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Post by buckheart on Jul 6, 2014 19:29:05 GMT -5
About a month ago I picked up a Ruger Old Army. I guess I am trying to rekindle all of the fun I had building and shooting black powder kits back in the early eighties. I had one shooting session right after I got it. I was pressed for time so I only ran two cylinders through it. Had no issues, made plenty of smoke, and all was well. This weekend I had it out to my cabin to do some more extensive shooting. What I ran into before I got it loaded was a delay in the hammer falling when I pressed the trigger, Sometime the hammer wouldn't fall at all until I pressed it forward while holding the trigger. Fiddled around a bit and realized that when the hammer was drawn back all the way cocking the gun you could move the hammer slightly forward with out pulling the trigger. Basically there was back and forth play in the cocked hammer. When I cocked the gun, then pushed the hammer forward before pulling the trigger it would fire every time I pulled the trigger. If I didn't push the hammer forward after cocking I could pull the trigger with no effect. Any ideas?? I have a phone video of it.  |
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Post by jayhawker on Jul 6, 2014 21:49:38 GMT -5
Try backing the hammer screw out a half turn.
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Post by blacktailslayer on Jul 7, 2014 13:44:22 GMT -5
May be a lot of crud inside the action, being BP crud builds-up much faster than SP. My first thought would be strip it down to see what teh inside looks like.
Don D.
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Post by buckheart on Jul 13, 2014 7:54:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. I tried backing out the hammer screw but it wouldn't budge so I soaked it and all the grip frame screws in Kroil overnight. It was still a tough time getting the screws out and the grip frame off. From the looks of the screws they had never been taken out and the reason they were so difficult to get out was that they were in with red locktite. Is it standard procedure for Ruger to locktite their old army guns together? None of the other Rugers I have dismantled were locktited together. Gave the gun a good cleaning and oiling.
Still have an issue with the hammer. When the hammer is drawn to full cock it goes back past what I am guessing is sear engagement. I can then move it about a quarter inch forward and it will fire. If left in the rear most position the gun will not fire. Loosening the trigger screw has no effect on the situation.
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Post by wickerbill on Jul 13, 2014 18:41:38 GMT -5
I had that happen on one of my old armies. Took it completely apart and found that a spent #11 cap had worked it's way down into the lock works and was binding everything up.
Bill
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Post by buckheart on Jul 13, 2014 19:17:58 GMT -5
I had that happen on one of my old armies. Took it completely apart and found that a spent #11 cap had worked it's way down into the lock works and was binding everything up. Bill That's a thought but there is something different going on here. When you cock your gun does the hammer go back further than it needs to to attain full cock? |
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Post by oldschool on Jul 14, 2014 9:42:25 GMT -5
Is the hammer spring not pushing it back forward to sear (trigger) engagement? If not, it still sounds like something is binding or someone cut the original mainspring or installed a lighter hammer spring. However, with no binding, even a light hammer spring should have no trouble pushing the hammer forward into trigger engagement.
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Post by bradshaw on Jul 14, 2014 11:51:38 GMT -5
buckheart.... sounds as though some varmint performed rotten work on your your Old Army, then glued it together to keep anyone from finding out, including himself. A fugitive trigger job in which the hammer dog is bastardized, or the trigger tip broken or spoiled, will cause grotesque slack between hammer rearward hammer travel and engagement of full cock. Without looking at it we are forced to speculate.
Heat softens and weakens Loctite. Red Loctite is considerably harder than Blue Loctite, with chance of ruining threads or buggering screw slot consequently greater with the red. Kroil or other penetrant + time + properly applied impact, followed by plenty down pressure on correct screw driver, leavened with sensitivity on the part of the mechanic represents general blueprint for success.
In the event a cannibal has chewed up the hammer & trigger, find new parts. Or, have one of the custom gunsmiths on this site weld 'em back to spec. Remember, these are heat treated parts.
Gorilla Monsoon has a place in this scheme, which is as an inanimate object called a padded vise.
David Bradshaw
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Post by buckheart on Jul 15, 2014 6:58:41 GMT -5
Looking through Numrich arms at Old Army parts this morning I noticed that all the replacement screws are pictured with red goop on the threads. I wonder if all the screws have been replaced after they were buggered up ??
Will tear it apart again as soon as I get the chance and post some pictures of the innards.
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Post by buckheart on Jul 17, 2014 5:26:49 GMT -5
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Post by buckheart on Jul 23, 2014 15:53:57 GMT -5
So after taking this series of pictures I re-assembled the Old Army, lubed it(just about drowned it) in Tetra gun oil and set it aside on a paper towel in the safe. I took it with me on my weekly trip to my cabin. When it came to shooting time the excess rear travel in the hammer was gone. It had previously also had issues striking hard enough to bust a cap every time. That issue was gone as well, it hit hard every time and fired consistently. I noticed that the excess rear travel when cocking the trigger would re-appear when cocking with the cylinder out. Excess rear travel had been there all the while before.
So, knowing that things made of metal don't "heal" themselves I have to figure that the issues were made better by loosening the hammer screw, as suggested, and lubing the heck out of the gun.
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