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New Ruger Wrangler


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Picked up a new silver Ruger Wrangler a coupla weeks ago. The action is rough and can use some smoothing and polishing which I'll get to soon. What have others done to theirs. New springs? What weights? Ruger customer service says hammer spring is 20 to 25 pound working weight and trigger return spring is 1 to 3.5 pound working weight. What is "working weight". Doesn't a hammer spring have a specific rating, like 20#?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight and help.   :unsure:

 

JC

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I don't know the specific answers to your questions, but can tell you that changing the main spring and trigger spring to the 17lb kit from Wolf Springs made a huge difference in my Wrangler's.

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Take all the rough edges off the hammer strut and put in a spring from An old model vaquero. Polishing will do the most good. 

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18 minutes ago, Joe Cross, SASS #13848 L said:

Picked up a new silver Ruger Wrangler a coupla weeks ago. The action is rough and can use some smoothing and polishing which I'll get to soon. What have others done to theirs. New springs? What weights? Ruger customer service says hammer spring is 20 to 25 pound working weight and trigger return spring is 1 to 3.5 pound working weight. What is "working weight". Doesn't a hammer spring have a specific rating, like 20#?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight and help.   :unsure:

 

JC

You can use the same spring kits as used in the Vaqueros, Blackhawks and Single Sixes on a Wrangler.   I have a 17 pound spring in my single six,  and ordered 15 pounders from Wolff to try in my Single Six and the Wrangler I have coming from Ruger.  I’ll let you know if that was too light. 

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They sure aren't Jimmy Spurs Rugers!! Mine are quite rough as well. I ordered the 17#/ 30oz. spring kit from Wolf a month ago and haven't heard since. If they get here, I'll report back.

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29 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

They sure aren't Jimmy Spurs Rugers!! Mine are quite rough as well. I ordered the 17#/ 30oz. spring kit from Wolf a month ago and haven't heard since. If they get here, I'll report back.

Wolff has been backed up and super slow this whole pandemic.   Anything gun related is slower then Molasses In January.  I’m a month on the same thing.   

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39 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

They sure aren't Jimmy Spurs Rugers!! Mine are quite rough as well. I ordered the 17#/ 30oz. spring kit from Wolf a month ago and haven't heard since. If they get here, I'll report back.

 

I should order spring kits now - I also have a single-six that could use some work- hopefully, I might get them this summer!

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They were prompt answering my e-mail question B4 ordering. They thought the 17# main spring might be light, but it seems some folks on here are using that power. I figure a couple shim washers may help if they are a little weak. I won't be winning a Cadillac with them that's for sure!

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I have a set of Wranglers, black.  As other's have mentioned they're not as smooth as Jimmy Spurs guns, but they're not too bad.  The loading gate is definitely stiff on both of them.  I also have a set of #17/30 Wolff springs on order.  Once they come in I'll swap those out, polish anything that looks like it needs it, add a set of On Target brass sights, and should be good to go.  FYI Yank Ma Chain said the same sights that fit over the Single Sixes will fit over these.

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2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

They sure aren't Jimmy Spurs Rugers!! Mine are quite rough as well. I ordered the 17#/ 30oz. spring kit from Wolf a month ago and haven't heard since. If they get here, I'll report back.

They are behind I just got a spring order from January 

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1 minute ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

They are behind I just got a spring order from January 

Then consider it lucky, since the Ammo and primer guys are waaaaayyyyy behind.  

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2 hours ago, Not Dead Ed said:

Wolff has been backed up and super slow this whole pandemic.   Anything gun related is slower then Molasses In January.  I’m a month on the same thing.   

Got springs for a Colt SAA in January, I ordered them in July

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 Just worked on a pair putting the 17 lb / 30 oz combo in. The good folks at Wolff thought 17lbs was too light but if you polish the inards it'll result in a pretty smooth firearm.

