Security-Six "Sticky" Trigger

[ditto1958]

I have a new-to-me 150 series Security-Six. Everything about it is nice, and it shoots well, except for one thing that's bottering me a bit. When I shoot it single action, the trigger seems to hang up a bit when it resets.

It doesn't actually get stuck, but just seems to be dragging or catching a bit when it comes forward.

Any idea what could be causing this?

The gun doesn't seem to have been fired much. Everything inside looks almost brand new. Does this sound like something that will break in with more use?

 

[hittman]

Could have 45 years of gunk binding up things a bit.
They're not hard to take apart and clean. Illustrations in the owners manual will help or there's lots of You Tube videos.
Or, you could pull the hammer back and flood it's innerds with something like CLP to wash it out.
Heck, if you've got an air compressor you might shoot a stream of air in there.
Likely something very minor.

 

[RoninPA]

Hittman is on the right track. I would bet that there is gunk from the original manufacturing/lubing that any previous owner never cleaned out and it got hard. This is not unheard of.

The manual tells you exactly how to take it apart and put it back together.

Take it down to the major components - don't go any further unless you are pretty well versed in the Six series.

Get a can of brake cleaner from your local retail establishment, be it an auto parts story or a big box merchandiser.

Make sure it is the non-chlorinated type, you can use that for cleaning/degreasing a lot of stuff and it won't discolor plastic/polymer parts.

Spray down the trigger group.
Then spray up in the frame and the ejector rod housing and around the firing pin area.
Spray down the mainspring and the hammer where the mainspring strut contacts it and the hammer pivot hole.
If the cylinder spins on the crane easily, don't do anything. If it doesn't then you can dismantle the crane from the cylinder (left handed threads) and remove the ejector and spray down the crane and the cylinder.

Visually inspect and repeat as necessary. You might need to use a toothpick (or dental picks if you have any) to loosen/remove anything that would come out from the spray. Respray those areas to make sure you got everything.

Let it dry, shouldn't take long.

Then relube:
I use just a touch of stainless steel lube on the top of the mainspring and in the hammer pivot hole.
In the trigger group, put a small dab on the pivot point of the transfer bar.
Use a good oil on the trigger pivot point and the pivot point of the pawl.
If you took the cylinder/crane apart, ONLY lube where the cylinder touches the crane (front and rear are the only places you need to lube).

Put it back together and dry fire it to see how it feels.

While it is apart, look at all the parts to make sure there are no burrs on anything, especially the top of the mainspring strut (it is a stamped part so it isn't always nice a smooth) remove as necessary. Also look to see if there are any unnaturally heavy rub marks on the trigger and/or hammer and correct as necessary.

That should get your Six working nice.

 

[ditto1958]

I did take it apart prior to shooting it, and cleaned and oiled it. I don't think the gun had ever been shot much. Everything inside looked brand new.

Maybe it just needs to be shot a lot?

 

[hittman]

I'd blow it out again with an air compressor and dry fire it a bit.

 

[Lastround]

Every new Ruger revolver I have ever owned has gotten extremely better with a lot of dry firing. It won't hurt the gun. (Except rimfire) I actually try to dry fire any new Redhawk about one thousand times before worrying about how it shoots.

 

[RoninPA]

ditto1958 you stated: It doesn't actually get stuck, but just seems to be dragging or catching a bit when it comes forward.

If you look at the trigger, are there any signs that it is rubbing on anything on the side(s). If so, remove it and check the opening where it goes through for any burrs.

If no signs, check around the pawl where it fits in the trigger. You can see that when the trigger goes forward, it does have to go down into the trigger guard a little bit and it might be hanging up there then it gets to that spot.

Although unlikely, you can also check to insure that the transfer bar is going back down correctly and not binding against the frame when it the trigger is released.

You can do these checks with the trigger group removed from the frame, it makes it easy to see the action. You can also test with it in the frame with the hammer removed to see if the transfer bar or the pawl is catching/rubbing.

If you can't see anything, just do as Lastround says, dry fire it and see what happens after it's been cycled a good number of times.

 

[ditto1958]

ditto1958 you stated: If you can't see anything, just do as Lastround says, dry fire it and see what happens after it's been cycled a good number of times.

That's my plan for the moment. I'm just gonna shoot it a bunch and dry fire it a bunch. After awhile, I will take it apart again, and see if I can see rub marks anywhere.