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Lopsided SBH Hammers?


Jaan

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My birthday was last week, so Midway USA gave me a pretty decent discount (thank you!) so I went ahead and bout a couple of Super Blackhawk hammers for my Vaqueros.  They are both machined "lopsided".  I contacted Ruger and they said they were still functional, they didn't seem to really care.

 

Is this common?  I'm not trying to make a big deal about it, I used to be a machinist and it just looks sloppy to me;

SBHHammer.jpg

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Lately Ruger seams to have had problems with Quality Control for there products.  They have a great customer care service but you would think that they would catch problems before they left the factory.

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What they actually sent was two left handed hammers. Did you specify a right and a left? I'm thinking this is on you if not. On the left handed hammers the right side is left shorter so you can roll your thumb off easier when cocking. The right side hammers are just the opposite.:rolleyes:

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I have 6 SBH hammers and all have that lopsidedness in varying degrees, the worst two have been on my NMV's for over a year.  I never noticed it until this thread.  It has not effected my ability to hit or miss the target one bit, however it probably will now since I'll be self-conscious of it, ugh.  

 

Good luck getting a perfect one.  Let us know how you make out from Ruger.  While their customer service is excellent, they probably will just pull one out of a bin and send it without any regards to it's symmetry.  

 

 

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So is hammer symmetry that big of a deal? 

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1 hour ago, Yul Lose said:

So is hammer symmetry that big of a deal? 

Save it, Yul. Next time you're at a big match, and the world champ is loading next to you, ask him "Hey are those hammers lopsided?".

 

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Just checked my 3 sets --- I'm devastated !!        1f635.png

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3 hours ago, Tucker McNeely said:

Great now I gotta go look at mine! :(

I did too! and now it's gonna bug the crap outta me that I have one exactly the same as the one pictured and the other one is close but not perfect lol

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4 hours ago, Bingo Montana said:

Let us know how you make out from Ruger.  While their customer service is excellent, they probably will just pull one out of a bin and send it without any regards to it's symmetry.  

 

 

I already contacted them and got a response.  Basically; it will still function, it's fine.  

 

I was a machinist for many years, and my Dad was a machinist his whole life.  It jumped out at me immediately.  I know it's not a crucial tolerance, it's just the aesthetics.  I guess I'll just tell people they're left handed...after all, my SASS alias is LEFT HAND CARLOS (c:  

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Just went and looked at mine. Two blue ones on my match sixguns , maybe 10 years old , four SS ones in parts drawer , one set about 5 years old , the other about 2 years old.  All have the slight difference.

I would have never noticed before this thread.

Rex , who will likely not think of it again. :D

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Everybody has their own thing they worry about. You being a machinist notice things the rest of us wouldn't. I look at people's leather gear and wonder how they can use them when they have some obvious defects? I'm sure others look at hats and think "'why doesn't that guy spend some money on a decent hat"? Same for boots.  Ruger probably looks at it like most people, the hammers were made to function, not look pretty. Just the way things work these days.

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21 hours ago, Jaan said:

.............. I'm not trying to make a big deal about it, I used to be a machinist and it just looks sloppy to me..........

 

17 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

So is hammer symmetry that big of a deal? 

 

 

To a self respecting machinist, I think the answer would be .. Yes.

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It may be those hammers are hand ground in the finishing process & the feller doing the grinding chuckles every time he grinds one funny ......

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16 hours ago, Jaan said:

I already contacted them and got a response.  Basically; it will still function, it's fine.  

 

I was a machinist for many years, and my Dad was a machinist his whole life.  It jumped out at me immediately.  I know it's not a crucial tolerance, it's just the aesthetics.  I guess I'll just tell people they're left handed...after all, my SASS alias is LEFT HAND CARLOS (c:  

 

CALL Ruger,  and speak to a CS Supervisor. 

OLG 

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20 hours ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

Save it, Yul. Next time you're at a big match, and the world champ is loading next to you, ask him "Hey are those hammers lopsided?".

 

 

That's even better than, "Hey, your shoe's untied!"

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I really don't see a problem.  If you really need to get up close, or use a magnifier to see it,  Whom cares.  A Ruger is NOT a Cartier 40K watch after all .

 

Sheesh.

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It is a matter of perspective.  Machinists, metal workers, engineers,, etc will spot the lopsided grind immediately and see it every time they look at it.  It is purely cosmetic, but when it is a function of a skill that falls in the users wheelhouse, it becomes an irritating point of distraction.  Everybody knows a car guy who frets over a little rock ding in the paint of his car, or the woodworker who cant stop staring at the cabinet in their kitchen that has the door hung just barely out of plumb, or the holster maker that complains about an "ugly" spot in the stitching of a purchased holster than none of the rest of us can even see.  When you pay for a name brand product, you expect it to meet your expectations, both functionally and cosmetically.  Expecting a hammer from Ruger to be ground symmetrically is not an unreasonable expectation.

 

Just the opinion of an engineer who pesters his family and friends by pointing out metalwork anomalies and ugly spots.

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I installed SBH hammers on my Rugers about 15 years ago  but I didn't like them being wide so I milled the sides down on 4 SS pairs and 1 pair of Blue hammers to look like stock hammers, sure looks better! all I wanted was the hammers to be lower because I shoot duelist. That's one way to take care of it! V.D. 

DSC00550.JPG

DSC00549.JPG

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On 5/12/2020 at 6:02 PM, Tucker McNeely said:

Great now I gotta go look at mine! :(

 

I was gunna go look at mine, but I can't even see where his are lopsided. 

 

Oh well, I should probably look at all of my guns anyway just on general principal and dream about a day when I can shoot on my own property. 

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For the record, I measured the difference...I don't need a magnifying glass to see it.  I couldn't have said it better than Crazy Gun Barney.  It's precisely because of Ruger's excellent quality control (and equally excellent customer service) that the small imperfections stand out so much to me.  I'll probably end up fixing them, that way I can tell people in my best Paladin Have Gun Will Travel voice; these are hand fitted hammers. 

 

 

20200513_205502.jpg

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If Ruger doesn't replace them, I can fix those with a round gunsmith file.

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@Jaan my birthday was earlier this year so I did the exact same thing at Midway. I just pulled my Vaqueros out and they look exactly like yours. Both are asymmetrical at the same angles on each side of the hammer.

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I had to go look at mine. One is symmetrical to the eye. The other is all cattywampus. I knew it wasn't me that was missing those targets. 

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The difference is easily visible. Still perfectly functional. You know they can manufacture parts to tight tolerances where required. It just makes you wonder why they don't bother to make these hammers more symmetrical. How much attention would it require? Just seems sloppy.

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2 hours ago, Castalia,SASS#18915 said:

My dad used to tell me that cabinet makers would measure with a micrometer, mark with a grease pencil, and cut with an axe. Maybe Ruger is hiring old cabinet makers to set up there CAD machines.

 

I'm thinking you're right. My Vaquero hammers look the same too. With 20+ years as an orthopedic machinist it bugs me. Would have been real easy to fix during final polish. Of course all the machining burrs I found inside the guns bugged me a whole lot more than a lopsided hammer. I'd love to have one of my old "Manager to machinist" chats with the idiot that assembled mine with the burrs still present. Hope he made "rate" that day!

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