Comparing Wranglers to "Jimmy Spurs" guns isn't a fair comparison. After all they're a < $200.00 firearm not a NMV but the fun you can have with them is priceless.

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I had a pair of factory New Vaquero springs in my parts kit.  I put them in the Wranglers & polished the spring struts - the edges looked like saw blades.  Gigantic difference in the guns after that little bit of work.

 

Holler

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Yep, springs in blackhawks, Vaqueros, single sixes, and wranglers are all the same.   
wranglers lack some polish that the others have.

Good information.  Thanks.  I’ll do that on mine too. 

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16 hours ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

They are behind I just got a spring order from January 

 

Just an FYI, I have placed orders in the last week from both Brownells and Midwest Gun Works that shipped within a day or two.

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I had to go to 19lb springs to get consistent ignition slip hammering. Seventeen lb. springs worked fine gunfighter or duelist. 

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I have a pair of wranglers.  For what it’s worth I have tried 15 & 17 lb springs. Neither fired more than half the shells.  I put an 18 lb in one and a 19 lb in my other.  All rounds went off. Factory is 23 lb from what I have read.  
 

So I have settled on 18 lb.  Next is to slick them up and smooth some of the rough parts.  Maybe a 17 lb or less would work after that.  I’ll have to test that when I get to it.  

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When I first heard of the Ruger Wrangler I was sorely tempted to buy one.  Now that they've been out for a while I keep hearing that the trigger pull is horrible and you need a new spring, the loading gate is rough to almost impossible to work properly and needs a new or modified spring and the action is gritty and needs work.  If it were any other brand of pistol I'd pass and never give it another thought.  If it were any other brand would anybody here think it was worth the money and trouble?

 

Make no mistake, I'm a big fan of Rugers and own a few.  But I've lost all interest in the Wrangler.  I may still pony up some cash for a Single-Six, tho.

 

Angus

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11 minutes ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

When I first heard of the Ruger Wrangler I was sorely tempted to buy one.  Now that they've been out for a while I keep hearing that the trigger pull is horrible and you need a new spring, the loading gate is rough to almost impossible to work properly and needs a new or modified spring and the action is gritty and needs work.  If it were any other brand of pistol I'd pass and never give it another thought.  If it were any other brand would anybody here think it was worth the money and trouble?

 

Make no mistake, I'm a big fan of Rugers and own a few.  But I've lost all interest in the Wrangler.  I may still pony up some cash for a Single-Six, tho.

 

Angus

Got one coming, I’ll let you know.   I change the springs anyway, and the loading gate set screw might be in too far causing binding.  It can do it on a single six, did it when I deep cleaned mine. 

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5 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

When I first heard of the Ruger Wrangler I was sorely tempted to buy one.  Now that they've been out for a while I keep hearing that the trigger pull is horrible and you need a new spring, the loading gate is rough to almost impossible to work properly and needs a new or modified spring and the action is gritty and needs work.  If it were any other brand of pistol I'd pass and never give it another thought.  If it were any other brand would anybody here think it was worth the money and trouble?

 

Make no mistake, I'm a big fan of Rugers and own a few.  But I've lost all interest in the Wrangler.  I may still pony up some cash for a Single-Six, tho.

 

Angus

 

Well, I have one and my son has one.  I gotta wonder when I hear about guys complaining about the loading gate ~ wimpy thumbs?  Ours are just fine.  :rolleyes:

 

Some folk seem to be comparing them to competition revolvers.  All in all, out of the box they're no worse than any other new Ruger I've ever had.  "Race ready?"  Nope.  Functional?  Absolutely.  I've changed springs in other Rugers and I could  change 'em in the Wrangler if I wanted to compete with 'em.  But for just plinking, heck, I'm not going to bother.

 

If you haven't handled one, try one.  They work.  They're not Single Sixes... but they're also less than half the price of a Single Six.

