Ruger SP101 double action mystery

meh

Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
2,952
Likes
4,431
Location
Massachusetts
Feedback: 4 / 0 / 0
About a month ago I bought a new Ruger SP101, deburred and (very lightly) polished the innards, and have done a ton of dry fires. It works fine, but the action just isn't close to what I was able to achieve with the GP100. I'm not talking about how heavy it is. I don't want this gun to have a light trigger. I just want it to be smooth without any staging, and it just isn't...well it sort of is and sort of isn't.

If put a finger on the cylinder to give it a little drag, just a little, the pull is smooth, I can't feel any staging, and basically it's what I expect. That's what I want all the time, and it seems strange to me that just a little drag makes it right. Sometimes I get that without adding the drag on the cylinder, but generally I don't. Pulling the trigger at slow to medium speed, there's a short range where only a little pressure is needed. Then just after the cylinder latch drops to the cylinder, I have to pull harder. Pulling through I sometimes feel what I think is rough contact between the pawl and the ratchet. Whether or not I feel that, it seems to want to toss the cylinder to lock up, i.e. the cylinder rotation outruns the trigger pull. When pulling the trigger relatively fast it's OK, and the gun will run as fast as I can pull the trigger with no binding at all. I'm thinking the ratchet on the cylinder star or the hand is to blame somehow.

I've worked with Ruger on other guns, but in those cases it was obvious that the gun needed fixing. In this case the gun works. There's no binding or anything. I just suspect it's not working as well as it should.

What do you think? Something I can fix? Something for Ruger to fix? Or something I'd need a gunsmith for?
 
how does the ratchet and star look? what is your endshake and B/C gap?

FYI for whatever reason I find GP100's do not need spring replacements, but for SP101 I haven't been able to achieve a good trigger with stock springs so I install the Wolff springs.

i had a GP100 with a fair amount of endshake ~ 0.007". i did my usual small amount of trigger work and installation of hammer shims. it shot great for ~400 rds then started to have noticeable snaging in the action. the ratchet had all sorts of weird marks on it that weren't present initially. my suspicion is that the excessive endshake was somehow damaging the ratchet and or hand. so ruger replaced all these parts. again the gun was fine for ~300 rds then same issues. so I insisted on a replacement.

you may want to try shimming your trigger and hammer. it can improve the trigger and definitely improves hammer-frame contact. triggershims.com sells a kit of shims.

if you're noticing snagging or actually defective trigger, I would just get your gun back to ruger as this would be most economic option on your end. if you're looking for the action to be as smooth as a fine S&W action, I don't think rugers can achieve the same level. to me it's irrelevant i find stock ruger triggers plenty smooth, but there are certainly elements of the DA action that are noticeable in the trigger. it's a non issue to me.

Tim at G&N in Wrentham is very knowledgeable on ruger revolvers. you could also solicit his input.
 
Last edited:
I'll check the endshake when I get home. The cylinder gap is up there, around 0.009", or even a little larger, so it's not like the best one to come off the line, I'm sure. The ratchet doesn't look anything like the GP100's, nor like the SP101 pics that I have found online, but at least it looks intentional in that every "tooth" is like every other. Still, I'm suspicious of it.
 
Wondering if Ruger fixed it.

I would have sent it to one of the known Smiths that specialize on Ruger revolvers. There are plenty out there.
 
Back
Top Bottom