.44 Spcl Blackhawk Question

[Thomas Traddles]

Greetings! I have a question about my Blackhawk. I was dry firing it this p.m. Things were fine, but then the cylinder would not advance. I could only cock the hammer partway, but never get it to full cock. I removed the cylinder and put the pin in, the hammer cocked just fine. Pulled the trigger, things seemed peachy. Put the cylinder back in, made sure the pin was in all the way and tried to cock the gun, but the cylinder would not advance and the hammer would not cock although I could move the hammer back about 3/4 of the way to full cock. What the heck? Took the cylinder out and the innards of the gun coughed up a broken piece of metal. Trouble is, I have no idea what it is or what it is related to. I wonder if anyone here has some expertise to advise me about what the problem might be.

Thanks.

 

[Stony]

Without seeing the piece, I would have to guess you broke the transfer bar. You might have reassembled it with the pin not all the way in at one point, and the transfer bar will come up under the firing pin not letting the hammer come all the way back and thus the cylinder will not advance. If this is the case, you can either send it to Ruger for a free fix, or it's an easy fix for you to do.

 

[Thomas Traddles]

Thanks, Stony. The transfer bar is not the problem. I have a .357 BH as well, so took the cylinder out of the .357 and .44 to compare. There is a stepped piece of metal that engages the cylinder when the hammer is cocked. This is what indexes the cylinder. That part, I have no idea what it is called, is what has broken on my .44. If anyone knows the name of that part, I'd appreciate your input. Also, is that something that I can acquire on my own and fix, or would it be better to have someone else do the repair?

Thanks

 

[sequins]

Nvm I should have read more carefully and realized OP already id'd his issue.

 

[dickydalton]

Thanks, Stony. The transfer bar is not the problem. I have a .357 BH as well, so took the cylinder out of the .357 and .44 to compare. There is a stepped piece of metal that engages the cylinder when the hammer is cocked. This is what indexes the cylinder. That part, I have no idea what it is called, is what has broken on my .44. If anyone knows the name of that part, I'd appreciate your input. Also, is that something that I can acquire on my own and fix, or would it be better to have someone else do the repair?

Thanks

On old revolvers it's called the hand. Ruger calls them the pawl, I believe. I bought a Davidsons New Vaquero that had it broken from the factory but it worked anyway, until it was taken apart.

 

[burrhead]

Blackhawk schematic

https://www.midwayusa.com/General.mvc/Index/Schematics~ruger_blackhawk

 

[Stony]

If I were you, I'd ship it off to Ruger and have it repaired. They will repair it at no charge for you and do it right. Very rare to have one of those break like that.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Yup, some companies call it the Hand, some call it the Pawl. Same thing. Almost all revolvers have one. It engages the ratchet teeth on the rear of the cylinder to advance the cylinder.

I can't imagine how it broke, unless it was faulty to begin with. Ruger makes all its lockwork parts by the investment casting method and the parts are usually very strong. I can only imagine the part was faulty to begin with for it to break.

If you were able to take your Blackhawk apart and get it back together again, you have already done the hard part. Putting a Ruger single action revolver back together again can be tricky.

But you should be able to get a new pawl from Ruger and it should drop right into place and work without any fitting. The pawl has a pin built into it that drops into a hole in the hammer. Should be a drop in without any fitting. If you call Ruger and tell them what happened they will send you the part no charge.

Or you could just have them fix it. Ruger's repair policy is legendary. Call them up and they will send you a self addressed envelope to ship the gun to them. Be sure to follow their instructions exactly about legally shipping the gun. They will fix it and send it back to you, all no charge.

 

[Thomas Traddles]

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm grateful for the help.

 

[Sunray]

Exploded drawing is here. Same as burrhead's schematic but without the Midway advertising. http://stevespages.com/ipb-ruger-blackhawknew.html
Investment cast parts break too.

 

[shootniron]

delete