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17 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

When I first heard of the Ruger Wrangler I was sorely tempted to buy one.  Now that they've been out for a while I keep hearing that the trigger pull is horrible and you need a new spring, the loading gate is rough to almost impossible to work properly and needs a new or modified spring and the action is gritty and needs work.  If it were any other brand of pistol I'd pass and never give it another thought.  If it were any other brand would anybody here think it was worth the money and trouble?

 

Make no mistake, I'm a big fan of Rugers and own a few.  But I've lost all interest in the Wrangler.  I may still pony up some cash for a Single-Six, tho.

 

Angus

Removing the grip and unhooking one side of the trigger spring makes a noticeable difference. Got my springs yesterday, I will report back after I put them in and clean it up a bit. Still not a bad piece for $200.

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I installed the 17# hammer springs and 30 oz. trigger springs. It didn't make an enormous difference, but is somewhat smoother. In a blind test on the bench the difference is marginal. I didn't find burrs to remove inside, but the cylinder does rub on the recoil shield due to the Cerakote as well as in the front where the basepin comes thru. I cleaned these area's up a little, but was nervous to go to far and end up with too much end shake. They do seem to be a little bit smoother. More shooting may help identify areas needing attention. It was fun putting them back together as the video I had downloaded from Ruger has been pulled from YouTube. I discovered later, it can still be viewed on the Ruger web site. There was a flat narrow spring that hangs down from the trigger pivot pin that my Vaquero and the video don't have.  It hangs in front of the pawl and I can't see what it's supposed to do, but disassembly of the other confirmed the location.  I only tried one cylinder full of old Federal Gold Match #711 rounds and all fired fine. Be real careful with the screws on the grip frame, the one on the right of both pistols were a bit thread bare in the holes from the factory. Looked like they may have been over tightened. Still snugged up OK once started however. The reason they are only $200 is quite evident! Don't care for the Cerakote though, the fire in front of the cylinder has already burnt a line thru it on the top strap. Only 31 rounds have been fired out of each gun.

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2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I installed the 17# hammer springs and 30 oz. trigger springs. It didn't make an enormous difference, but is somewhat smoother. In a blind test on the bench the difference is marginal. I didn't find burrs to remove inside, but the cylinder does rub on the recoil shield due to the Cerakote as well as in the front where the basepin comes thru. I cleaned these area's up a little, but was nervous to go to far and end up with too much end shake. They do seem to be a little bit smoother. More shooting may help identify areas needing attention. It was fun putting them back together as the video I had downloaded from Ruger has been pulled from YouTube. I discovered later, it can still be viewed on the Ruger web site. There was a flat narrow spring that hangs down from the trigger pivot pin that my Vaquero and the video don't have.  It hangs in front of the pawl and I can't see what it's supposed to do, but disassembly of the other confirmed the location.  I only tried one cylinder full of old Federal Gold Match #711 rounds and all fired fine. Be real careful with the screws on the grip frame, the one on the right of both pistols were a bit thread bare in the holes from the factory. Looked like they may have been over tightened. Still snugged up OK once started however. The reason they are only $200 is quite evident! Don't care for the Cerakote though, the fire in front of the cylinder has already burnt a line thru it on the top strap. Only 31 rounds have been fired out of each gun.

 

Great info; thanks for the detailed description. I ordered springs from Brownell's yesterday so may be a couple of weeks before I get to it.

 

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Well I got my wrangler on Friday, and the first thing I noticed was the cylinder freely rotated both direction,   
the I noticed the pawl and a little metal spring was sitting in a big open notch when I pulled out the cylinder.   
I went to change the springs but something was binding up the mechanism.  Taking it apart again, a chunk of black cerakoted metal the same size as the big open notch laying on my bench.  That explained the binding, and now the gun won’t run at all.   
so it’ll be a call to Ruger and they’ll need to replace the whole upper frame.   It’s clear the aluminum was milled too thin there.  So I can report on springs, just that these are priced the way they are, and aren’t single six quality.   

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