Stiff loading gate on Wrangler fix yet?

[louiethelump]

Has anyone come up with a fix for the overly tight loading gates on the Wranglers?

Other than “open and close it 10,000 times” An actual FIX.

It may be here but I am not wanting to read thousands of posts to find it.


Thanks.

Bob in Florida

 

[GypsmJim]

They are tighter than a single six, but I would never have classified them as overly. Even with my arthritis I have no issues with the 2 I own. If it ain't broke, I don't need a fix.

 

[arfmel]

I have 2 Wranglers. It seems to me that the newer one, which has been used less, has a much easier-opening loading gate. Maybe Ruger changed the design or something?

 

[57springer]

I have 2 Wranglers. It seems to me that the newer one, which has been used less, has a much easier-opening loading gate. Maybe Ruger changed the design or something?

I have 4 of them now, the last two are definitely easier to open .

 

[Hondo44]

It's all about the loading gate spring.

Regulate the loading gate tension with the tip of the wishbone spring that sticks up into the loading gate shaft channel which contacts and bears against the loading gate.

The tension can vary quite a bit on out of the box on all New Models. The length of the tip of the wishbone spring regulates tension. Shorten tip to reduce tensiont.

All you have to do is remove cyl. Then push the spring tip forward until it pops off the loading gate. File or use a small Dremel tool bit to hone down the spring tip. Pop it back in and check tension. Repeat until the tension is where you like it.

 

[louiethelump]

That sounds nice. I took a look at one of my 3” Wranglers and I cannot figure how you do what you describe.

 

[louiethelump]

When I remove the cylinder and then close the gate, the tip of the spring is solidly against the back wall of a mortise in the recoil shield. I can’t get a tool behind the spring to move it forward to work on it. There does not appear to be room to move it forward from under the loading gate.

Can you give a little more detail on how you do that please?

Thanks.

 

[hittman]

Have you asked Ruger?

 

[louiethelump]

Have I asked Ruger about Hondo44’s suggestion on how to improve the gun????


No. Why would I ask Ruger about something suggested by a forum member?

 

[eveled]

I found this thread it may help. https://www.rugerforum.net/threads/wrangler-loading-gate.375399/

 

[hittman]

No. Why would I ask Ruger about something suggested by a forum member?

Wow.
Yes, of course, ask them anything you want but maybe how to cure the ills of a gun they manufactured is a place to start.

You’re two YEARS into this discussion ….. maybe the answers are with Ruger.

 

[louiethelump]

Sorry for offending you. I have several Wranglers and am familiar with them. Ruger has designed and manufactured a gun (this by Rugers statement) that assembles with no fitting required. They have a total of 6 minutes of total factory time in each gun they say. This is how they make them inexpensively.

I do not expect the smooth operation from a 200 dollar gun that one would get from an 800 dollar S&W 617. To expect Ruger to customize my Wrangler because in my opinion the gate is too tight for what I want is not realistic.

The several of them that I have all have tight loading gates. They all work flawlessly. I have no intention in asking Ruger to do anything unless it has a manufacturer defect. This is not one.

I posted this thread on this forum and the first response I received was very recent; after the new forum that we are all now using came to be. I did not know there were answers here until a couple of days ago. I guess that is my fault but I do other things than haunt this forum. (Like collect all the colors of Wranglers. My wife likes the blue one and my favorite is the olive
drab)

I am currently using and carrying a black short barrel one with birdshead. My overall favorite. I would like to improve some of the little things. It never crossed my mind to expect Ruger to do ANYTHING about what I think is a too tight gate.

I did not mean to offend you but honestly I was a bit shocked at the suggestion.

I will stop with this 2 year old thread as that seems to be a problem.

Again, my apologies at being shocked at what I thought was a silly suggestion for me to bother Ruger with.

 

[eveled]

I agree it works I’m sure its in spec, no reason to ask Ruger. But there is room to make it better.

Did you see the link I posted. I believe it has the answers you seek.

 

[xtratoy]

Has anyone come up with a fix for the overly tight loading gates on the Wranglers?

Other than “open and close it 10,000 times” An actual FIX.

