Ruger revolver troubleshooting help

[BehindBlueI's]

Ruger GP100.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I just cleaned my GP100 after my last range trip and now the trigger pull on one chamber is significantly heavier than the other 5. It shot fine at the range, everything was smooth and consistent as its always been.

I cleaned it and dry fired it like always and noticed that one chamber now takes a significantly heavier trigger pull, and it also take more effort to cock the hammer. It is always that same chamber, the others still have the same trigger as all ways.

My first suspect was a bent crane, but holding it up to the light and cycling it through I don't see any wobble or change in the light coming through the cylinder gap, and its definitely not making contact.

I've checked under the extraction star for crud, nothing there. The surfaces at the rear of the cylinder and the fingers are all clean.

I'm stumped, what else could be the issue here?

 

[El-Cigarro]

Ruger GP100.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I just cleaned my GP100 after my last range trip and now the trigger pull on one chamber is significantly heavier than the other 5. It shot fine at the range, everything was smooth and consistent as its always been.

I cleaned it and dry fired it like always and noticed that one chamber now takes a significantly heavier trigger pull, and it also take more effort to cock the hammer. It is always that same chamber, the others still have the same trigger as all ways.

My first suspect was a bent crane, but holding it up to the light and cycling it through I don't see any wobble or change in the light coming through the cylinder gap, and its definitely not making contact.

I've checked under the extraction star for crud, nothing there. The surfaces at the rear of the cylinder and the fingers are all clean.

I'm stumped, what else could be the issue here?

Extractor rod o.k.?

 

[SERparacord]

Ruger GP100.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I just cleaned my GP100 after my last range trip and now the trigger pull on one chamber is significantly heavier than the other 5. It shot fine at the range, everything was smooth and consistent as its always been.

I cleaned it and dry fired it like always and noticed that one chamber now takes a significantly heavier trigger pull, and it also take more effort to cock the hammer. It is always that same chamber, the others still have the same trigger as all ways.

My first suspect was a bent crane, but holding it up to the light and cycling it through I don't see any wobble or change in the light coming through the cylinder gap, and its definitely not making contact.

I've checked under the extraction star for crud, nothing there. The surfaces at the rear of the cylinder and the fingers are all clean.

I'm stumped, what else could be the issue here?

New one on me. Did you tear down while cleaning it?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Extractor rod still works smoothly, and no, I didn't tear it down. I just brushed and patched the barrel and chambers and gave it a good wipe down. There was some grit on the extractor rod, and I used an oiled patch to clean it up.

So, to add to the mystery:

1) After I posted this last night I tried it again and the weight was inconsistent. Always that chamber, but the first go 'round it was the same weight, second slightly harder pull, and each successive turn of the cylinder it was a bit harder. Like something was progressively getting further out of true or pressure was building up.

2) This morning it works fine. 30 dry fires, and every trigger pull is the same.

The only thing I can think of is I let to much oil get into the crane/extractor rod area and it caused binding, although that doesn't explain why it only bound on the one chamber. A mechanical issue wouldn't just go away overnight, so it basically has to be an oil issue.

For what its worth, I was using CLP because that's what's in my OTIS kit. Its not the best at removing lead from the barrel, and I used more than I would have normally had to in the barrel, but didn't think I used an excessive amount on the chambers.

I'm stumped. Maybe a call to Ruger would be worth it.

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

I have a sp101. They are very similar to your larger gun. I have completely soaked my pistol in heavy motor oil before and never noticed an effect on the trigger pull. The double action trigger pull involves the little paw pushing up to rotate the cylinder. It's action is identical for every trigger pull and every cylinder. Providing that the cylinder is in good order and spins free, the only place where there could be a variable is at the little star shaped cam on the back-side of the cylinder.

The paw strokes upward and leverages against each arm of the cam in turn. If there was some gunk in one of these little surfaces it could cause a little difference in pull weight.

It is always possible that there is enough soot and ashes still on the front of the cylinder that it is binding against the forcing cone, but you DID say that you had just cleaned it...... The break free could of loosened some carbon or even lead fouling on the front of the cylinder and it just loosend up on account of that. If this is possible then you should clean better and/or use cleaner burning ammo.

As an after thought, my gun is stainless so carbon is plain to see..... Is yours blued or stainless?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Mine is blued, and I checked the forcing cone/cylinder gap and its clear and doesn't vary. I did brush out the fingers and the cam again as soon as I noticed the issue, and it didn't change anything.

