Hello all. I have a 6" GP-100 blued, half-lug that I've recently been having a problem with. Before developing this problem, I had been shooting some Armscor ammo, which I admit is a bit on the dirty side, but I've shot some before with little to no ill-effect. Anyways, it seems like the cylinder is having trouble turning, and because of it, makes the trigger pull REALLY heavy and erratic. I thought it was just dirty and so I gave it a cleaning. I scrubbed the bore, chambers, and the cylinder face (both sides), underneath the ejector, etc. Then I lubed it up like I normally would, and while it alleviated the problem somewhat (at one point it was so bad that the cylinder just would not turn), it is still present and is bugging the heck out of me. I don't know what else it could be. I've never had this problem in the past, and if the gun is going to occasionally lock up like this, I will lose all faith in it for any useful purpose. Heck, it is even annoying as a range gun. Anyone have any suggestions? I know with S&W's, the pin holding the cylinder onto the frame can come loose sometimes causing the cylinder to stop turning, but I don't think GP-100's have that problem. Any ideas???
GP-100 Hard for cylinder to turn...HELP!
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RON in PA
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Sounds like fouling buildup on the front of your cylinder. Clean your gun and try shooting jacketed ammo. If the problem goes away using lead ammo is the culprit., but this may be indicitive of a too small cylinder-barrel gap. My blued GP100 does this on one chamber when the gun is fouled-up from shooting lead ammo. Doesn't do it when shooting jacketed bullets. Might want to speak with Ruger about this.
I scrubbed the front of the cylinder with Hoppes and a brush. I guess I could hit it again, but the fact that this happens at all is a little disconcerting. I only shoot jacketed ammo, so I don't think it's lead build-up. As for small cylinder/barrel gap, I thought this may have been the culprit, but when I measured it before I bought it it seemed to fit in the "just right" category, according to Jim March's Revolver check-up thread. I don't remember the actual measurements, but I'm sure I would have noted it if it was too tight. Like I said, I've never had this problem before, so it's a relatively new phenomena. I usually shoot a mix of .38 specials and .357's, all of it FMJ-tpye ammo. 
Be careful with lubricating under the star. Personally I don't put ANYTHING there myself. The lubricant can attract grime underneath it and make it not seat properly. This can make the revolver difficult to close but, probably wouldnt cause the problem you are describing. I would suggest stripping it down and checking to see that you don't have a lot of crud in the works.
If you pull the trigger just a little to unlock the cylinder will it turn freely by hand or does it still seem to stick? If it sticks in that case I suspect that maybe the star isnt fully seating or it is bound up at the cylinder face/forcing cone. If it doesnt stick then it is probably something (crud) getting stuck in works. Also check the transfer bar to make sure that it isnt binding in its channel. I had that happen once with my SP101 but, in that case it wouldnt turn at all.
Good luck.
If you pull the trigger just a little to unlock the cylinder will it turn freely by hand or does it still seem to stick? If it sticks in that case I suspect that maybe the star isnt fully seating or it is bound up at the cylinder face/forcing cone. If it doesnt stick then it is probably something (crud) getting stuck in works. Also check the transfer bar to make sure that it isnt binding in its channel. I had that happen once with my SP101 but, in that case it wouldnt turn at all.
Good luck.
mountaindrew
Member
I had a smilar problem with one of my my Sp101s. Check the barrel cylender gap. Mine didnt have one, and the cylender was rubbing on the barrel face/forcing cone. after about ten round the gun got really sticky and would sometimes jam up. I sent it to Ruger and the fixed the Gap, as well as a few other things. It worked beautifully sfter that, but id did cost me about $40 to ship it to ruger.
Well, with the cylinder swung out, it will spin pretty freely, but when locked back into the frame, it seems to have some trouble. I'll take a look at the ejector star and underneath to see if anything is gumming it up. Although my barrel/cylinder gap is pretty tight, I don't think it's the problem as I've put lots of rounds through it before with no ill-effect. Why doesn't Ruger pick up the tab for shipping when it is a manufacturer's defect? I know other companies that will, because it is something they didn't do right the first time.
Hold the gun in front of a bright light and see if you can see a gap between the front of the cylinder and the barrel. If you can't then either the front of the cylinder or the forcing cone/barrel are badly fouled.
