Did Ruger Fix The BH Cyl Screw Issue ?

Buddy has a SBH Hunter. The 'cyl pin' comes out about 1/2" or so after 3-4 rounds, making it DANGerous. Finally, after many years, he found it has a stronger (the Fix supposedly) spring in the 'cyl-pin release pin' or whatever that other small spring loaded pin is called. Still, the cyl-rod comes loose after 3-4 rnds. I heard/read that Ruger fixed this with a shoulder screw, ie, no spring in that small 'release pin'. That means the relase pin is not spring loaded anymore - good!
Is this true ?

Plus, here's what I did to fix it...if you take BOTH of those little (1/4" ?) springs and put them on that spring-loaded pin, screw it together, then that pin acts just like a should screw, which means the cyl-pin won't come out, at all anymore w/o taking the small screw out.
The cause of this 'issue' is that the BH designers used TWO round surfaces to try and hold the cyl-pin in...won't work. two round surfaces won't hold a 'small-time-period/large force from firing. They could have made the cyl-pin with a FLAT on the R side of that particular cutout area so it woudl have one flat and one round surface. That may have held fine. Better would have been 2 flat surfaces to hold the cyl-pin in but that would mean that the holes would have had to have been square instaed of round, not an ez thing to do.

So, is there a 'shoulder-screw' pin, that has no springs, from Ruger ?

You can get a replacement locking base pin from Belt Mountain Enterprises that has a screw to hold it in place. Or, you can use the stronger spring, plus use a round file to slightly deepen the notch in the base pin that engages the latch. It's not so much a problem of design as a problem of execution; sometimes, the spring weakens and latch and the notch just don't match up precisely.

Welcome to the Forum!
Ruger hasn't changed anything. They have offered a locking base pin on the .480 Bisleys. Some guns suffer from base pin movement more so than others under recoil.
Some folks will take a chainsaw file & deepen the groove in the base pin. Others will replace it with a Belt Mtn pin. Still others will add stronger springs, or add a second spring. And I have seen some where the owner installed a locking pin assy.

See my post "I did a dumb thing."


Bob Wright

Locking bse pins (except in the case of extreme recoiling cartridges) and strong springs only treat the symptom, not the true source of the problem.

The source is poorly fitted parts, i.e., the latch pin groove in the cylinder properly fitting the latch pin itself. For every gun with a cyl pin that shoots loose, there are thousands that have no problem! I've never had a pint shooting loose that couldn't be fixed by fitting the two parts better.

When released, the latch should return all the way out to the left with or w/o the pin installed. If it doesn't return as far to the left with the pin installed, that's the dead giveaway that the circular cannelure groove on the cyl pin is not deep enough, or the Super Blackhawk notch in the pin is not deep enough, to fully engage the latch. The pin will shoot loose. Some cases take awhile and some shooting before the pin slips out under recoil.

File the notch deeper or chuck the SBH pins with the groove all the way around, in a power drill and deepen the groove with a small rat tail file.

I don't waste the time or money on a stronger base pin spring or more money and modify the gun with a locking pin, although it's your gun and you should do what you prefer. One can get a mighty sore finger operating the latch with stronger spring, but that's a personal thing.

The cyl pin latch can also be miss-shaped, you can call Ruger parts (336) 949-5200 to request a free new one from Ruger. Or you can get a new pin free.

Thx for the replies...

So Ruger never made a non-spring screw that would need to be removed to get the cyl-pin and cyl out ?

I fixed it using 2 springs...the release pin has a REAL strong spring now, ie, it doesn't move, which means it can't come apart

no Sir, no need to, was designed ( engineered) to make the removal of the cylinder, wether to clean or swap out with the spare one, and not having to use "tools" of any kind...like Hondo says its those few instances of when "parts" that are made in , and the dimensions of one, going into the other are at the "extreme" range of their tolerances, ( undersized latch ,going into an over sized hole, trying to align two round surfaces to engage, voila,a "issue".....WAY WAY more instances of this NOT being an issue....the many hundreds and thousands of revolvers that I or my shops have worked on since the 1960s, this was NOT a "problem", nor an issue..............yep, put a big enough screw in there and you can lock it down quite nicely,,,,,,,,,duh 8) :roll:


AND Belt Mountain ( Kelly) I know he spells it differently, they made it better for all the "heavy" hitters. :wink:

The original design, beginning with the Single-Six and carrying over to the later first versions of the centerfires, was a good idea. With the groove in the cylinder pin running clear around the pin, it meant that you didn't have to worry about orienting the pin in any particular way for it to interface with the little latch . . . and was likely a very cheap way to manufacture the pin, as well.

The problem was that with the two little round things intersecting at right angles, there is hardly ANY contact area between them, basically line-contact. You can, with not too much trouble, occasionally pull the cylinder pin out WITHOUT depressing the latch. Used in the heavier-recoiling centerfires, this became more obvious, particularly the .44's that would occasionally spit the cylinder pin out far enough to hang up the cylinder.

So . . . Ruger eyeballed the situation and realized that if the cylinder pin simply had a cross slot instead of a circumferential groove it would provide a LOT more contact area for the latch to grip. VIOLA, problem solved . . . except with this arrangement the cylinder pin has to be properly rotated to mate with the latch. And thus was born the collar on the cylinder pin having a cut that references off the barrel to align the cylinder pin's slot with the latch. VIOLA, again . . . given favorable tolerances.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

PS . . . Yes I do know how to spell "voila" . . . I just like it my way because it sounds neater to my ear.

PPS . . . Yes, the Belt Mountain pins are great for the occasional "problem child".

So Ruger made different cyl pins (the longer ones that are about 3-4") with a flat-sided groove and not a rounded contact area ?

To the best of my knowledge, there are only two varieties of cylinder pin with respect to the latching operation, the original with the circumferential groove around the pin and the later pin with the cross-groove and collar that orients that groove with the latch.

The New Models of these two varieties have the little spring-loaded pin that sticks out the back end to push the transfer bar clear of the firing pin, but the latching provisions are the same as on the Old Models.

I stand ready to be advised otherwise . . . I'm no expert.

:mrgreen: :wink: :mrgreen:

like Ale-8 noted, the "collared" pin, (shoulder groove keeps it alongside the curve of the bottom of the barrel, AND the corresponding "notch" for the latch is on the opposite side , a few degrees "off" directly across..............NO groove all around the pin, no need to, as this newer pin with the collar cannot turn............simply look at any of the newer guns, and because they have the transfer bar to contend with, (activate) , there will be a "springy-thingy" in the end...........
sadly this collared pin has baffled many users and can be "jammed" in place, scratched the bottom side of the barrel, etc..............old people, bifocals, and ALL thumbs.. 8) :roll: :wink:

Not just old people like me, Dan . . . I've seen many supposedly smart folks be unable to figure out the complexities of aligning the collar cutout with the barrel.

:roll: :lol: :roll: