Police service six timing issues

[911clifford]

Good evening Rugerforum!
I have a police service six that locks up tight when the trigger is pulled to rear.

However, when the trigger is forward and the hammer is forward the cylinder can turn.

Looking for a gunsmith who understands Ruger revolvers.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!

We have a couple of guys here who'll be along to help you.
"RoninPa" is excellent with them.

 

[RoninPA]

Need more information.

Maybe a bit better description of "it locks up tight when the trigger is pulled to the rear". Does the hammer not fall? Does the trigger not go forward if you release it?

Does this happen in single action mode or double action mode?

When pulling the hammer back with your thumb (single action mode) what exactly happens as the hammer is drawn back? Does the trigger move to the rear? Does the cylinder turn and then lock into place when the hammer is fully back?

When pulling the trigger in double action mode, what happens, what do you feel, what does the hammer do?

Have you ever had it apart to do a complete cleaning of the trigger group, etc.?

Have you taken it apart and looked at the trigger assembly and the hammer to see if you can see any abnormalities?

You said that the cylinder can turn when the trigger and hammer are forward. Do you mean that the cylinder will turn freely in this condition? It should not turn if the hammer and trigger are forward, the cylinder latch will not allow the cylinder to turn at all because it should be in the up position and in the cylinder notch.

If you don't feel that you can work on it (or you don't want to work on it), I am a gunsmith and do a lot of work on the Six series revolvers for people. I can give you references if you would like.

 

[911clifford]

RoninPA,
Thanks for your response. Great questions

For your first question, the hammer and the trigger both work without any problem going forward and back. When the trigger cycles the double action, the hammer goes back, the cylinder turns and the hammer falls with the cylinder having advanced letting the cylinder latch lock the cylinder in place. When the trigger releases the cylinder latch releases the cylinder allowing it to rotate under finger or friction pressure.

Second Question, I have only noticed it in double action or as the weapon is just sitting with hammer forward against the frame. I have not noticed it when the hammer is back in single action.

Third question, In double action it performs without any problem, hammer comes back, cylinder rotates, cylinder latch engages cylinder hammer falls.

Fourth question, I have taken it apart into the parts groups, i have not disassembled the trigger group however, I have used gun scrubber and then lubricated it.

While cleaning it I did not observe any abnormalities. I replaced the cylinder latch thinking that might be the problem. That did not correct the problem.

I am not opposed to replacing parts, however if I need to hand fit parts, I will prefer to hand off to a competent gunsmith.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bill

 

[RoninPA]

OK, I reread your first posting and I think I know what you are saying (you release the trigger and it goes forward but you can turn the cylinder with your fingers).

That could be a problem with the cylinder latch spring/plunger or even the hole in the crane that the spring and plunger go into. The spring pushes the plunger on to the front of the latch to push it up into the cylinder notch. If the spring or plunger is defective then it may not be pushing "hard" enough to force the latch into position. It also could be that the hole that the spring/plunger goes into had a slight burr on it causing drag on the spring/plunger, or the hole where the spring/plunger goes might be gunked up with crud or even the plinger could have a slight bend/deformity in it. Under double action shooting/pulling the trigger while dry firing they could be enough "vibration" through the frame and such to allow the spring/plunger to do it's job. But lightly pulling the trigger and lowering the hammer with your thumb won't allow enough "jarring" of the mechanisms to release the spring from its compressed setting.

Now it could also be a problem with the trigger where it contacts the cylinder latch to drop it out of the way when pulling the trigger, but that is pretty uncommon.

I would tear the gun down and remove cylinder and crane assembly and using your finger press on the latch plunger gently and compress it completely and then slowly move your finger and let the spring/plunger release and move back out. Watch and feel for any constrictions and see if the plunger comes back out smoothly as the spring decompresses. Or, just pull the plunger and spring out and clean the hole that they go into and see what comes out.

Hope this helps.

 

[911clifford]

Thanks, I dig in and see what I can find!

 

[911clifford]

during disassembly I found that once I removed the hammer pin to release the hammer the cylinder latch popped up and locked the cylinder.
I further disassembled and found the cylinder latch plunger moved freely without any resistance.
I did notice that the cylinder latch spring did not fall out on its own. I’m going to have to try to pick it out to examine it.

 

[RoninPA]

Well, the hammer does "connect" to the trigger so removing the hammer pivot pin could cause some trigger movement which could cause the cylinder latch to become "unstuck" and pop up. That would lead me to look at the trigger and where it contacts the cylinder latch to see if is getting out of position a little and not allowing it to release and pop back up or if the trigger has some movement that binds the latch.

 

[911clifford]

I have a working security six and have attached photos of the triggers at the point that it makes contact with the cylinder latch.

 

[911clifford]

It appears to me that the trigger is worn the first picture on the trigger that is ceracoated black. Would you agree?

 

[RoninPA]

I will need to look at a few of my spare triggers tomorrow morning but the one on the left does not look right.

 

[RoninPA]

Just looked at the ones I have in stock and none look like the one on the left or the right. The one on the right looks a bit chewed up also. Have you put the trigger group from the working Six in the problem one to see what happens?

I'll get some pics of 2 of my extras as soon as possible and post.

 

[RoninPA]

My first try the pictures weren't that good so I tried a second time, these are better. These are pretty much unused triggers. You might be able to clean yours up a bit using small fine files (sometimes called Swiss files).

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

 

[911clifford]

Thank you.

 

[911clifford]

Great Pics, I will give that a whirl. Thank you.