Why Is The Ruger So Hard To Rack?

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1911Tuner

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
243
Sorry - simply not true. Observe:

ukZMaw7.jpg


The slide remains in battery until the bullet leaves the barrel and allows the chamber pressure to drop.
Sorry, but that defies Newton's 3rd Law of action and reaction.

There must be two interacting objects and two forces in an action-reaction system...a force forward and a force backward.

If the bullet exits before the slide moves, the action side of the system is missing. As far as the slide is concerned, it may as well have never been there. If there is no action, there is no reaction.

While the slide and barrel remain locked together for a short distance and are technically in battery during that time, to say that the slide remains fully forward or "in battery" until the bullet exits is a physical impossibility. The slide moves...pulling the barrel backward with it...right around .090 an inch at bullet exit with the original springs and Browning's original .078 radius. .078 works out to 5/64ths by te way.
 

1911Tuner

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
243
Took my Ruger 1911 to the range today and it is so hard to rack. I have a number of 1911's but none this difficult. When I got home I tried a Colt recoil spring, but not much difference even though the Colt was quite a bit shorter than the Ruger. Is this a Hammer spring issue?

What have other done?
First, the length of the spring is only a small part of it. The number of coils and the wire diameter are much more important in determining the spring's strength and rate.

You need to determine what is causing the slide to be difficult to hand cycle by process of elimination.

Field strip it and install the slide without the barrel and spring. Cock the hammer and cycle it. Then, lower the hammer and cycle it again to see if there's a marked difference. The hammer will make it a little tight at first, then "break" much like a compound bow when it starts cocking.

If it's much easier without the recoil spring, but with the hammer down, the slide is oversprung and you need a softer spring. Browning's original was around 14.5 pounds, not...as many believe...16.

Likewise, a small radius on the firing pin stop will cause the slide to be a bit tight when it starts. I doubt that Ruger has used an overly heavy mainspring, but I haven't examined one, so it's possible.

If, after eliminating both springs you still have a hard slide, about the only thing left to suspect is the disconnect dragging hard on the center or cocking rail.

To test for that, Pull the trigger and hold it firmly rearward. Hand cycle the slide while holding the trigger...then do it again. If it eases up on the second try, the disconnect is dragging. If it is, you'll need to determine whether the cause is an out of spec disconnect standing too high above the frame, or excessive sear spring loading on the center leg....or possibly both.

There's also a small chance that the hammer is dragging hard on the center rail. Check by seeing if the hammer will overcock slightly past full cock with the slide about halfway back. If it will, that's not the problem.

You can reduce the effort quite a bit by simply cocking the hammer first.
 
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Joined
Nov 30, 2022
Messages
4,435
Location
Maryland
Took my Ruger 1911 to the range today and it is so hard to rack. I have a number of 1911's but none this difficult. When I got home I tried a Colt recoil spring, but not much difference even though the Colt was quite a bit shorter than the Ruger. Is this a Hammer spring issue?

What have other done?
They make a 380EZ for that.
 

usmc69

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
14
Location
Florida
Back when stainless guns came out, the recommended lubes were Tri-Flo and Break-Free, both Teflon-based in a dispersant carrier.
One of my Sgt's bought an AMT Hardballer back when they first came out (approximately 1987). We tried every lubricant we could find and it still would not run properly. I was joking and told him to try 30 weight motor oil. He did and the gun worked. After about 500 rounds he was able to switch to regular gun oil.
 

1WildPig

Bearcat
Joined
Sep 22, 2022
Messages
2
Location
Mississippi
Hey oscar...
I bought a SR1911 LW Commander back in September... It had the same issue... very hard to rack compared to any other 1911 I've had... Like 1911Tuner described, I narrowed it down to the disconnect dragging...
However, after firing it and checking my brass, I also discovered that they didn't machine the breech face correctly either, which would have eventually caused issues later on ... So, off it went back to the mother ship with a description of the issues... it was returned a week or so later with a new upper assembly (slide, barrel, etc) ...and racking was normal too.
 

KIR

Sparks, NV
Joined
Mar 2, 2022
Messages
1,674
Getting old and weak, finding it more difficult to rack a slide on several of my pistols. What I do is pull the hammer back, which makes it that much easier to rack the slide to load a round into the chamber after I let the slide go forward. I carry my BHP in condition 1.
I have not seen any discussion if this is a good/bad thing to do, so any comments would be welcome.

I also found it easier if I hold the pistol still in my left hand and rack it with my right.
 
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GunnyGene

Hawkeye
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
9,281
Location
Monroe County, MS
Getting old and weak, finding it more difficult to rack a slide on several of my pistols. What I do is pull the hammer back, which makes it that much easier to rack the slide to load a round into the chamber after I let the slide go forward. I carry my BHP in condition 1.
I have not seen any discussion if this is a good/bad thing to do, so any comments would be welcome.

The Handi-Racker can be useful. I have one, even tho I don't use it much - yet.

 

George

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
786
Location
New Hampshire “Live free or die”
I find the offices model is the most difficult to rack, again if you don't know the technique! Easy to learn just keep doing it. I've never found the government model hard to rack at all. Most can be racked with two fingers new out of the box three fingers of racking from the muzzle. I can't imagine why you'd be having so much trouble racking that firearm. But then again my wife has terrible arthritis in her hands which makes racking almost anything impossible very difficult to say the least and very painful. Hard to learn a technique when you're in pain! But then again I've never had a problem racking in any handgun maybe I'm just one of those people that don't have an issue with that don't know! Lucky I guess! George
 
Joined
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wow in all this time of whining and complaining some of you could have "exercised your "grip", "arm/hand strength" or simply put in a lighter spring, do as suggested above, such as cock the hammer back first,,,duh......OR better yet, buy a gun you can handle....:(:cautious:

I do like the part about being hard so liberals don't like and buy them.....;)
 
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Mike J

Hunter
Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
4,204
Location
GA
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that Ruger uses a heavier recoil spring for their 45 acp 1911 than most manufacturers. I did a quick search & a stock recoil spring for a SR 1911 is an 18 pound spring. The stock weight recoil spring for a Colt 45 acp 1911 is a 16 pound spring. How obvious the 2 pound difference in the recoil spring is when racking I honestly have no idea because I only own the Ruger. Maybe someone has one of each & can do a side by side comparison.
 

CAJUNCHEF

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 24, 2023
Messages
52
Location
Louyisiana
Very interesting discussion, and information about recoil springs and the disconnector.
I've had a few 1911's, but not yet a Ruger SR1911, it is on my list to get one.

When I was younger in the mid 90's, racking the slide in my Colt 1991A1 was not difficult, but it was a little rough. Following my Dad's advice, I used a fair amount of 3 in 1 oil during break-in on the slide/rails, over a few hundred rounds. That worked to make it smoother.

The Kimber Custom 1911, from early 2000's era, when they were nice, was very easy to rack, and ran well.

A Springfield Armory all stainless Combat Commander size was a little rough but smoothed up well with a lot of CLP and cleaning.
Living on a barrier island of the Gulf of Mexico, I learned a lot about salt air and cleaning guns (and a lot of other stuff!).

As another poster said, a 9mm 1911 (an American Classic Philippine made, polished high grade one) was really easy to rack. Their .45 ACP was good too.

When I get the Ruger SR1911, I can think of a few safari movies I'll watch, massaging the gun with some Flitz and CLP.
 

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