ruger firing pin bushing

[David Bradshaw]

Read somewhere-----singleactions.com or here----about an alledged ALUMINUM firing pin bushing. Think about it, would Ruger put an aluminum firing pin bushing in a revolver? Before you answer "Yes," wrap your skull around the image of an unsupported primer backing out of a .44 magnum!

Ruger wouldn't put an aluminum bushing around any firing pin, not even a .22 LR, let alone the aforementioned .44 mag.

Aluminum frame guns generally have a steel recoil plate or firing pin bushing. Only exception I remember was a woefully rotten West German or Brazilian DA .38 Special, with holes blown through the stop notches, and a countersunk standing breach where the caseheads of .38 Special ammunition had pounded the frame.

To find an aluminum firing pin bushing in a Ruger, I think someone else put it there.

Note to Flatgate and Contender.... I meant to post this in Revolvers or Gunsmithing, not Gallery.
Thanks,
David Bradshaw

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

I see Ruger firing pin bushings that are bright in a blued gun. Possibly made of stainless steel or just heat treated and left bright. Maybe the person who reported that was just not thinking.
Aluminum would not last long enough to get the gun sighted in before it squished and locked the firing pin up solid.

 

[Dale53]

:roll: I may have been the one who posted the original story. I bought my Super Black Hawk Old Model a couple of years after they were introduced. My gun was used. The firing pin bushing WAS aluminum and had worn to the place that it caused the firing pin to break. Whether or not it was original, I couldn't say. However, I doubt it as there was NO evidence whatsoever that the pin retaining it had ever been moved. Ruger sent me a new firing pin and bushing and I installed it. I don't remember it being any different than the original. However, I will pull the gun out of the safe and put a magnet on it. Then we'll ALL know :roll: .

I wondered at the time at the aluminum bushing, but "what did I know"...?

I'll post the answer in a few minutes.

Dale53

 

[Dale53]

Well, I tried. However, I could NOT find a magnet small enough to check. I WILL follow through and report back, later.

Dale53

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Dale53 , Some alloys of stainless steel are not magnetic.

 

[flatgate]

Well, my take on this subject is one of disbelief.
Ruger has produced a few guns with aluminum "frames", i.e. the Lightweight Single-Sixes and the original Bearcat. No centerfires that I can recall ...........

flatgate

 

[David Bradshaw]

Dale53.... it was your post. Not seeing your SBH leaves me unable to agree or disagree with contention firing pin bushing is aluminum. To buttress my assertion Ruger would not use such metal for that job, note all Ruger revolver frames are and have been heat treated. For some years, according to Bill Ruger, Jr., heat treatment was the same for the Single-Six as for the Blackhawk & Super BH. Eventually the Single-Six received a different heat treatment, and perfectly strong.

I have shot revolvers----with floating firing pins----in which the hammer peened the frame, causing steel to tighten around the firing pin. The Mossberg Abilene is one such. I had this very discussion with Bill Ruger, Sr. "What kind of heat treatment would allow that to happen?" I asked.

Ruger looked me in the eye: "What makes you think it's heat treated?"

Something else strange about the allegation. Would an aluminum bushing cause a Ruger firing pin to break? And what would bluing salts do to aluminum?
David Bradshaw