needed if you have your heat treat process running correctly.
danez71
Member
Mine isn't exactly on the chamber edge, but it is on the face. I have another Ruger magnum revolver that has the same ding but on the back of the cylinder, not the face. I have a third Ruger magnum revolver that doesn't have the ding at all.
My guess is that they do the hardness test on the cylinders after they are machined to length but before the chambers are drilled and the flutes machined. So sometimes it ends up on the face, sometimes on the back, sometimes it's lost when they drill the chambers and machine the flutes and the recess for the ejector star, sometimes it isn't.
Bill460
Member
Stainless Steel used in Firearms is not hardened to a high degree. A lot of times they will leave stock on the face, and O.D. of the cylinder. That way they can hold dimensions more precisely, and apply a true face on the cylinder. It also allows them to remove the Rockwell mark from hardness testing. Or at least reduce it so it is much less noticeable.
There are a lot of operations on the cylinder that require accurate machining. Parts grow and shrink in heat treatment. So many times things like cylinder bolt notches, and chamber finishing are preformed after heat treat.
There are a lot of operations on the cylinder that require accurate machining. Parts grow and shrink in heat treatment. So many times things like cylinder bolt notches, and chamber finishing are preformed after heat treat.
mcb
Member
Gun barrels and cylinders in general (stainless or carbon steel) are left only moderately hard. Most are somewhere between HRC 30-45 depending on the alloy and particular use. Harder heat treatments would result in parts with higher yield strengths but the problem is as you go much above the mid 40's most alloys transition from a ductile failure in the case of an over pressure event to brittle failures. Brittle failures tend to create a lot of small high velocity fragments where ductile failures produce fewer and usually larger fragments thus making them a fair bit safer in a catastrophic event.
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Zaydok Allen
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Question on that. I just pulled out my SP101 circa 2008. Only mark on the cylinder is an “S”. Is that related to the testing? Seems like it’s something else.
No marks on the face.
Mine has the same S imprint.
The S is there on the GP100 that's readily accessible. I don't feel like digging the other two Ruger magnum revolvers out of the bottom of the safe to check them, but I'm sure that at least one of them had the S when I checked for the dings.
danez71
Member
I've never known a "S" to stand for any specific testing.
My GUESS wpuld be it has to do with the source of supply or manufacturing. Possibly a particular manufacturing line or subcontractor.
Master Blaster
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S = stainless...
Zaydok Allen
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That’s it huh? I wondered if it were that simple but I thought since they’re mostly stainless, and I think blackened stainless, that it had to mean something else.
It’s like putting a label on a door that says “door”.
Maybe there were blued ones I am not aware of.
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Master Blaster
Member
The blued cylinders start out in the white. They are carbon steel. So if in manufacturing blued and stainless are in the white they look the same. Hence S for Stainless.
I looked at some other revolvers all very recent production (2018).
Stainless Smith & Wesson has the dimple under the ejector star.
Another stainless S&W also has the dimple under the ejector star.
A blued S&W has no dimple.
Blued Ruger single-action cylinder has the "S" stamped on it.
Stainless Smith & Wesson has the dimple under the ejector star.
Another stainless S&W also has the dimple under the ejector star.
A blued S&W has no dimple.
Blued Ruger single-action cylinder has the "S" stamped on it.
stonebuster
Member
Just to confuse things, my SP101 DAO has a "C" stamped where the "S" is on the photos posted.
Mauser lover
Member
Interesting thread, want to hear what Ruger says.
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