single six cylinder drag

I've been working on a single six '80s vintage. new stainless back strap, hand stropped elk grips, bulls eye ejector rod, 11 degree barrel crown and full internal shim's to include cylinder shim trigger shim hammer shim and a new pawl, not the free swinging type. The action is as tight as a drum.

my question is....I get cylinder drag from the bolt. Noting I can't live without, However... would a new bolt cure this?
The bolt drops exactly in the cylinder slot on full cock. (one notch is a hair's breath late, but almost right on...)
So, the bolt is not going down deep enough to prevent it from rubbing.
Is there a cure?
Thanks...Ken

PS. 2 1/2 inch groups at 25 yards. from a hand hold rest. so no problems with the gun...

The leg of the loading gate spring thar bears on the loading gate cam may be a bit short. When the gate is opened the spring pushes down on the latch lowering it. If it don't lower it enough it can drag on the cylinder. The latch should drop down enough that it is flush with the bottom of the cylinder window of the main frame.

I was thinking about replacing the bolt, but do you think replacing the spring too would help? they're cheap enough...Ken

Ok, I just checked and the bolt is clear of the frame when the loading gate is open, so it's not the spring. The bolt, while it locks up tight as a drum, releases too soon and causes a line in front of the notch in the cylinder. If the bolt would release later, that would help. I've ordered a new trigger and bolt from Midway, so I'll see if this helps. THIS IS A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM. the gun is shimmed and tight and accurate, so I'm just playing with it until the snow goes away. IF IT EVER GOES AWAY!
Cape Cod is under three feet and it's snowing again as I write this. bummer....Ken

All the New Models do this. It's inherent in the design.

Eliminating it requires some "custom work" on the bolt.

thanks Hawkeye, I thought that it may be just the design. and..it's a .22 not one of my Colt .45's, so doing extensive $$ gunsmithing on it is just nuts.
I did order a new bolt and trigger, so I'll put those in to see if the timing can be improved a little, but if not...I'll leave it alone.
My buddy bought a Colt .22 single action. wow, cheaply made. the Ruger is much heaver and stronger,...and I like Colts, have a bunch.
They just did a lousy job on the .22 they made...my opinion...Ken

Yes,that is part of the design. If you polish (don't remove much metal),just enough to smooth and remove burrs ,from the locking bolts top,you will greatly lessen the drag line.
This can be done without disassembly by protecting the frame with masking tape and polishing the lug with very fine (1000 grit) wet or dry sandpaper.

ok buckeye. that's a great idea. I'll do that on the new bolt when I put it in...Ken

Ruger's New Model Lockwork is drastically different than ANY of
the other guy's..... Not to worry, it's still just a bucket of bolts
prior to assembly :roll:

Oh, and the Ruger Forum will permit the "part time" user to jump right into
a discussion w/o "damaging" a previous thread".

flatgate

ken s said:

I was thinking about replacing the bolt, but do you think replacing the spring too would help? they're cheap enough...Ken

Click to expand...

What you are experiencing is the infamous "Ruger ring".....so no, replacing factory parts with factory parts is not going to fix it.

DGW

Hey Flatgate, good morning Sir, used to be YOU did a bit of "welding up" the bolt or such to keeps things DOWN, out of sight , for a little longer?????? what say ye........ 8) :roll: :wink:

ken s said:

thanks Hawkeye, I thought that it may be just the design. and..it's a .22 not one of my Colt .45's, so doing extensive $$ gunsmithing on it is just nuts.
I did order a new bolt and trigger, so I'll put those in to see if the timing can be improved a little, but if not...I'll leave it alone. Ken

Click to expand...

Ale-8(1) Is not talking about "doing extensive $$ gunsmithing on it". He's referring to a fairly well-known, no cost, do-it-yourself mod that would be simple for you and fun too from the sound of how you like tinkering.

Here's a compilation written up about fixing the "cylinder stop track":

An extended hammer plunger travel creates a more gradual engagement and transition over the tip of the rear cyl latch leg as well as holding the cyl latch down longer instead of popping up early and scribing a long line around the cyl. In a perfectly tuned action (not a Ruger New Model) the cyl latch doesn't pop up until the cyl notch approach cut is over the latch and doesn't mark the cyl surface. To delay the cyl latch from popping up too early, Lee Martin suggests this on the hammer plunger:

To quote member, "Lee Martin": "The hammer plunger cited above protrudes from the hammer itself. It looks like this below, and actuates the cyl latch drop. To advance (delay drop of) latch movement it has to be extended more. Filing the back edge accomplishes just that. All of our 5-shot conversions require this treatment."



"The base of a #42 drill bit is the easiest way to get the exact size rod and proper steel for the NM pin. OMs seldom need this modification, but the OM pin size is larger, a 1/8" drill bit."

Also you'll notice the cyl bolt is a stamped part and is very rough on the edge that the hammer plunger contacts. Polishing this edge will smooth up plunger and bolt function.

I can send a diagram with specific dimensions to your e-mail if interested.
The cyl bolts can vary slightly so you may have to shorten the 'C' dimension a little at a time until it works just right."


Have fun, it works.

now that is interesting.... I don't think I'll start doing that, but it's an interesting thought....Ken

Revelation of the dimensional changes in the plunger would be quite interesting!

cadillo said:

Revelation of the dimensional changes in the plunger would be quite interesting!

Click to expand...

Cadillo,

Send me a e-mail address in a PM and I'll mail them to you.

I can also send you a short cut so you can get the hammer out w/o dissembling the entire innards.