New SP101 - Crane and crane pivot movement

My SP101 is about two months old. I loaded cartridges individually or used speed strips and an HKS speedloader up until today when I first used an Safariland. As you know, the Safariland must be pressed into the cylinder to release the cartridges. I was having problems occasionally. Sometimes it felt like there was more "give" when I pushed in the speedloader than at other times. There was also an occasional hangup where the cylinder wouldn't close. Being slow, and the fact I don't look at the gun when I reload, I didn't see the connection for a while. The extra give was the cylinder moving forward about 1/4" on the pivot pin into the frame which forced the cylinder into the forcing cone when attempting to close the cylinder. It would pop back on its own eventually.

New gun. I know I can send it back but does anyone know what is wrong? The crane assemply is not supposed to pop out from the frame when pressure is applied. Easy fix? Thanks.

I also have a new SP101 (4", .357) and I cannot even imagine what you are describing. Its design seems to make it impossible. Maybe you are having trouble with the grips getting in the way of the Safariland loader? I can relate to that, because my Safariland loads more positivley with the Hogue rubber grips (aftermaket). If the left side of the grip touches the loader it can make it harder for the loader's center button to release the cartridges.
Alternatively, did you field-strip the gun and fail to reassemble it properly? Sometimes it's a b**ch to get the cylinder fully seated beforehand.

Hi Flashman....
Per Woodsy ....

woodsy said:

......Maybe you are having trouble with the grips getting in the way of the Safariland loader? .....

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That's what happened to me too with the factory grips on SP101 and GP100. I often had to give it a nutge with my palm, on top of the speedloader, causing the cylinder to freeze. I needed to push the cylinder back so it could close. Not a good practice at all.

All my DA Rugers now have Pachmayr grips and my safariland loaders slide in with ease. No more cylinder freeze. You will need to modify the factory grips (shaving off some rubber), for it to slide in.

Good luck.

woodsy said:

I also have a new SP101 (4", .357) and I cannot even imagine what you are describing. Its design seems to make it impossible. Maybe you are having trouble with the grips getting in the way of the Safariland loader? I can relate to that, because my Safariland loads more positivley with the Hogue rubber grips (aftermaket). If the left side of the grip touches the loader it can make it harder for the loader's center button to release the cartridges.
Alternatively, did you field-strip the gun and fail to reassemble it properly? Sometimes it's a b**ch to get the cylinder fully seated beforehand.

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+1 to all of the above. I can't see how what the OP describes (the cylinder moving forward 1/4") could possibly happen on a properly assembled gun.

BTW, the first time I looked at buying a Safariland Comp I speedloader for my SP-101 I noticed their web site recommended it for the S&W J-frames and Charter Arms 5-shots but not the SP-101. When I called to ask about it, the woman i talked to confirmed they didn't recommend it for the SP-101 but didn't know why. Now i know why. The factory grip doesn't give enough clearance. I have Hogues on my SP and the Safariland Comp I works perfectly.

Gents,

it has nothing to do with the grips. The crane pivot pin is pushed forward by the pressure applied to the cylinder when using the Safariland speedloader or my finger after I discovered the problem. As a consequence, since the cylinder is connected to the entire crane assembly which is moved forward, the cylinder moves forward. I can place my finger at the popped out crane pivot and push it back into the frame.

I did a Google search on this problem and found only one identical report of this problem. No one had an answer.

I have not disassembled the gun. I am reluctant to do so unless I know what I am looking at or for and what would be abnormal.

I just looked at my SP and partially disassembled it. The crane pivot is secured into the frame by the trigger guard casting. The crane pivot can move forward only if it isn't captured by the trigger guard. Both are two robust castings. Either your crane has snapped at the capture recess point, or the trigger guard has broken internally.
When you say new, do you mean new from the factory, or the gun is new to you and was owned by someone else? Any chance that the gun store disassembled the gun before selling to you? I can't imagine proper functioning before you got the Safarilands.
There are a few good youtube videos showing disassembly and reassembly of the DA revolvers, the best being done by Ruger (also on their website). Can you have the gun store look at the gun before you contact Ruger?
As an aside, I wonder how many queries Ruger gets per year because of people who can't reassemble their revolvers.
For your peace of mind I hope there's a broken part. For the gun's sake I hope it's simply not totally reassembled. (By the way, I had problems with getting my GP100 back together, at first, before I buckled down and followed directions)

Brand new from the LGS. It works fine otherwise.

Flashman said:

Brand new from the LGS. It works fine otherwise.

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And?

woodsy said:

Flashman said:

Brand new from the LGS. It works fine otherwise.

Click to expand...

And?

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Will we get any more info/replies from the OP? Have a chance to go to the LGS?
This thread is getting pretty suspicious. Much more time and it will look like that thread from the person who claimed his SS Ruger corroded all over.

No. I called Ruger and they emailed a shipping label. They asked me not to disassemble the gun. They will never reveal what the problem is based on my experience with them. They will fix it and return it. They are a great company; one that many in our country should emulate.

Suspicious? I've been called a lot things, most deserved, but this is a new label. Maybe it will help make me more interesting.

Flashman:
I am not calling you suspicious, but the thread is. I apologize if you take any offense. I just took apart my SP for the second time, and am puzzled, squared. Please let us know what you find. And Ruger will tell you what they replaced if they are asked.

As I expected, Ruger won't reveal the nature of the problem; what I didn't expect was that they are sending me a new replacement.

I have to believe you got the rare "lemon" from Ruger. Probably, as was stated, a broken part from the factory. I own several SP101's Assy/disassembly is straight forward, actually really simple. Isnt too much that you cant change yourself on them. Glad Ruger did the right thing by you.
TJ

I know this post is really old but being new here I was hoping the OP may comment on the replacement SP101. I just purchased the SP101 and had the same issue; when applying pressure on the cylinder, for example when using a speed loader, the cylinder moves forward about 1/4 inch preventing the cylinder from closing. I contacted Ruger and they provided a return label to have the gun looked at. I just received a call from them stating this is not faulted but in fact all the SP101's have this 'feature'. When I pressed them for an explanation why no where in the documentation is this mention he said he would look into having it added to the owner manual. I am finding this very hard to believe there is nothing wrong with this brand new (from a gun store) revolver.

Thoughts??

The design is such that the cylinder could move a couple of thousandths and that's it, for it to move 1/4"(.250) the crane assembly would fall out of the frame.

It moves at least 1/8 forward, then it is not possible to close, after which you must push on the crane towards the grip then the cylinder moves back allowing it to close. It actually feels like, for lack of a better description, pops and locks into place then of course back to the original position. It does not seem right to me that the cylinder would move forward enough to prevent it from being closed. My issue really is the Ruger insists it is normal.

Captain America said:

The design is such that the cylinder could move a couple of thousandths and that's it, for it to move 1/4"(.250) the crane assembly would fall out of the frame.

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Not true. There is a blind-hole, spring-loaded detent pin that impinges on the notch in the crane, providing positive back-pressure against the frame. these pins are staked in place. If the pin was either left out from the factory, did not have a spring behind it, or if it was staked too far down to engage, yes, the crane assembly would slide back ~1/4", until arrested by the ledge in the trigger frame in which the pin sits.

I know this because I removed the detent pin and replaced it with an 8-32 set screw, so that I could have interchangeable cylinder/crane assemblies. :wink: