The barrel is rotating

[TomB985]

Hey everyone,

I bought my used new model SBH a couple of months ago from a local dealer. The serial number indicates that it was made sometime in 1986, so it's more than a few years old. When I first started shooting it I was surprised to see how far off the sights were. So with some time and ammunition I was able to get the sights exactly where I wanted them. A couple hundred rounds later they are off again, and this time it's still shooting slightly high and quite a bit to the left of my aimpoint. I look at the rear sight and see that there isn't much farther that I can go with the windage adjustment so I started to check out the front. Here's what I see, and I apologize in advance for the crappy photography:

I'm new to revolvers in general, as all of my previous shooting experience has been with automatics. But what can cause this? I'm thinking it has to go back to the manufacturer for repair?

 

[Ken ONeill]

Call Ruger, get a call tag and send it to them.

 

[dlhredfoxx]

Yep, what Ken said...

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Send it in to Ruger. They will fix it.
They are good people!! :wink:

 

[Jimbo357mag]

That ain't good. :roll: :roll:

 

[Knuckles]

Needs threaded back on at the factory... with a little "Loc-Tight" :wink:

 

[TomB985]

Thanks for the replies everyone, looks like my first instinct was correct. So these barrels are threaded into the frame then? How in the hell do they start backing out? The strange thing is that I've put about ~450 rounds through this thing so far and the hottest thing it's seen are factory Federal hollow points. The 400 reloads that I've sent through range from slightly milder than the factory rounds to nearly as gutless as a .44 special round.

I wonder what would have happened had they been 450 full-power loads. Maybe it would have rotated further? At which point would the integrity of the firearm be compromised? I'd think it would take quite a few turns, but until this evening I didn't even know the barrels were threaded in.

 

[Major T]

Actually, it has turned very little, BUT enough to cause your problem. It can be fixed. jack

 

[Bob Wright]

I don't want to alarm you, but I had one .357 Magnum Blackhawk barrel come loose enough I could remove it from the frame by hand. This barrel had been removed for refinishing, and digested over 17,000 rounds.

Its no big deal.

Here's my set up to fix it:

Bob Wright

 

[CraigC]

I would do, and have done, what Bob did. Not a big deal.

 

[rugerguy]

The ejector and its housing are keeping it from turning off (out) IF ITS indeed "loose"...take off the housing and try to unscrew the barrel by hand....if it doesn't then it was just not installed all the way in ( crush fit) to make the sight go to "top dead center",,,,,,,,any good gunsmith can "finish it" (tighten) and if it is "loose" and comes out, then see how far it can go in and if the sight aligns to the top......then all you have to do is put some 'Loctite' on the threads, screw it in, let it sit (cure) and your good to go...any doubt, than by all means send it back to Ruger, they;ll fix it..................

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

That's Ruger's problem, not yours. I would call them and ask for a mailing label. I wouldn't mess with it myself or pay a penny to a gunsmith. They should take care of you.

 

[cas6969]

Send it back (and make Ruger pay for the shipping).

I had a Bisley do that many years ago. (also had another single action do it, one that costs considerably more than a Ruger)

 

[CraigC]

That's Ruger's problem, not yours.

I wouldn't go that far. The gun is 26yrs old. There's no way of knowing what lies in its past. Firearms are the only consumer product that can be 26yrs old and people will still expect the manufacturer to fix any problems. Ruger will probably take care of it, possibly at the customer's expense but I wouldn't go condemning them for putting out a defective gun. Not in this case.

 

[TomB985]

Thanks everyone for your input. It seems like a relatively simple fix, but I have one other concern with this revolver as the primer strikes between chambers in the cylinder are not consistent. Out of every six there are one or two that are dead center and the rest are off to varying degrees. I've been planning on giving them a call about this for a few weeks now, and this gives me another reason.

The fact that it's a 26 year old firearm isn't lost on me, and the fact that this problem exists doesn't have me upset or anything. I'm gonna see what they say and go from there, but I would like them to check it out. I'm willing to tear apart virtually anything on a car, but stuff that goes bang is a little outside of my area of expertise, so I want this professionally done.

 

[Stoots]

....if it doesn't then it was just not installed all the way in ( crush fit) to make the sight go to "top dead center"

Off topic, but i'll never understand why Ruger doesn't install the barrel and then install the sights based on a square jig to the cylinder frame. Seems like this would eliminate the canted barrels we sometimes see.

I'm sure there's a reason the sights are put on first. Anyone know?

 

[rugerguy]

with todays machining equipment, the barrels are cut so "exact" they line up MOST of the time when done to 'specs',,,, someone in a hurry, too light, too heavy, and the "crush fit" is not met or its exceeded (past top dead center)...to add the sights later would call for extra steps, as well as having to blue the gun again cause the barrel will be discolored from the installation of the front sight..........people making things for other people, and its Friday afternoon OR its Monday morning........WOW :shock:

 

[john guedry]

The same thing happened to me. Ruger fixed it,however I paid the shipping.

 

[Tommy Kelly]

Not a big problem and a quick fix. Ruger is well practiced on this fix and the turn around time should be short. I would send it back and let ruger fix it and be very curteous and it might not cost you anything. Except time without that gun a little finesse goes a long way in getting help but ruger is real good about taking care of it's customers needs.

 

[TomB985]

Seems like an easy fix. I called in yesterday and they gave me an RMA number. Of course I'm responsible for shipping which doesn't seem to be an easy thing to figure out. FedEx would happily ship it, but they require that it be sent priority overnight, which is about $75! I'm taking it to the shop that sold it to me tomorrow, they say that they have cheaper options available.

