I have recently received a new to me NM Blackhawk........After taking her to the range and putting 200 rds down range I noticed heavy leading on the face of the forcing cone. At home with further inspection I found lead smathered on the front end of the cylinder & on either side of the forcing cone on the frame. I'm new to single actions.........But this can't be normal, can it? Any help would be much appreciated.
Blackhawk diagnosis Q's
- Thread starter jeffrice6
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mike7mm08
Buckeye
Could be a few different things. It could be the ammo. A soft lead bullet pushed too fast will lead to a lot of leading. What caliber is the gun and what ammo are you using. The other possibility that is more likely if the leading is just in the forcing cone is the cylinder throats could be undersized. If this is the case when you fire the pistol the bullets get swagged down to a diameter smaller than the bore. When this occurs you get a lot of leading as the bullet does not seal the barrel and you get hot gases passing between the bullet and the bore. Other possibilities are the cylinder in slightly out of time causing the bullet to not hit the forcing cone square and shaving lead off the bullet. Or the forcing cone might not have the edge chamfered at the proper angle. With leading on the cylinder face and the frame it sounds like timing could be a problem and the gun is spitting molten lead shavings. Those a just a few thoughts based on your description others will surely be along to add to this.
Shooting .38's......& its not the ammo, they run perfectly in my gp100. If out of time, what are my options/solutions? Also, while looking down the barrel I can see part of the cylinder.....I can manually turn the cylinder enough where it lines up properly. Would a belt mountain base pin solve/help my condition?
mike7mm08
Buckeye
Sorry for not getting back sooner. From your further description your definitely dealing with a timing problem. When you manually rotate the cylinder does it lock with minimal play when it is cocked? If so then you have one less problem to deal with. The reason the cylinder is not rotating enough is because of the pawl. Their are two steps or teeth on the pawl. The lower one rotates the cylinder into position for the cylinder latch to lock into the cylinder. If this lower tooth is worn or damaged the cylinder with not be rotated into the proper position when you cock the gun.To fix the problem order a new pawl from ruger. Some fitting maybe required but it should solve the problem. If you have play in the cylinder when the cylinder is locked and the hammer is cocked you should replace the cylinder latch as well. There are corresponding springs and plungers that are related to both the the pawl and cylinder latch. I would replace those as long as your taking the gun apart. Being that your new to single actions download the manual from Ruger and you can see the parts I am referring to as well as get instructions for disassembly. But I would start by first if you have not already give the internals of the gun a complete cleaning. It is very possible that it could just be gunked up. If you don't want to disassemble the gun just remove the grips and cylinder and blast gunscrubber into every opening you can find. Follow that up by blasting it out with compressed air followed by a light oil. I like to soak the internals and then wrap the gun in paper towel and let sit muzzle up overnight to let the excess oil run out. As far the basepin goes it is the solution to the cylinder coming unlocked under recoil of heavy loads. If any of this seems intimidateing this is a very simple and relatively cheap fix by most any gunsmith.
Bucks Owin
Hunter
Likely there's three numbers on the cyl that match the last three digits of the ser#.....Don't know how competent that info is......Pinecone":3r5pj2j8 said:
BTW, I'd expect to find "some" lead after 200 rds!
edlmann
Blackhawk
Bucks Owin":2w7xfoxl said:Likely there's three numbers on the cyl that match the last three digits of the ser#.....Don't know how competent that info is......Pinecone":2w7xfoxl said:
AFAIK, only on the convertibles; on those, both cylinders have the last three electric-penfilled onto the forward end of the cylinder.
