Texas ShaDi Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I have a pair of SASS Vaqueros that have a totally different feel when pulling back the hammer. I have replaced the springs to lighter ones and one gun always feels different. Any ideas on what would cause this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branchwater Jack SASS #88854 Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 have you checked for burrs or other issues on the surfaces in the action? I purchased a pair a couple years ago. One gun was nicely polished and smooth. The other looked like it missed a finishing step or three. A little polishing on that second gun, and now they both work well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas ShaDi Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 4 minutes ago, Branchwater Jack SASS #88854 said: have you checked for burrs or other issues on the surfaces in the action? I purchased a pair a couple years ago. One gun was nicely polished and smooth. The other looked like it missed a finishing step or three. A little polishing on that second gun, and now they both work well! No I haven't checked that but I sure will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Devil Dale Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Have you actually MEASURED the spring compression, or just took the labeling as gospel? When I tested about 50 NV springs from three different spring makers, no two springs from the same package measured the same--not even close to the same. I recommend you make a functional spring tester, as follows. Run a wire through the spring and wrap a nut or other stop on one end. Form the opposite end of the wire into a loop. Open a bench vise just wide enough for the Wire to pass through without drag. From the side, run the wire between the vise jaws and rest the spring on top of the barely open Jaws, with the stop nut at the top. With a fisherman's scale, hook the bottom loop and pull the wire downward one inch. I use a 1" block of Aluminum as a marker, but a wood block would work fine. Just read the scale. It may not be accurate to the ounce, but it will be functional as a comparator for testing and pairing springs by their compression force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Flush the insides out with brake cleaner and lube'em. Now see how they compare.... OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Dusty Devil Dale said: Have you actually MEASURED the spring compression, or just took the labeling as gospel? When I tested about 50 NV springs from three different spring makers, no two springs from the same package measured the same--not even close to the same. I recommend you make a functional spring tester, as follows. Run a wire through the spring and wrap a nut or other stop on one end. Form the opposite end of the wire into a loop. Open a bench vise just wide enough for the Wire to pass through without drag. From the side, run the wire between the vise jaws and rest the spring on top of the barely open Jaws, with the stop nut at the top. With a fisherman's scale, hook the bottom loop and pull the wire downward one inch. I use a 1" block of Aluminum as a marker, but a wood block would work fine. Just read the scale. It may not be accurate to the ounce, but it will be functional as a comparator for testing and pairing springs by their compression force. Spring will very from lot run to lot run. That's WHY when I'm tune'n 2 of the same guns-I will call Wolff Gunsprings and ask the order taker to pull the springs from the same lot run. OP-What's the history on these 2 Rugers? OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas ShaDi Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 5 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Spring will very from lot run to lot run. That's WHY when I'm tune'n 2 of the same guns-I will call Wolff Gunsprings and ask the order taker to pull the springs from the same lot run. OP-What's the history on these 2 Rugers? OLG These guns were purchased new about 3 months ago and are stock with the exception of changing the springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Devil Dale Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 6 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Spring will very from lot run to lot run. That's WHY when I'm tune'n 2 of the same guns-I will call Wolff Gunsprings and ask the order taker to pull the springs from the same lot run. OP-What's the history on these 2 Rugers? OLG When I tested three new Wolffe springs out of the same plastic packaging, purchased from Brownells, they still varied by more than 4#. So now I test every spring. I can generally feel a difference of about a pound between two hammer pulls, so a four pound difference is pretty noticeable. Whether it makes a functional difference, I do not know. I'm not yet fast enough to distinguish. But I sleep much better at night just knowing my springs are paired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Dusty Devil Dale said: When I tested three new Wolffe springs out of the same plastic packaging, purchased from Brownells, they still varied by more than 4#. So now I test every spring. I can generally feel a difference of about a pound between two hammer pulls, so a four pound difference is pretty noticeable. Whether it makes a functional difference, I do not know. I'm not yet fast enough to distinguish. But I sleep much better at night just knowing my springs are paired. Order directly from Wolff, and ask them to pull from the same lot run. Trust me on this... OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc X Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I bought a new pair of SASS Vaquero's about a month ago. Out of the box one was pretty smooth although the hammer pull was very heavy. The second was horrible, gritty, heavy, a night and day difference between the two. We took both apart, the gritty one had horrible burrs inside dragging on the hammer, the other had burrs but not as bad. After deburring and polishing a couple of contact areas and installing Wolff springs I can't tell the two apart without looking at the serial numbers. Rugers are built like tanks but their internal finish leaves us a lot of room for improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Gives you a little something to do with your new pistols. Let's you put your own "mark" on em. They're easy to work on and there is enough info out on the old interwebs to get ya through a little light polishing, deburring and spring replacement. And it sure feels good to know you helped make em better. As always, if you don't feel comfortable breaking them down and doing the work, PLEASE have someone competent do the work. The key is to just clean them up a bit; if later on (after several hundred rounds) you feel you want them raced up, get yourself a good CAS gunsmith and let er rip! Happy Shootin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc X Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Being a retired machinist I was amazed by the amount burrs! One on the grip frame was even keeping it from seating flat on the cylinder frame causing the hammer to be out of line with the slot in the frame. Having someone competent do the internal work is VERY important advise. My pard is both a very competent gun smith as well as a retired tooling engineer. It was a great learning experience working with him on this pair. I gained not only a sweet pair of Vaquero's but a wealth of invaluable knowledge. Bottom line, until the parts move smooth and free you'll never get the maximum benefit from new springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 A good way to smooth'em out is to pack the action with toothpaste. Then hand cycle about 200 times, and flush out and oil. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc X Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 6 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: A good way to smooth'em out is to pack the action with toothpaste. Then hand cycle about 200 times, and flush out and oil. OLG And they'll smell minty fresh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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