Need Advice on ROA and R&D Firing Pins

[Smithy]

My Ruger Old Army saga is a sad one as I have owned several, all stainless, of the gems but let them all get away from me except one that by golly I'm going to keep (although I remember saying that very same thing before). I turned the ramrod into a take down tool, cut the barrel to 3 1/2" and reground the grip to a birdshead profile. Installed an R&D 45 LC cylinder, stainless to match and noticed the hammer side of the pins starting to peen over a bit. Info on the Wire directed me to http://www.thesmithshop.com/aboutus.html as a source for custom built, handmade firing pins as replacements for the R&D cylinder. I gave them a call and told them what I had both gun and cylinder. They then asked a rather funny question "Do I need the long pins or the short ones?" I did not know how to answer that. They then said that they had the short ones in stock and it's the short ones that usually go with the ROA and R&D combination. I said "send them on" not knowing one way or the other.

 

In fact to this day I still don't know if I got the right pins. They look close. From the retaining round back towards the hammer the're identical, but on the striker pin side it would be as though the original pin was the rough copy that you then polished up ending up with the new pins. They are just a tad shorter and rounded off at the point if you get my explanation. I'm miles from a range. I suppose I could load up empty cases with primers only and grab a pillow to muffle the sound to see if I get ignition? If I get a couple of cylinders to go off I should be good to go with loaded ammo. I was just wondering if any of you folk have dealt with the above company to know or have run into the short or long pin situation before? I'm hoping someone has and can say, yea bud it's the short pin for you, ya done did good or something like that. That way I don't have to sweat it nor load up a couple of cylinders worth of primers and spook the dickens out of my wife capping primers into her prized pillow in the bedroom. Smithy.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

There is no 'they' at the Smith Shop. You spoke to Happy Trails, and yes, I know him well.

 

A few years ago Hap heard a lot of complaints about the rear side of the the R&D pins mushrooming over after repeated use, so he came up with a better idea. He does that a lot. He redesigned the pins, I believe he had them hardened enough that they would not peen over as easily. He did the same with Open Top firing pins, redesigning them and hardening them so they would not bend over and pierce primers, which the originals were want to do. I doubt if Hap 'hand makes' the firing pins. He is not set up to do that. He has access to several fine machine shops and I believe he has the pins made up for him.

 

I have one of my R&D cylinders open in front of me. No, it is not for a ROA, it is for a Remmie, but that should not really matter. What counts is how far the firing pins protrude. When fully extended the pins on my backing plate are extending about .070-.075 from the surface of the plate. That is way overkill, far more than is needed to fire a primer. The fact that the pins are spherical at the end is a good thing, it prevents a narrow pin from piercing a primer if the pin extends too far.

 

Bottom line is, what's the problem with expending a few primers to find out if your pins are working correctly? I know primers are expensive, but they ain't so pricey that you can't pop a few to make sure a firearm is working properly. I pop primers in empty cases all the time, particularly to see if a spring has been lightened too much. Just be aware that without a powder charge, the primer will probably back out and may make the cylinder hard to turn. Not a big deal. And you don't have to ruin one of your wife's pillows. Take any old towel, fold it over a few times, and place it on the floor. Place the muzzle of the gun against the towel and press down. The primer will make a muffled pop. I think it's actually fun. You will leave some black circles on the towel, so be sure to use an old one. Heck, you can even use the mechanic's red rags that you buy in the Big Box stores. Fold it over a few times and have at it.

 

In the end, if you are getting spotty ignition, I'm sure Hap will make it right.

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

+1 for Hap & his firing pins

--Dawg

[Smithy]

Thanks for the info Driftwood, I'll give it a go. My wife's still going to pitch a fit (she does that a lot), but that part of it will be fun as well too. I'll just be sure to hide the frying pans before I go about my experimenting. Thanks again. Smithy.