Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Ruger Vaquero transfer bar


Barbwire Bill, SASS #661

Recommended Posts

The few times I have heard of the transfer bars breaking is when people have been doing excessive dry fire practice.  By excessive I mean 10's of thousands of rounds.  I am sure there are a few folks who have had them fail early, but I know a lot of folks who have put 100's of thousands of rounds through their Rugers with out any issues what-so-ever.

 

The only issue I have seen people have with them is for folks who like to slip-hammer.  By that I mean that they pull the trigger and hold it back then cock the hammer and let it slip from under their thumb for each shot.  Not fanning, as that is illegal in SASS, but the effect is similar.  What happens is that when they pull the trigger back before the first shot, the tip of the transfer bar can hang up on the edge of the firing pin preventing the trigger from coming back all the way.  This can be solved by either rolling the edge of the transfer bar over so it provides a slight taper at the edge, or by making the first shot by pulling the hammer back first and then pinning the trigger back for all subsequent shots.  I don't slip-hammer, and I am not a gunsmith, so I am going only by what I have seen and heard and by helping a few other pards with their Rugers. 

 

Could jamming of the transfer bar into the edge of the firing pin cause it to break?  Possibly, but in my opinion it would have to be a weak transfer bar or maybe if the shooter has a grip like Superman.  To be honest, I have seen more people have their guns modified to remove the transfer bars than I have heard of them breaking.  Of course, your experience may be different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been run'n the same set .44mag Ruger OMV for 17+ yrs in SASS.

Yes, broken a couple of t'bars. They were replaced free by Ruger and they gave me a couple of spares.

Yes, the t'bar is cast. Just like the rest of the gun is..

I have also had parts fail in my rife and shotgun. 

Anydangthing mechanical can, and will fail.

OLG 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not saying it hasn't happened but I have been running Rugers since 1996 and have never broken one.  I was shooting with a pard one time whose Ruger had some issue, he said it was a transfer bar.  I didn't see it.

Blackfoot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe they had a run of marginal transfer bars maybe 15 years ago.  I had two Vaqueros that broke the transfer bars in a year or two.  After they were replaced, I didn't have any problems.  I have not had any problems with New Model Vaqueros or Single Sixes at any time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe there was a post about transfer bar pinch.   Some one smarter than me will have to find it or maybe remember how to determine if the condition is present in your un and how to eliminate.      GW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 years ago, Ruger had a weak batch of transfer bars.  Occasionally, one of those weak transfer bars would break after thousands of cycles.   Call Ruger up and they will send you a new and non-weak transfer bar.  Then some clever gunsmith figured out how to eliminate the transfer bar all together.  This batch of weak transfer bars created a whole industry in the SASS community and has made lots of $$$$ for SASS gunsmiths.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://cylindersmith.com/Transferbar.html

 

I did have one or maybe two break several years ago.  I think it was when the "New Vaqueros" just came out.

 

Just to be safe, I checked my Vaqueros and found one or two that did pinch, so I did that mod.

Some have said that if the hammer timing is off, due to spring wear, it can increase the chance of breakage, but as others have noted, it is rare.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, G W Wade said:

Believe there was a post about transfer bar pinch.   Some one smarter than me will have to find it or maybe remember how to determine if the condition is present in your un and how to eliminate.      GW

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reckon that I have been lucky.  No broken transfer bars.

I have ((since the early 1970's) fired thousands of rounds out of Single Sixes, Blackhawks, Super's and Vaq's. 

But I never pulled a trigger without snapcaps or live ammo.

 

IMHOO.

Mustang

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had mine taken out for 2 reasons 

1) by virtue of being a transfer bar, it transfers energy from one face to another. That takes added energy to start with as the Tbar absorbs some of the energy. Need a stronger hammer spring 

2) if a part is going to break on a Ruger, it’s most likely going to be the Tbar. 
 

Thanks to Jimmy Spurs, Mine are gone, don’t miss them! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have broken at least a half dozen Ruger transfer bars.  Ruger's service is second to none, but at best, that is shutting the barn door after the horses are out...

 

Cheers,

FJT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had 2 of them break, one in each of my SASS pistols.

The 1st breakage occurred after approx 250,000 cycles.   The 2nd breakage occurred at approx 325,000 cycles.

 

After replacing them,  BOTH pistols were cycled OVER 1 million times with no more breakages.

 

P.S. - both pistols were cycled over 1.5 million times each during my quest to go sub 2 for a GF run.

 

..........Widder

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Barbwire Bill, SASS #661 said:

Has anyone tried to make a transfer bar out of better material?  Ruger’s castings are the best but I wonder if making the part out of steel stock would make it tougher?  

It's the design, not the material. 

OLG  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

FYI-The OMV & NMV t'bars are NOT the same, and not interchangeable. 

OLG 

 

While they are not the same original vaquero model transfer bars and new vaquero transfer bars will interchange.

 

I have done it just to see if they could.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my "Original" Ruger Vaqueros in .44 magnum, broke a transfer bar at the point of putting about 20,000 Cowboy loads down range. Once I hot a new bar it took about 15 minutes or so to replacement. I've had the gun since about '97 and that is the only problem I have ever had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Cayuse Jack, SASS #19407 said:

 

While they are not the same original vaquero model transfer bars and new vaquero transfer bars will interchange.

 

I have done it just to see if they could.

Didn't work for me when I had to replace one in my wife's :wub: NMV. No way was the OMV t'bar gonna work.

Ruger shows 2 different PN's for the t'bar too.

If you put the 2 side by side, you'll see the difference. 

Wonder if Ruger has changed the design in the last few years? :unsure:

OLG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Barbwire Bill, SASS #661 said:

Has anyone tried to make a transfer bar out of better material?  Ruger’s castings are the best but I wonder if making the part out of steel stock would make it tougher?  

Get rid of them, you dont need them in this game...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

I've had 2 of them break, one in each of my SASS pistols.

The 1st breakage occurred after approx 250,000 cycles.   The 2nd breakage occurred at approx 325,000 cycles.

 

After replacing them,  BOTH pistols were cycled OVER 1 million times with no more breakages.

 

P.S. - both pistols were cycled over 1.5 million times each during my quest to go sub 2 for a GF run.

 

..........Widder

 


Wow... that must be SUCH a disappointment... to fail so soon...

< grin >

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/30/2020 at 5:12 AM, Null N. Void said:

I believe they had a run of marginal transfer bars maybe 15 years ago.  I had two Vaqueros that broke the transfer bars in a year or two.  After they were replaced, I didn't have any problems.  I have not had any problems with New Model Vaqueros or Single Sixes at any time.

 

That must have been my issue. My OMV .45 broke its transfer bar after a few hundred rounds and virtually no dry firing. This was about 14 or 15 years ago. They fixed it pronto and no problems since.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I 1st got into this gam, about 12 years ago, I read an article about breaking T-Bars.  I ordered four spares, they are all still in the box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Lone Rider, SASS# 73063 said:

When I 1st got into this gam, about 12 years ago, I read an article about breaking T-Bars.  I ordered four spares, they are all still in the box.

That's why you haven't broken any. :lol:

OLG 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bgavin said:


Wow... that must be SUCH a disappointment... to fail so soon...

< grin >

 

I accomplished my goal.    I never did wear those pistol out and eventually sold them to another Cowboy shooter.

 

..........Widder

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, bgavin said:

Is it dry firing or just an occasional bad part that causes TB failures?

 

Honestly, after 250,000 and 350,000 cycles before something breaks, its hard to say that the part was bad.

 

In my case, it would be more like hard usage and the weaker part gave up the ghost.

 

..........Widder

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.