It's also possible that something in the trigger linkage is gummed up. You can pull the hammer back slightly until you can spin the cylinder. If it spins freely then it's not the cylinder.
It's also possible that something in the trigger linkage is gummed up. You can pull the hammer back slightly until you can spin the cylinder. If it spins freely then it's not the cylinder.
It could be that you missed a flake of unburned powder under the extractor star.
I had a similar sounding problem last year in one of my GPs. I could not pull the trigger but the cyliner would open. The hammer would not come back easily. But, the gun worked real well if I shook it slightly. Turned out a small spring was broke. Got a new one and put it in and things have been going well ever since.
I had a similar sounding problem last year in one of my GPs. I could not pull the trigger but the cyliner would open. The hammer would not come back easily. But, the gun worked real well if I shook it slightly. Turned out a small spring was broke. Got a new one and put it in and things have been going well ever since.
I checked it out again today, and I can turn the cylinder freely with the hammer slightly cocked. However, the trigger is still having difficulty traveling backwards. Someone said earlier that if the cylinder would spin freely while the hammer was cocked, that the problem wasn't the in the cylinder. What else could it be? Do I have to disassemble the thing and look for the problem with each component? Anyone have any ideas?
If the cylinder will spin easily and freely with the hammer slightly cocked then something's wrong inside.
Using the instructions in your manual, disassemble the gun. Maybe you'll see a part that is obviously messed up, or perhaps some gunk somewhere it doesn't belong. One place to look, is the the vertical slot cut in the breechface. If that has gotten gunked up, the pawl/hand will not move smoothly to rotate the cylinder.
Using the instructions in your manual, disassemble the gun. Maybe you'll see a part that is obviously messed up, or perhaps some gunk somewhere it doesn't belong. One place to look, is the the vertical slot cut in the breechface. If that has gotten gunked up, the pawl/hand will not move smoothly to rotate the cylinder.
Master Blaster
Member
If its like my SP101 in design there is a tiny spring with a metal bullet in the end that maintains tension on the hand (the part that rotates the cylinder by pressing on the ratchet on the star) when I disassembled my sp101 I pulled the trigger to see how the trigger group functioned and this tiny spring and its tiny bullet shaped thingie (detent catch?)jumped out from the groove in the front of the hand without me realizing. The gun went back together but the cylinder would not turn and the trigger would not work. I had to dissassemble the gun and put the little spring and catch back in its spot in front of the hand. You may want to check on that part.
Yep I just checked its called the pawl plunger and the pawl plunger spring. Ruger calls the hand the pawl on their guns. My guess is that there is something wrong with one of these parts. The seem to be the weak link in the ruger design.
Here is the lin to the manual
parts are KE51 and KH5000
Rugermanual GP100
Yep I just checked its called the pawl plunger and the pawl plunger spring. Ruger calls the hand the pawl on their guns. My guess is that there is something wrong with one of these parts. The seem to be the weak link in the ruger design.
Here is the lin to the manual
parts are KE51 and KH5000
Rugermanual GP100
GP-100 Hard for cylinder to turn...HELP! Reply to Thread
Years ago, I had a Ruger Security Six that developed similar problem. After many hours of unsucessful trouble shooting the pistol itself , I discovered that problem was my ammo: Reloads. The primers were not fully seated, which caused them to bind against the face of the breech plate. 
Years ago, I had a Ruger Security Six that developed similar problem. After many hours of unsucessful trouble shooting the pistol itself
, I discovered that problem was my ammo: Reloads. The primers were not fully seated, which caused them to bind against the face of the breech plate. The problem occurs while dry-firing as well. I actually took it out today to better diagnose the problem, and it seems to be almost gone. Maybe the oil has soaked into the gun from when I cleaned it a few days ago and loosened things up a bit. Is there a better/more efficient way to clean revolvers than using something like Hoppes 9 and some patches and brushes? It seems like it takes several passes to get things clean, and then, after a certain point, they don't get any cleaner, but it is never 100% clean, or at least it seems that way to me. I'll try taking it to the range tomorrow and run some Winclean .38 ammo through it to see if there are any more problems. I may just get an action job since I don't like that "stacking" on the DA pull. Maybe just some springs would help?
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