Half cock question

[Renegade Roper]

I have 2 sets of Ruger single six 32's with half cock short strokes & SBH's.  I noticed when dryfiring them that with 3 of them if you put them in the 1/2 cock position you would really have to yarn on the trigger to get the hammer to fall.  But one of them the trigger pull is only slightly harder than normal to get the hammer to fall, if in the 1/2 cock position.   I asked a friend about this and he said the one that falls easily should not do that.  He said to make the 1/2 cock a gunsmith has a jig they put the hammer in and cut 2 notches.  The one gun that falls easily either has the notch broken off or worn down so much that it allows the hammer to fall too easily.  (Not sure if I explained that correctly or not.)  So is there something wrong with that one gun or is it just that guns have different tolerances and on this one the tolerance is lighter (as far as the trigger pull when on 1/2 cock)?  Btw I do not intentionally shoot the gun on 1/2 cock, I just happened to notice when messing around with them dryfiring that you could pull the trigger on 1 easily but not the others.  I have sent this gun and it's mate to a well known gunsmith and it came back the same even though I noted this issue. 

 

I also noticed that this same gun has an "indexing" issue (not sure if that's the correct term).  When you open the loading gate to remove the shells there is no "play" in the cylinder to rotate it back a little to get the shell out.  Instead you have to rotate to the next chamber otherwise the shell will only come out 1/3 of the way before hanging up on the frame.  So is this related to the issue above, a different issue or just normal and the tolerance for that gun being different than the other 3?  

 

I am just trying to understand if there is an issue with the gun how to explain it better to the gunsmith so we are on the same page.  Thanks. Roper

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

You really should contact the person who did the SS work.

That's an AD waiting to happen. 

OLG 

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

27 minutes ago, Renegade Roper said:

you would really have to yarn yank on the trigger to get the hammer to fall.

 

Ummm, you do that on most old design hammer/trigger designs and you will either break the lip of the half-cock notch or the tip of the trigger (or sear, if design includes one).   Most half-cock notches are "breakable" if you pull hard enough.

Good luck, GJ

[Captain Bill Burt]

Not all smiths cut a notch some put in a 'hump'.  As Joe implied I wouldn't make a habit of trying to pull the trigger from the half cock, nothing good will come of it.

[Indy Kid, SASS #4638]

The picture on the left is what your half cock should look like. Yours is like the one on the right with the tab broken off. As you can see there is not much metal there. Pulling hard on the trigger with the hammer on half cock can break it off. My wife shoots a pair of Ruger 32s and Lassiter just opened up the loading gate area to make it easier to load and unload. I want to give credit to Bozeman Trail Arms, Mfg. for the picture. I know nothing about them except they have a nice FAQ section.

[War Grizzly]

Myself, I wouldn't worry much about it. If you cut the half cock notch "properly" so that the trigger can't be pulled then the trigger itself must reset further than if the hammer simply has an extra notch cut at a more positive angle for the half cock position. In other words the trigger moves farther forward in the gun with the properly cut half cock. This is exacerbated in a short stroke because there isn't enough real estate on the hammer to allow for a smooth transition into half cock. Many short strokes are done exactly as yours are. It is good to be aware that careless handling at the load table could result in a discharge. This topic was discussed just a few months ago if memory serves me well.

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Some Lustrum ago, it was common for some gunsmiths to add "Half Cock" to a Ruger by just adding a "ledge" to catch the hammer if the shooter short stroked the gun and eliminate having to go "round the world."  At the time, I didn't consider that to be a safe modification.  I still don't.  ANY SA that will drop the hammer from half cock by pulling the trigger is UNSAFE.  It should be fix'd.  The sooner the better.  What you have is bad JUJU.

[Captain Bill Burt]

From my perspective the half cock on my Rugers isn't a safety feature, it's a feature that's required so I can load the guns given they don't have transfer bars.  Since they're purely competition guns and I don't put my booger picker on the bang stick at the LT they're safe enough for me.

[sourdoughjim]

28 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Some Lustrum ago, it was common for some gunsmiths to add "Half Cock" to a Ruger by just adding a "ledge" to catch the hammer if the shooter short stroked the gun and eliminate having to go "round the world."  At the time, I didn't consider that to be a safe modification.  I still don't.  ANY SA that will drop the hammer from half cock by pulling the trigger is UNSAFE.  It should be fix'd.  The sooner the better.  What you have is bad JUJU.

 

While I agree that the hammer should not drop while in the half-cock position by pulling the trigger (and should be repaired), no matter how hard (which is folly to begin with), I fail to see why it is "UNSAFE".  At half-cock the bolt is still recessed in the frame so as to allow the cylinder to turn freely for ejecting empty cases and loading fresh cartridges into the chambers. At that time the booger hook should always be off the bang switch. If not, that is the "UNSAFE" condition. In addition, if the hammer drops during that process, for whatever reason, the chamber would have to be fairly aligned with the barrel and the hammer firing pin would have to be close enough in alignment to strike the cartridge primer. Under those circumstances, even if a round was fired, it might shave some lead from the bullet when entering the barrel forcing cone, but the gun would not pose a large harm to the shooter. Percussion revolvers, with a wide hammer face striking any portion of the cap against the nipple, would be more in misalignment under the same conditions.

 

I still don't understand why someone would try to get the hammer to fall by pulling the trigger when in the hammer half-cock position. 

 

Regards,

 

Jim

[John Boy]

Quote

 

I still don't understand why someone would try to get the hammer to fall by pulling the trigger when in the hammer half-cock position. 

 

The best answer !

[Yusta B.]

8 hours ago, Indy Kid, SASS #4638 said:

Lassiter just opened up the loading gate area to make it easier to load and unload.

 

I have one I had to "adjust" the frame a mite for this reason ......

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Some folks have acquired the BAD habit of spinning the cylinder to check for high primers after loading.  Dropping the hammer could have bad results.  It's a simple understanding of Murphy's Law.  If it can go wrong      IT WILL.  You simply can't justify poor gunsmithing.

[Captain Bill Burt]

21 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

Some folks have acquired the BAD habit of spinning the cylinder to check for high primers after loading.  Dropping the hammer could have bad results.  It's a simple understanding of Murphy's Law.  If it can go wrong      IT WILL.  You simply can't justify poor gunsmithing.

That would be me.  I spin them every time.  Then I index, take it to full cock and lower the hammer on the empty.  Works like a charm.