Replace the base pins?

[mike56]

Bought a couple ruger .44 specials and will be reloading for it.

Is it necessary to replace the base pins and latches? I've read that the stock ones sometimes fly out under recoil.
Worthwhile upgrade or not?

[dmize]

They make a nice aesthetic addition but with 44 Special loads I doubt it will be necessary.
I never ran into problems except with 44 Magnums and the 45 Colt with hot loads.

[AxeHandle]

I never had one jump until 2 dawgs sent me a Buckeye 38-40/10mm... That one made a locking pin believer of me for any Ruger single action I needed to depend on to work. I read that you can clean the latch up good and make it much more trust worthy. I still like mine to lock..

[Aggie01]

All of mine get, at a minimum, wolff extra power base pin latch springs.

The 5 shots have Bowen (FA) style locking pins - no extra power base pin latch spring required.

I do not care for the set screw type locking pins. You can tighten them down enough to bow the base pin. Since I don't have a tiny torque wrench for the allen head screw, I don't use them.

edit: my single six rimfires have std power base pin latch springs.
My .32, however, has a extra power spring.

[jforwel]

I have never had one fly off but I do have several Belt Mt. base pins for looks. Some with the knurled heads and some No. 5s. I did however put one on a used .32 Single Six that had some slop in it and I think it helped.

[dlhredfoxx]

I've had one back out on my SBH .44 shooting 340g buffalo bore +P ammo a couple years ago so I put in a tigher spring on the locking pin and it's never done it again. I've got a belt mtng on my Reeder 510 GNR African Hunter (included in Gary's conversion) with the little set screw, but I've never tightened it and I shoot alot of full house 350g loads and it's never come out. I've got belt mtn #5 pins on my two old vaqueros but have never tightened them... but I only shoot low pressure cowboy loads at the range, but I do load heavy +p 300g for carry and packing as a side arm for archery hunting. I'd hate to have one back out at the moment of truth. It's low cost insurance in my mind, and the aftermarket pins seem to fit tighter than factory. IMO...

[njsbd]

Why take a chance you just never know when the monent of truth comes only to find your out of order...all mine have Belt Mtn Pins screws tightened....

[AxeHandle]

IIRC JT writes that the locking pin upgrade is standard operating procedure on his working guns. He wrote about literally losing basepins in the field. I did not quite understand how that happened until I bought my first FT 44 and found that unlike later model Rugers the basepins could be completely removed with the EJR housing in place! The lost base pin is a show stopper but those of us who have experienced a BP just backing out a bit understand how the lack of rear cylinder support and guidance from the BP make the action jam up real quick..

[mike56]

Well, again I learned some stuff here.
Never new there were stronger latch springs available.
Will do that for sure now, while I mull over the base pin replacement.

[patdaddy]

reeder says that if they're properly fit, they dont need to lock.
however, i have locking pins on 5 single actions. cheap insurance i say.

[oldschool]

Jan 8, 2012 11:21:56 GMT -5 mike56 said:

Bought a couple ruger .44 specials and will be reloading for it.

Is it necessary to replace the base pins and latches? I've read that the stock ones sometimes fly out under recoil.
Worthwhile upgrade or not?

I've never had them back out except on a couple of OM Blackhawk magnums (.41 & .44). My OM .357 has never backed out in several thousand rounds of heavy loads, and my OM .45 Colt hasn't been shot enough (yet) to know.

My Lipsey .44 Spl has not backed out in approximately 400 rounds. Admittedly, most of these were some Cowboy loads I picked up for their brass, but the last 2 boxes of 255gr I reloaded for hunting haven't showed any evidence of backout, either. All-in-all, this Lipsey seems much better built and tighter than any OM or NM I've handled.

[Lee Martin]

Never had a problem with factory Rugers and basepin jump. I use Belt Mountains for aesthetics and to tighten-up stock Rugers.

Once you get into 5-shot 45 Colts, 454, 475, and 500 I find locking pins to be a must.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[Frank V]

I have had two of the cross locking pins break. One over 20 years ago & one two years ago. Ordered new ones from Brownell's. The last time I ordered two & put one away.

If you ever loose the cross pin the base pin will want to walk out. I've used electricians tape for a temporary fix taping the pin to the bbl till I got a replacement. It'll work in a pinch.
Frank

[ejc]

My feeling is if you don't have a problem, leave it alone. I own one Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt and I've never had the pin move. I thought about installing a belt mountain pin to tighten things up, but when I measured the hole in the cylinder and the pin, I realized they were already a snug fit. One guy posted that installing the new pin moved his cylinder up just enough that the chamber wasn't lined up properly and had worn the forcing cone before he discovered it.

On my Colt clones, I fit new bolts to remove the rotational slack in the cylinder. That worked out fine and the chambers are properly centered on the barrel. I was going to do it on my Ruger, but when I checked the gun by rotating the cylinder counterclockwise, looking from the front of the gun, to remove the slack in the bolt/notch interface, while looking down the barrel, I could see that the chamber was not perfectly lined up with the barrel. Had I installed and fit the new bolt, every chamber would have been a little out of line. I need the slight misfit so the bullet hitting the forcing cone can center the chamber on the barrel.

While this is probably a low percentage occurrence, it is better to check things out to make sure you aren't introducing a problem before you indiscriminately change parts.

E. J.