help please

[Tioga County]

I've got a GP100 that I've had for some time. For the most part I've shot factory ammo and cannot recall any problems. I've started reloading and my reloads are giving me light primer strikes.

I've shot Winchester, Remington and most recently American Eagle (Federal) factory ammo double and single action without problems. .38 special and .357 mag.

I've reloaded once fired brass I've saved, and brand new Winchester brass. .357 is 296 Winchester with CCI small pistor magnum primers. .38 special is Bullseye with Remington small pistol primers.
Some cast lead, some XTP bullets, almost exclusively 158 grain.

I'm not breaking primers reliably with either load. 2 or 3 misfires per cylinder, double or single action.

A friend shot some of my reloads without problems, and gave me some .38 specials reloads. I'm not breaking those primers reliably either.

I bought the GP used, so I just replaced the unknown hammer spring with a 12lb Wolf. (I did not change the trigger return spring, would that matter?)

All primers seated in the press (Forster Co-Ax).

I've only started reloading this year, but earlier reloads gave me no troubles, this is a new, but consistent (my reloads, pre-fired, new brass, .357, .38, a friend's reloads, all of them) problem with reloaded ammo.

Still flawless with factory loads.

Any suggestions?

Oh, and not only are my reloads firing in my buddy's gun, but I'm having the same issue with my Security Six.

 

[Tellico]

CCI primers seem to be a bit harder than most.You also need to be sure they are seated to the bottom in the pocket as the firing pin blow will seat them and it dampens the strike some. I believe the stock mainspring in a GP 100 was 16#. Could be wrong. The trigger return spring has no bearing on ignition. Others will be along more knowledgeable than me I am sure.

 

[Tioga County]

Thanks for the response!

This is happening with CCI and Remington primers. My friend mentioned the primer seating issue. I use the press, which Forster claims seats them to the correct depth, and when I check visually the primers are recessed below the brass. When mentioned, I operated the ram twice when seating the primers. Not saying this isn't the problem, but I'm trying pretty hard to address that specific issue.

According to Wolf, factory hammer spring is 14lbs. The trigger was (and still seems) pretty light, so I wondered if a previous owner had swapped it out to a much lighter spring. But using the 12lb spring hasn't corrected the issue.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Could be primer, could be gun, could be both?

First let's look at the gun. Is the firing pin clean w/o some bit of gunk in there that's causing the pin to hang up or not travel far enough to hit the primer well? Some spray cleaner (Gun Scrubber, brake cleaner or ???) should help clean it out. If you've got access to compressed air, blow everything out well in case some little goober is stuck somewhere. Watch the transfer bar's action: does it move smoothly w/o dragging in the frame? It might need a touch of stone work on the sides.

Is everything else clean, properly lubed, and working properly? Are there burrs on anything that cause the hammer to drag or other parts to not move as smoothly as they should? Is the hammer spring strut smooth, lubed, and installed properly? It seems like beating a dead horse, but Ruger's NOT exactly known for doing a really good job of "finishing" their guns' internal parts, so a basic "fluff and buff" CAN help.

Then there's the spring issue. I'll take some heat for saying this, but the engineers at Ruger actually KNOW what they're doing when they spec certain springs. Wolff's made a ton of money selling "different weight" springs, but if they were the proper choice, don't you think the engineers at Ruger would use them from the get go? (It would be a sweet contract for Wolff, ya know?) As my old gunsmith boss, who was NOT known for his PC language, used to say about Rugers, "First, let's get it working the way Ruger intended. THEN we can start dinking it up (he didn't say "dinking") trying to make it better."

So order up a set of FACTORY springs and put the others in the drawer until you've eliminated any other variables. And while we're talking about that, remember to just work on ONE at a time so you know when you've found the actual problem.

On primers, make sure to clean the primer pocket prior to seating the primer. The cup HAS to be seated solidly on brass BEFORE you pull the trigger. One way to know if the primer's not seated deeply enough is if your "misfires" go off consistently on a second try. If so, what's usually happening is the first strike is seating the primer, the second one is firing it.

Think about getting a hand priming tool, like the RCBS, Lee or Lyman models. You'll get a better "feel" when the primer seats than w/ any "on press" solution I've tried. Forster used to advertise how many thousandths of an inch their method seated the primer and how that was "just perfect." However, there ARE variances in the depths of the primer cups, so I prefer the hand seating idea.

If you're going to use lighter springs, Federal primers are often suggested. They're a little "softer" and ignite more consistently w/ lighter hammer strikes. CCIs, as mentioned, are probably the "hardest" on the market, so may cause more problems in certain guns.

If it were my gun, I'd start w/ cleaning, "fluff and buff" work, and factory springs first. If that doesn't do the trick, then examine your loading process and choice of components. Somewhere in there I think you'll find the answer...

Good luck!

Rick C

 

[GP100man]

Do they fire with a second hit ??
If so it`s a seating problem/if not it`s a revolver problem .

Check for lite springs , most GPs will run happily with a 12# hammer spring ,also check for hammer drag on the frame & binding of any type of the hammer .

Shimming the hammer to center of hammer well will stop the drag & smoothing the hammer spring strut will help insure that the springs power is delivered to where it`s supposed to be .

 

[toysoldier]

I cured a "light strike" problem in a .22 revolver by removing a thick grass stem that was lodged in front of the hammer.