Cylinder lock up rotation play...how much is too much?

[Mus408]

Was cleaning my Alaskan and noticed there may be a bit more movement of cylinder rotation when at rest and when hammer is cocked.
If I remember back to last November when Ruger shipped it back for other issues to be corrected, it had a nice tight lock up. Movement seems to be coming from the pawl where it can slightly rock back and forth.
Checked my other revolvers,all Rugers except three, and the tightest two are my old 2005 New Vaquero and my new Uberti Schofield.
How much of any rotation is normal? I could make up a fixture and measure with a dial indicator.
All of them have less movement when hammer is cocked.
Is this considered within some spec. to be normal break in wear?

 

[contender]

There is a certain amount of cylinder rotational play so to speak to allow for the bullet to align itself as it transitions from the chamber to the barrel.
The big question is; "How does it shoot?" If the shooting is fine, I'd not worry unless I was getting a lot of lead spitting from the sides. A way to check this is to drape a towel over a frame of some sort, and shoot the gun inside the "tunnel" of the towel. Let the cloth catch the lead spitting. Make the tunnel about 15"-18" wide to prevent accidental burning of it. I've used a metal folding lap tray that was made out of 1/4" rods as a frame to drape a towel over. Works good as it's wide enough to not catch fire, and tall enough to shoot under while it free stands on my bench.

 

[jic]

The correct way to check cylinder lock up is to cock the hammer back and while holding the hammer pull the trigger all the way back.
Then let the hammer down slowly while still holding the trigger all the way back.
There should be very little movement in the cylinder rotation. Check all the chambers this way.

jic

 

[jic]

Here is a video that better explains my previous post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMOGVWB-QHw

 

[Mus408]

Yes I was thinking they allow some movement as the bullet centers itself in the forcing cone.
Shoots fine.

 

[woodsy]

The correct way to check cylinder lock up is to cock the hammer back and while holding the hammer pull the trigger all the way back.
Then let the hammer down slowly while still holding the trigger all the way back.
There should be very little movement in the cylinder rotation. Check all the chambers this way.

jic

EXACTLY correct!!!
And for the naysayers, there IS a difference between hammer down (and released) and simply hammer cocked. That's how they are designed. At that point the pawl has already done its job and has nothing to do with lockup.

 

[glockman99]

Most revolvers have some play in the cylinder...That's just the nature of the beast, due to needing room for the cylinder bolt to be able to move freely from inside it's little slot.