Single-Six 32 mag

[swoter]

Bought this at a pawnshop today, paid about $50 more than I wanted, but he wouldn't budge on price even though even though its been in his shop about 6 months. Overall finish is decent, missing some spots on grip frame, mostly on backstrap. Blueing is all good.
Two problems that I found, first was gritty when cocking, and the second was when cocked if you pushed the hammer hard it would fall. The first turned out to be a twisted cylinder latch spring that would not fully go into the plunger. I managed to untwist the spring enough to get it to slide into the plunger and it feels much smoother now.
I think the slot on the hammer is worn, causing the fall when pushed. It will not fall by itself, and takes a fairly hard push to do so. I didn't mess with the hammer any since I didn't want to make it worse. I'll order a new hammer when I order the cylinder latch spring and plunger. Hopefully it will not take a lot of fitting because I've never done it before. I think a Bisley hammer would look good on it. Thought about sending it to Ruger, but will try it myself first. I still have to buy dies, brass, and bullets as this is my first 32.
Here's a couple of pics:

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Could also be that the tip of the trigger (sear contact) is worn.

Pretty sure Ruger won't sell you a hammer. They usually require the gun to be sent to them for fitting the parts.

If it's truly "bad" they'll likely fix it free. Give their service department a call and see what they think.

 

[contender]

As noted, you won't be able to buy a hammer. I'm with Ale-8(1), a trip to Ruger should be first,, with a note about the safety concerns of the hammer being able to be pushed off.

 

[princeout]

Swoter,
I thought I'd seen posts on here where guys were buying hammers - usually Bisley's - from Ruger. If you strike out with Ruger, let me know and I'll dig through the parts box. I've replaced a couple 32 hammers with Bisley hammers so I should have a spare if I can find it. Finding it, however, might be the challenge!
Tim

 

[NewportNewsMike]

Pretty sure Ruger won't sell you a hammer. They usually require the gun to be sent to them for fitting the parts.

In my experience that has only been the case with Ruger Double Actions.

Hammers for their Single Actions are not fitted parts, and can be purchased new from many sources - Midway, Brownells, Ruger, and others.

Same thing with Single Action triggers - they are available.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Yea I don't know about those Bisley hammers but have bought a bunch of Super hammers from Ruger.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I just checked the parts list for the New Model Single-Sixes, and sure enough the hammer and trigger are NOT listed as fitted parts.

Learn something every day.

:mrgreen:

 

[swoter]

Called Ruger, and they said to send it back, wouldn't give me a shipping label though. Looked on Numrich and I can order the springs, hammer, and trigger for around $60. Wouldn't really save any money, but would save a trip to a UPS hub and packaging it up. Thinking about just ordering the parts and doing it myself. If I can't do it, I can always send it back later.

 

[DGNY]

Might ask Ruger about refinishing the grip frame if it takes the trip to them. No idea of cost these days.

Regards,

Dyson

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Might ask Ruger about refinishing the grip frame if it takes the trip to them. No idea of cost these days.

Regards,

Dyson

They will not refinish the grip frame and they don't sell alum. ones anymore You use to be able to get a new alum one for $35.00. You shouldn't have any problems fixing the gun yourself. The hammer is a drop in part. Since my Pards and I shoot CAS we are always switching out parts with no problems.

 

[swoter]

Yes, I ordered the parts today. I've got plans for the grip frame, so I don't need it done. Maybe a hot pink color!

 

[TinStarFirearms]

Congratulations on your new gun.

Andrew

 

[swoter]

Well, this revolver is just costing me money. Paid 375 for the gun at the pawnshop. Ordered hammer, trigger, and springs for another 100, and now a stainless grip frame for 120. I took it apart, stripped the grip frame, and was putting it back together, when one of the ears broke off. I think a small piece of the pawl spring got caught between the frame and the ear of the grip frame. When I tightened it down, the ear snapped.
So now I've got about $600 in a $400 revolver. Could have bought a new one for that. Steel grip frames are hard to find. Had to order it from Brownells. The bad part is, I still haven't ordered any of the reloading supplies I need for it. That money went to the grip frame. Oh well, Its only money, I'll enjoy shooting it someday!

 

[Hondo44]

swoter,

First off you are in store for a lot of enjoyment with a great little gun/caliber combination that Ruger hasn't made in years! Regardless of the minor issues, you probably know that's not a bad deal compared to the price that is asked for most of these.

Next, don't count the cost of the grip frame in the gun cost because that's a great upgrade/custom feature. Albeit, you have some work cut out for you because a new grip frame has a lot of fitting/finishing to be done. A used one can be a lot cheaper and requires minimal fitting and can be found on this forum in the classifieds; place a want to buy ad.

Third, now that you have a new hammer coming any way, you might want try squaring up the full cock notch, you have nothing to lose. Did you order the Bisley hammer?

Any parts ordered that you don't use can be easily returned to Brownells.

You can find great deals on dies on ebay. 32 S&W dies will also load the 32 H&R Mag.

One of my 32s with stainless grip and Bisley hammer:

 

[DGNY]

Great advice from Hondo44. My little SA Ruger .32 H&R 4.625" is one of my most accurate revolvers [including Python and K, L and N S&W].

Hope the OP enjoys his .32 when completed!

Regards,

Dyson

 

[Green Frog]

When it comes time to get the reloading dies for your 32 Mag, the good news is that it is hard to go wrong! I've owned dies from RCBS and Lyman (have both currently) and a set from Lee that went with a gun many years back and if you get a set from any of the "Big 3" for 32 S&W they will also cover the H&R semi-Mag and even the 327 Federal Mag (if friend Hondo44 leads you astray and you make that mod to your dream gun.) The SS chambered in 32 caliber is, IMHO, a great use of this little single action platform, and everything you seem to be doing to yours will increase your enjoyment of it. Here's hoping you have a ball with it! 8)

Regards,
Froggie

 

[bigboredad]

If you want a ss gripframe drop me a pm we should be able to work something out

 

[swoter]

Thanks for the offer, but I ordered one from Brownells the day I broke my original. I'm hoping it shows up this week sometime.
For all you who have fitted a grip frame, what's the best way to do it? Sandpaper?

 

[Hondo44]

The best way to 'hog' off the majority of the excess metal is a belt sander, if you're confident in your ability to maintain flat surfaces. Or start with a mill file. Leave enough extra material after the coarse filing to be able to fine file and sand all the file marks out without making it below the level of the main frame.

Then draw file with a relatively fine flat file using chalk in the teeth to prevent galling (gouging) since SS is a lot like filing aluminum alloy.

Then flat sand with a true flat surface small metal sanding block starting with 400, then 600, then 1200 then 2000 grit. The finer the grit you end up with, the less polishing or buffing and therefore less risk of rounding the edges. Go slow and check fit to frame often! And also to your grips for a perfect fit.

You'll need to do the entire surface of the grip frame with the same grit progression since the grip frame as it comes from Ruger is still in a fairly rough sanded state. For curved surfaces like the backstrap, trigger guard etc.; use a large eraser for your sanding block to avoid leaving flattened areas. It will conform to the curved surfaces.

Use a power buffer with white stainless steel buffing compound but don't use the buffer on the side surfaces that you fitted to your frame. The buffing wheel is too large for your work surfaces and your nice sharp edges mating to the frame can get rounded! Use a felt buffing bit in a Dremel tool with the white rouge and stay away from the sharp edges. Buff parallel to the edges.

 

[swoter]

Thanks for the info. Going to be a new experience for me.