Single Ten help

[DHD]

A friend brought over his single ten so I could install a set of Wolff Springs. He had mentioned slight binding to the cylinder while having the loading gate open. I noticed the same thing but didn't give it any thought at the time (figured some of the internals were rough). I disassembled it to polish any rough spots (1000 grit wet/dry) as I have done to all of my Blackhawk's. The pawl was in good shape on the top so the only thing I did to it was smooth the backside where the pawl plunger sits as it had a really rough surface there.

After reassembly, it will cock, but when I open the loading gate, the cylinder is bound up. After I get the cylinder lock lined up in a slot, I can close the gate and I can cock the hammer again. I've disassembled this thing a half dozen times and I still have the same issue. While disassembled, and the pawl plunger isn't in the hole, the cylinder will spin. I've looked at the pawl under a magnifying glass and there are't any burrs on it at all and the slot it rides in is smooth and clear of any burrs. I replaced the pawl plunger and spring in case that might have been a problem. The base pin doesn't have any roughness to it's surface. The ratchets on the back of the cylinder look good to my eye with no obvious burrs.

I notice where he had let the hammer/firing pin fall on the edge of a chamber, but there isn't any issues of putting a round in that chamber and no metal is displaced that might cause the problem I'm having.

The revolver is a few months old and has been shot a few hundred times. I've got 4 Blackhawk's of different calibers, and have changed springs in all of them and have smoothed all of their internals (to include installing free spin pawl in all of them). I have never messed with a Single Ten before and this issue has brought me to a stand still. I'm not an expert here, obviously, but I have never had an issue with disassembly, reassembly, and changing out parts.

 

[G2]

I haven't ever worked on a S-10 yet but I have heard they are hard to get them "tuned up",,, with the short throw.
When I recently tuned my S-7/327M, it was a bit different than what I was used to.

My suggestion would be take out the trigger/transfer bar & cylinder latch.

Then check the operation of the hammer/hand/cylinder alone.

Then add the latch to the mix.

Then the trigger/tb.

This is a process that I use to try and figure out which part/s might be the culprit.

 

[DHD]

I fought this thing for 3 days and multiple tear downs. I knew it was the pawl/ratchet relationship, but even now, I don't know why. The only thing I did to the pawl was polish any surface that touched something else.

The revolver worked before tear down, but the cylinder would not rotate with the gate open afterwards. The thing worked perfectly with the gate closed, but that's not of any use as you would have to pull the cylinder to load and unload.

What I ended up doing was remove a tiny amount off of the corner of the pawl, reassemble, remove a tiny bit more, etc. It now works fine, but my OCD isn't happy, because I don't know why this happened. Why would polishing change the relationship between the parts?

I did learn a lesson I should not have needed to learn at my age. I don't plan on working on any other guns that aren't mine and I don't plan on owning a Single Ten. I was at the point where I was going to send it back to Ruger to get them to fix my screw-up.

Give me a nice 6 shot cylinder in a Blackhawk and I'm happy.

 

[G2]

I totally get your frustration, it took me a while to figure out the S7 327M, it had just the smallest of hang up and that drove me nuts.
I really don't know how others live with the way these come from Ruger, , ,
a few hours of de-burring, polish, etc. turns the gun into a totally different experience.

Your not the first I've heard of to come along with trying to get the bugs out of a S10/ S9.
While the 10 shot idea sounds like a good one, I have felt the action of these guns in the store and they feel like cobble rocks. :roll:

 

[DHD]

Indeed it did, feel like a pile of rocks that is. Smooth now, but the trigger pull is a bit heavier than I'd prefer (about 4 pounds) but it is crisp. I made no attempt at stoning the trigger/hammer sear surfaces though so that stands to reason.

I did this to myself in saying it was relatively easy to turn a Ruger single action into a slick running revolver without having to run a few thousand rounds through them.

At the least I had a new experience in dealing with another type of a RSA.

 

[Hondo44]

In my experience with Ruger SAs, they are sensitive to cyl ratchet/pawl contact. Any roughness on these parts can cause cyl rotation problems, especially on the muti chambered cyls over 6 shots. Staineless steel adds to the problem.

So you found the problem and fixed it, a good learning experience