Interesting discussion on the sight alignment, it seems that the manufacturing processes must be quite good to fit the sight before installing the barrel. I wonder how often that doesn't work out for them. I'd like to note that mine wasn't a simple case of it not being installed correctly; the reason I noticed was that my sights wouldn't stay zeroed or anywhere close to it. I'm absolutely confident that my barrel has been rotating as I've been shooting. No huge deal from the sounds of it, but I'd like it fixed right and by all accounts their customer service seems excellent.

 

[Triggernosis]

FWIW, an FFL can ship a gun via US Postal Service for, usually, less than $10. That's what my FFL charges me to ship whenever I sell one over the 'net - $10.

 

[TomB985]

FWIW, an FFL can ship a gun via US Postal Service for, usually, less than $10. That's what my FFL charges me to ship whenever I sell one over the 'net - $10.

Thanks Triggernosis. After being quoted $76 to ship this thing via FedEx I sort of figured the same thing. This afternoon I took it to the shop that sold it to me. Yesterday they told me on the phone they could ship it for quite a bit cheaper than that. When I dropped it off they did even better than that; they had me fill out a claim tag and said "we'll take care of it". They told me that they could call Ruger and get shipping paid for under most circumstances. Not sure exactly what's going to happen here, but they seem to be taking care of me. 8)

 

[rugerguy]

good to hear the shop is working with you to remedy the problem, means a lot....

 

[Acorn]

FWIW, an FFL can ship a gun via US Postal Service for, usually, less than $10. That's what my FFL charges me to ship whenever I sell one over the 'net - $10.

Thanks Triggernosis. After being quoted $76 to ship this thing via FedEx I sort of figured the same thing. This afternoon I took it to the shop that sold it to me. Yesterday they told me on the phone they could ship it for quite a bit cheaper than that. When I dropped it off they did even better than that; they had me fill out a claim tag and said "we'll take care of it". They told me that they could call Ruger and get shipping paid for under most circumstances. Not sure exactly what's going to happen here, but they seem to be taking care of me. 8)

Cudos to that shop for taking care of a customer.

 

[Hondo44]

That's great news but let's get your shop's name out to forum members here!

 

[stantheman86]

There is surprisingly little "torque" to a revolver barrel......many people have removed barrels with two blocks of wood and a garage vice.

I once rebarreled a S&W Victory revolver in my garage

Ruger uses, or used to use some kind of thread locker on the revolver barrels that reportedly makes them very difficult to remove, which is a good thing.

 

[Triggernosis]

There is surprisingly little "torque" to a revolver barrel......many people have removed barrels with two blocks of wood and a garage vice.

I once rebarreled a S&W Victory revolver in my garage

Ruger uses, or used to use some kind of thread locker on the revolver barrels that reportedly makes them very difficult to remove, which is a good thing.

Stan is correct.
I took a couple of pieces of 1" oak wood, held them together in my vice, and drilled a hole through the center a couple of sizes smaller than the barrel diameter....then wrapped the barrel with two layers of masking tape to prevent slippage, and have been able to screw barrels right on off...without having to use any kind of "oomph" at all.
After doing it myself, I'll never pay a gunsmith to do it again...unless I get one that doesn't want to budge with just a small bit of torque.

 

[Triggernosis]

FWIW, an FFL can ship a gun via US Postal Service for, usually, less than $10. That's what my FFL charges me to ship whenever I sell one over the 'net - $10.

Thanks Triggernosis. After being quoted $76 to ship this thing via FedEx I sort of figured the same thing. This afternoon I took it to the shop that sold it to me. Yesterday they told me on the phone they could ship it for quite a bit cheaper than that. When I dropped it off they did even better than that; they had me fill out a claim tag and said "we'll take care of it". They told me that they could call Ruger and get shipping paid for under most circumstances. Not sure exactly what's going to happen here, but they seem to be taking care of me. 8)

I'm actually really surprised that Ruger didn't just send you a shipping label, but it's probably because it's such and older gun. Next time maybe act ignorant and say "I dunno...I've only had it a couple of weeks...nope, can't read the serial number because I lost my eyeglasses at the nursing home when I went to visit my wife...should have me a new pair as soon as Medicare gets things straightened out and I get my scooter working again..." Maybe they'll feel sorry for a half-blind old man who can't even walk to the mailbox and send you a pre-paid shipping label.

 

[temmi]

Call Ruger, get a call tag and send it to them.

I would call Ruger in a New York second

Snake

 

[TomB985]

That's great news but let's get your shop's name out to forum members here!

Fair enough. The place is called Gregerson's Ace Hardware in Baldwin, WI. Good bunch of guys and they carry a pretty decent selection of handguns and long guns considering they sell more than just guns. They mentioned something to me about possibly using a local gunsmith and them covering the charge, and so I don't know how this is going to go.

This would be the second time I took this one back to them. The first time was about a month and a half ago, the button that retains the base pin came off. Only a few dollars in parts and a few minutes to put in, but it was still under their warranty so I took it back to them. Same deal, they just had me fill out a tag and "we'll take care of it". A week later I had it back functioning flawlessly.

And triggernosis, it's good to see that it's that easy to remove and reinstall the barrel of a revolver. Of course my Glock takes all of ten seconds, but I thought it was a more involved process to remove a revolver barrel. It's interesting, as I firmly believe in the superiority of automatics for most any self defense situation. But out of every firearm I've ever owned I don't like any of them as much as I do my SBH.

More Ruger revolvers may be in my future. This thing may not fire or reload as fast as my G19, but it just feels "right". :mrgreen: