?Mistreating? a Single Action? (what *NOT* to do?)

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Montelores

Buckeye
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From the Ruger Blackhawk owner's manual:

5.Align a chamber with the barrel and close the gate. The revolver is now in its
normal carrying condition – hammer and trigger fully forward and transfer
bar lowered out of firing position.
6.NOTE– To help prevent scoring of the cylinder, when closing the loading gate
be sure that a chamber is directly aligned with the barrel. This can be achieved
by rotating the cylinder so that a cylinder flute is equally spaced on either side
of the topstrap, closing the loading gate, and then verifying that the cylinder is
locked in place.

Monty
 

Sacramento Johnson

Blackhawk
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Craigc wrote:
"It puts undue wear on the hand and ratchet for absolutely no reason whatsoever. You can certainly do so if you like, just as you can drag it behind your truck if you like but the video is a very good example of why it is a very bad habit to get into. It's akin to flicking the cylinder closed on a double action. Not a good idea, especially with a sixgun that does not belong to you."

Sorry, I don't think an occassional spin is going to cause 'undue wear' in a Ruger. (And I certainly wouldn't liken it to dragging one's pistol behind a truck!) A little grease on the cylinder notches (which transfers to the hand) keeps the friction down nicely.
I don't snap DA cylinders closed.
As for spinning someone else's sixgun cylinder; I don't. I don't handle other's firearms, let alone work the action in any way.
 
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Montelores":2wsnb0b1 said:
From the Ruger Blackhawk owner's manual:

5.Align a chamber with the barrel and close the gate. The revolver is now in its
normal carrying condition – hammer and trigger fully forward and transfer
bar lowered out of firing position.
6.NOTE– To help prevent scoring of the cylinder, when closing the loading gate
be sure that a chamber is directly aligned with the barrel. This can be achieved
by rotating the cylinder so that a cylinder flute is equally spaced on either side
of the topstrap, closing the loading gate, and then verifying that the cylinder is
locked in place.

Monty

Yep +1 Now the bolt will not be on the cylinder as it rotates.
Jim
 

flatgate

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I think the conclusion to this thread is that we all have our ideas how to handle our guns.

And, of course, common curtsey dictates that one does NOT "fiddle" with other's guns prior to receiving approval.

Me? My New Models have retimed cylinder latches. No rings unless I close the gate at the wrong time........ :roll: and many of my New Models are fitted with homeboy half cock notches.

Bottom Line? We ALL must preach safe handling, which, in my opinion, this Forum's Membership does indeed do!!

JMHO,

flatgate
 

Montelores

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Flatgate -

Can you please remind us about how you re-time the cylinder latch? I recall a thread in which you depicted or described the dimensions of a modified latch. Was that the one?

Thank you,

Monty
 

CraigC

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Sacramento Johnson":26yzuq2w said:
Sorry, I don't think an occassional spin is going to cause 'undue wear' in a Ruger. (And I certainly wouldn't liken it to dragging one's pistol behind a truck!) A little grease on the cylinder notches (which transfers to the hand) keeps the friction down nicely.
Think what you want. Metal on metal contact causes wear, period. The hand and ratchet teeth wear on each other, undeniable fact. Spinning the cylinder, especially at a high rate of speed like in the video, which serves absolutely no purpose, DOES cause undue wear. Undue because it is unnecessary.


Sacramento Johnson":26yzuq2w said:
As for spinning someone else's sixgun cylinder; I don't. I don't handle other's firearms, let alone work the action in any way.
You never look at guns in a gun shop? You never inspect them before you buy them? You never work the action?
 

Driftwood Johnson

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Think what you want. Metal on metal contact causes wear, period. The hand and ratchet teeth wear on each other, undeniable fact. Spinning the cylinder, especially at a high rate of speed like in the video, which serves absolutely no purpose, DOES cause undue wear. Undue because it is unnecessary.

Howdy Again

It's all a matter of degrees. I was not able to view the video for some reason, but I can imagine what it showed. There is a huge difference between spinning a cylinder at 20,000 rpms for a half a minute and just giving it a gentle twirl. Of course, a few molecules of steel are rubbed off every time the hand slips over the ratchet teeth. But it really is not significant with a gentle spin.

By the way, it is REQUIRED to show clear before leaving the loading table in Cowboy Action Shooting. The way this is usually done is the loading gate is left open and the shooter gently spins the cylinder to show the unloading table officer that the gun is empty. That is the only way to show clear with a single action revolver, there is no crane to pop open. And nobody is going to take the time to remove the cylinder to show that it is empty. Except for my R&D cylinders for my Remmies, that is how it is done with them. But with a Colt or clone or Ruger the gate is held open and the cylinder is gently spun to show it is empty. When I am the unloading table officer and somebody gives their cylinder a rapid spin, I always ask them to do it again slowly. Can't really see much if the cylinder is going 300 rpms. When I show clear I actually roll the cylinder with my hand, allowing the unloading officer to clearly see the chambers are empty. That's how you demonstrate that the gun is empty, by rolling the cylinder. It ain't going to wear anything out any faster than actually shooting it will.
 

Sacramento Johnson

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Howdy!
I can't recall the last time I bought a gun at a gun shop. (Pickings are very slim here for what I want.) If I could find one I wished to handle, I would ask permission to do so and ask them if they would allow me to work the action (if I was interested enough in it). As I said above, I don't spin someone else's sixgun cylinder, not even there.

Don't have any idea what that video shows; haven't seen it, but like my 'cousin' says above, I'm not talking about a zillion RPMs, and don't believe the original poster was, either.

When I'm at a match, or out practicing, I don't handle other's sixguns. (In a match, if I'm at the unloading table, I let the shooter spin their own cylinders to show me their guns are unloaded.)
Guess we will just have to agree to disagree about the 'undue wear'...
 

flatgate

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Montelores":4imj95z7 said:
Flatgate -

Can you please remind us about how you re-time the cylinder latch? I recall a thread in which you depicted or described the dimensions of a modified latch. Was that the one?

Thank you,

Monty

I do it by extending the "leg" of the cylinder latch via welding then extensive "reshaping" is required. Next, the actual "timing" is adjusted by some trial fitting and lots of filing.

flatgate
 

Jayhawkhuntclub

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I've modified the pawls on my SAs so there is no click and they free spin. The only contact is on the base pin during a spin with the gate open. I can't imagine any way that spinning this set up would hurt it. I suppose if you did this non-stop at a high rate of speed some frictional heat would build up and there would be some wear. But that would take some serious effort, IMO.
 

COR

Blackhawk
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I spin mine because Chicks dig it. :lol: If I ever wear out my Ruger I will be one proud SOB....Even with mistreatment.
 

Rclark

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Moderation. All things in moderation. Same with spinning the cylinder. Might be unnecessary, but so what.... Still won't wear it out in my lifetime anyway. Don't know about you all, but before handing over the gun to someone to handle, I always open the gate and and give it a light spin to show him/her the gun is 'empty' and then click the loading gate back closed. It would be interesting (not really feasible :shrug: ) to have a test where it ran for years just spinning and clicking until any 'significant' measurable wear is detected..... and then extrapolate to 'wear out' time..... oh and don't use grease in the test either ...
 

CraigC

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Rclark":3kxak7p6 said:
Moderation. All things in moderation.
Obviously rotating the cylinder to show that a sixgun is unloaded is not abuse. We're not speaking of rotating the cylinder to show that it is unloaded, we're talking about incessantly spinning the cylinder at a high rate of speed just to hear it click. It is a very bad habit to get into. It is abuse, plain and simple and it reeks of Hollywood. Sure, it 'might' not ever cause you a problem in your New Model but I have lots of single actions that are not New Models and I treat them all equally. Bad habits from one gun type will carry over to others. Just like my friend's habit of spinning his Vaquero carries right over to his Frontier Scout, the hand from which is on my bench right now awaiting a new hand spring.

The guy in the YouTube video needs to be slapped. For those of you who can't see the video, imagine spinning the cylinder as fast as you can, then slamming the loading gate shut while it's still moving.
 

SBH4628

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CraigC...Speaking of "Hollywood" Ever notice when they have a double action open,spin the cyl.and it still "Clicks" Then they slam it shut with a flick of the wrist :x Drives me up the wall.
 

CraigC

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SBH4628":17exgq60 said:
CraigC...Speaking of "Hollywood" Ever notice when they have a double action open,spin the cyl.and it still "Clicks" Then they slam it shut with a flick of the wrist :x Drives me up the wall.
Drives me nuts too! My brother picked up my Mundenized 629MG once, opened it and flipped it closed. He got a good crawling, rest assured 'that' will never happen again. ;)
 

Bucks Owin

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Sadly, most youngun's, especially of single moms, get their "Firearms 101" by watching the Hollywood lefties operate all kinds of guns like dimbulbs (and with unrealistic results!)...Bet that's where the kid in the video got his "training"... :roll:
 
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