It may be here but I am not wanting to read thousands of posts to find it.


Thanks.

Bob in Floridahttps://americanhandgunner.com/handguns/customize-a-200-gun-of-course/

A tip in this article on loosening the loading gate. https://americanhandgunner.com/handguns/customize-a-200-gun-of-course/

 

[louiethelump]

Wow! What a great article. Thank you and thanks to all that have made an effort to help in this matter.

 

[buckshotshorty]

Mine is a new one and the loading gate works fine….easy to open easy to close

 

[hittman]

My apologies Bob.
I must have misunderstood your dilemma with your Wrangler loading gate.
I thought for 2 years you’ve been looking for a solution to the sticky loading gate didn’t see a comment on what Ruger provided as a solution.

 

[louiethelump]

Based on yesterday’s comment that a new Wrangler was easy to open, I pulled my most recent Wrangler off the shelf (“newest” of “Several” Wranglers) and found it to be the toughest to open of any of them. It is a beautiful chocolate brown color and otherwise very nice.

I decided to take some action on it after finding the bind point where the protruding mold vent marks were bearing on the frame as was shown in a photo early in this thread.

Using the Ruger video to refresh my memory of disassembly of the Ruger single action excluding the Bearcat, it came apart fairly easily and I discovered a new part that exists in the Wrangler that was not mentioned on the Ruger video. The breakdown that is in the owners manual identifies this little steel piece of sheet metal as a “pawl guide”.

Anyway, I smoothed the rough parts fairly easily with the gun disassembled and reduced the pressure of the spring that powers the loading gate.

After getting it all back together it is improved as far as how difficult opening the gate is, but still nowhere near my single sixes that are so smooth and easy to open that there is no comparison. I am guessing that steel parts vs zinc alloy parts contributes to Single Six superior function over the Wrangler.

Bottom line is that you don’t get a 500 dollar gun for 200 dollars and I don’t expect to. I really like the Wranglers and while I don’t have ALL colors and variations at this time, that IS the goal. I love to shoot them and I love the fact that this little gun functions just like my first Ruger (new model single six) and yet is inexpensive enough to have several kept in various locations around my little homestead should a possum attack come unexpectedly day or night.

I discovered the largest and nastiest possum I have ever seen about 10 feet from my front door at 3:00 AM potty call for my two little dogs awhile back and was glad to have put a Wrangler in reach of the front door. The possum showed teeth and hissed at me and was the size of a medium dog. (About 30-35 pounds - very big for a possum in Florida and twice the size of my 15 pound dogs)

I am happy with the Wranglers and discovered a new color of the 3” round butt model on the Ruger site last evening so I need to find one of those.

 

[Hondo44]

Had a similar experience with a huge possum that came knocking at my front screen door. Ignored all my attempts to chase it away. My Ruger 44 with a birdshot load put him under.

Sounds like you did a good job of debugging the loading gate. I think squeezing the gate spring a bit more to reduce the tension is the final solution to get it just like you want.

 

[louiethelump]

I did that, put it all back together, and found I had squeezed it too much. Took it all apart again and spread it a little and put it back together again. It worked so I left it there.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Hondo44]

Yes I've done that dance to get it just right, taking it apart over and over. That's about the time I started shortening the tip that engages the loading gate.

 

[Yoter]

My new birdshead is easy to open

 

[hittman]

Trusting Ruger to manufacture a gun but not fix one seems a little odd to me. To each their own.
Sure, it may be inconvenient to send it back but they’ve offered more than their warranty states.

 

[woodsy]

When this thread was first done a suggestion was the link to the ruger.net forum, which has the fix for the problem. I looked at that "fix" before I stopped looking at that forum. Apparently that "fix" does work. Tried it?
I was lucky enough to get a Single-Ten just before the Wranglers were introduced, and my interest in the W's now are based on curiosity.

 

[buckshotshorty]

Before getting my Wranglers I read all about tight loading gates. Honestly, I had no prior experience with single actions and was fully expecting having a hard time opening the gate. In reality, mine are not difficult at all to open and I was a bit surprised I had a totally different experience.