I called Ruger, and they were stumped as well, especially with it resolving itself overnight. The guy who answered the phone consulted with his supervisor and one of their smiths and they all confirmed that over-lubrication is not a possible cause. While freely admitting they were just guessing, they said the likely possibility was:

Dust/grit had gotten into the crane, the oil had sort of cemented/solidified it into a blob, which broke down over night. This would explain the grittiness I felt last night and the binding at a certain point in the spin. It would also explain why it would go away over night. Our range is dirt and I was shooting steel and kicking up some dust, too, so I guess that's possible.

They said its also possible that there's something loose inside the revolver and that it just worked its way back into place, but I find that unlikely since no one was touching it overnight. Unless the gun safe fairies were playing with it, that is.

Anyway, I'm going to carry my Sig until I can get back to the range on Friday and verify everything is working ok, reclean, and reevaluate.

 

[printcraft]

......

Dust/grit had gotten into the crane, the oil had sort of cemented/solidified it into a blob, which broke down over night. This would explain the grittiness I felt last night and the binding at a certain point in the spin. It would also explain why it would go away over night. Our range is dirt and I was shooting steel and kicking up some dust, too, so I guess that's possible.

This is my guess. /\

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

That breakfree clp is good stuff. It will get under anything and loosen it up, including the paint I use to brighten up my sights...... I bet that property is the cause of the mystery. Since your gun is blue it would be easy to overlook some crud, but the clp overlooks NOTHING.

You wont find any parts working into or out of position. I have studied my sp101 extensively and I believe that the design makes that impossible. A part could break but one out of place could only result from the breakage of another part. Any change at all would render the lockwork inoperable. I have had my gun COMPLETELY apart and it just won't go back together with anything out of place. I assume that your gun is similar.

 

[Hookeye]

On a Smith, the clip ring inside at the front of the cylinder might get out of the groove a bit and cause such a deal.

 

[Hookeye]

Sliver of lead, chunk of unburnt powder or.........thread from cleaning cloth/patch.

 

[onetwoonetwo]

not that you want to but if you contact Ruger, i will bet they will take care of the problem whatever it is.
i had a problem with a GP100 and they fixed it no charge and took care of shipping both ways and sent stickers and a set of replacement parts for FREE.
i think Ruger's cs is excellent.
if you can not take care of it yourself or locally, call them and they should take care of it and they did all my work and got it back to me in less than a week total.

 

[Leo]

Do you have the tool to remove the cylinder from the crane? I have seen debris get in around the shaft , but this usually gets to feel gritty on all chambers.

You do not see any change in the cylinder gap, which I have found on several revolvers. Can you test each one with a feeler gauge?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

not that you want to but if you contact Ruger, i will bet they will take care of the problem whatever it is.
i had a problem with a GP100 and they fixed it no charge and took care of shipping both ways and sent stickers and a set of replacement parts for FREE.
i think Ruger's cs is excellent.
if you can not take care of it yourself or locally, call them and they should take care of it and they did all my work and got it back to me in less than a week total.

Post #6, I did contact them. They said if it happens again they'll take care of it, and you're right their customer service is top notch.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Do you have the tool to remove the cylinder from the crane? I have seen debris get in around the shaft , but this usually gets to feel gritty on all chambers.

You do not see any change in the cylinder gap, which I have found on several revolvers. Can you test each one with a feeler gauge?

I think that was the issue and the CLP flushed it out. Ruger seems to agree.

I'm taking it to our armorer on Wednesday for a full checkup, though, just to be sure. Its sitting in the safe until I'm sure everything is 100% again.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Anyway, I'm going to carry my Sig until I can get back to the range on Friday and verify everything is working ok, reclean, and reevaluate.

Perfect reason for owning more than one gun! (I have noticed that anti-gun people, wives who are not particularly interested in guns, and Fudds fail to understand this.)

 

[ndbbm]

"The only thing I can think of is I let to much oil get into the crane/extractor rod area and it caused binding, although that doesn't explain why it only bound on the one chamber."

You should be using a dry lube here. Unburnt powder, ect collects in the wet lubes paticularly in this area. The spray teflon Rem Lube works well for these spots.


"A mechanical issue wouldn't just go away overnight, so it basically has to be an oil issue"

My guess is that it's a little of both. If you have one chamber that is timed tighter than the rest, a small amount of crud will show up on the tight one first.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Our armorer broke it down and there was a tiny piece of what looked like latex paint or plastic inside the gun! It was flat and a deep red. It has to be something that got into it at the factory, no way it would fit inside the gun with it assembled. I'm not sure where inside it was, when he broke the gun down it was laying on the mat and the mat was clean before he started.

Otherwise, it checked 100% fine. He polished up the internals for me while it was in there. The trigger was really good to start with, but you can tell its smoother now before it breaks. (With 1 being the start of the pull and 10 being when it drops the hammer, you can tell a difference from about 7-9).