Is the Pawl adjustable on the NMV?

[TheOtherLeft]

Hi guys,

Is the pawl adjustable on the NMV? I have 2 NMVs and have removed the reversing pawl/spring. On one of them is fine and the cylinder turns both directions very smoothly.

The problem I have is with the other NMV. The pawl sits slightly proud and stops the cylinder from reversing. When rotating the cylinder I can hear the pawl ride over ratchet teeth on the rear of the cylinder.

Both NMVs fire fine but I would like to adjust the pawl. Or is my only option to file down the file, which I don't want to do? What about the pawl spring/plunger? Can it be adjusted?

The NMV is brand new and when dryfiring it in the gunshop the reverse indexing wasn't working so I left it with them to fix it. They stripped it and polished up the reverse indexing plunger so that part of it now works. It seems they probably removed the pawl and it's related bits but may not have put them back in correctly, hence it's slightly out of alignment but still fires fine. I'm reluctant to take it back to them as it functions (fires) as it should.

Thanks,

TheOtherLeft

 

[Joe S.]

I wll be the first to say you do NOT want to file on the ratchet pawl.
If it is brand new, call Ruger and send it back. There should be no contact.

I will say if you dont have all grip frame screws in, then put em in and tighten them up. That made a difference on my Vaquero. If i leave the screws out on either side of the trigger then my cylinder wont free spin.

 

[DPris]

I've removed the plunger & spring on two 50th Ann Flattops, both spin freely in either direction.
Definitely something wrong with your gun.
The pawls are always "adjustable" to a degree, but not in the way you're asking & not to solve that problem.

If your local people can't deal with it correctly, I'd call Ruger & discuss.
If you do return it to them, you'll get it back with the plunger installed again, but that's easily removed, if you want to.

No offense intended, but if you're asking, you don't know what's involved in "adjusting" parts on the gun & YOU don't want to be filing on anything.
Denis

 

[Joe S.]

No offense intended, but if you're asking, you don't know what's involved in "adjusting" parts on the gun & YOU don't want to be filing on anything.

i found this out the hard way. luckily, Ruger sent me a new pawl and a nice note that said, "Leave our guns alone!" lol

 

[TheOtherLeft]

I realise I don't want to file down the pawl.

What about the pawl spring/plunger? In the drawings it seems to push the pawl rearward so it clears the cylinder so it can rotate. Maybe the spring is bent or bunch up so can't push the plunger back fully.

I've thought about disassembling the gun so I can access the spring/plunger and have a look at it.

Does this seem logical?

 

[Joe S.]

The plunger that sits against ratchet pawl pushes the pawl into the cylinder. Not back into the frame.

What makes the pawl clear the cylinder is when the loading gate it opened it levers the pawl backwards... Or something like that.

 

[DPris]

If you feel secure enough in your mechanical abilities & have at least a Level Two Man Card, you could try taking it apart to see if there's something obvious.
It's not a complicated design.
Watch where the pawl plunger is & goes when you take the gripframe off.

As Joe says, the purpose of that plunger/spring is to push the pawl FORWARD into the cylinder ratchet, not back into the frame.
Denis

 

[TheOtherLeft]

What makes the pawl clear the cylinder is when the loading gate it opened it levers the pawl backwards... Or something like that.

Hmm, now I'm a little confused

From what I can see in the manual there's no connection between the loading gate and pawl.

Can anyone please point it out to me:

 

[Joe S.]

Im wrong. The pawl levers clear of the ratchet when the hammer is at rest. What makes the cylinder spin is when the gate is open it lowers the lock bolt (that thing at bottom of cylinder opening) clear of the cylinder and allows it to spin.

Closed loading gate:

Open loading gate:

 

[Hondo44]

This is a very minor issue and Joe is correct about having the trigger guard/grip frame screwed on all the way up tight.

Because the top surface of the trigger guard is what levers the pawl back away from the cylinder when the hammer is down (the hammer actuates the pawl upward to turn the cyl when cocking the hammer.)

If you remove the grip frame, you will see a slight divit milled in the top surface above the guard. If that's been milled slightly too deep, or the pawl is slightly to long on the top tooth, either will cause the pawl not to kick back far enough to clear the cyl. Usually it's just poor fitting (adjusting) the pawl at the factory.

The easiest thing to do is, as you said, just adjust the pawl. Don't even take the gun apart except to remove the cyl. The pawl being proud as you observed is the issue as I described above. And on my guns, I just cock the hammer which extends the pawl all the way out. Prop it out with a small wedge of wood or toothbrush handle.

Use a fine stone wheel in a Dremel (easiest, but takes metal off fast) or use a file on the proud front top tooth to slightly shorten just as they are fitted in the factory. Don't file the point flat. File the angled surface below it so it gets shorter but keeps its point. You don't need to take much off! Keep trying the cyl until it clears when turned in reverse. Even if you take off a little too much, the pawl will work fine. The 2nd tooth continues to turn the cyl at about the halfway point so it locks up by the time the hammer is at full cock.

If you're hesitant to adjust the pawl, you can swap the pawls between the two guns. This is extremely easy to do also. If you've never had a NM Ruger apart, you can't help but get it right if you watch these two Ruger videos: disassembly and assembly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfOXBa8K8Ow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zEKDqwkgEs&feature=related

And here's my shortcut you'll understand after watching the videos:

REPLACING JUST HAMMER and/or PAWL: You do not need to pull the trigger, the PESKY GATE SPRING or transfer bar to remove the hammer and pawl. Once you take off the grip frame, the hammer pin is the only thing you have to remove to get them out. Just pull the hammer back and all the way down, then depress the hammer plunger in the base of the hammer with a small tipped screwdriver to clear the trigger extension where the transfer bar connects to it. Let the hammer & pawl fall out. Install in reverse! Piece o' cake.

Let us know what you decide to do and have fun!

 

[Hondo44]

Hi guys,

The NMV is brand new and when dryfiring it in the gunshop the reverse indexing wasn't working so I left it with them to fix it. They stripped it and polished up the reverse indexing plunger so that part of it now works. It seems they probably removed the pawl and it's related bits but may not have put them back in correctly, hence it's slightly out of alignment but still fires fine. I'm reluctant to take it back to them as it functions (fires) as it should.

Thanks,

TheOtherLeft

They couldn't have put it back together incorrectly except for the pawl plunger and spring in backwards, you should check for that 1st because it will cause problems down the line or may be the problem right now! The plunger should go in 1st.

It really isn't working completely correct as you noticed. You must be hearing two clicks per chamber. The 1st click would be the indexing pawl when the cyl is in alignment, then it wouldn't be on the 2nd click from the cyl pawl and you couldn't turn it back. So you had a smaller window of opportunity for the chamber to align. The next click would be the alignment pawl again for the next chamber and the 2nd click it would be out of alignment, etc.

 

[TheOtherLeft]

I ended up tightening up the frame screws a little and the pawl did retract a little back into the frame. Some screws were quite loose. It is just very slightly proud, so probably fractions of a millimeter but enough to stop the cylinder rotating backwards (with the reversing plunger removed).

Previously I could hear 2 clicks - the pawl and then the reversing plunger bit. Now I can only hear the one from the reversing plunger.

I think I might leave it as is for the time being.

 

[Joe S.]

glad ya got it working.