I have four different carry revolvers, GP100, Sp101's and a Charter Arms.
I have four different carry revolvers, GP100, Sp101's and a Charter Arms.
I almost want to make a thread for this because it seems to be something that I've run into before, but I don't want to clutter things up and am hoping I can get some kind of help here. I am having a problem with my GP100.
I took the GP100 described in the OP out to shoot again today. I had previously cleaned it since last shooting it the following way:
-Brass brush to cylinder face and rear
-Brass brush to forcing cone
-Cleaning extractor star and underneath extractor star
-Scrubbing and cleaning out chambers
-Scrubbed recoil shield/bolt face with nylon brush and cleaned
-Used bore brush and patches to clean bore
After 48 rounds (mostly Federal 130gr FMJ .38 and some Magnum), the cylinder became very "sticky" to get open and closed. It is still in this condition even after a minor scrubbing with nylon brush and wiped down. It's like something is preventing the cylinder from popping back into place, and if I do get it in, it's difficult to open. I've fiddled with it a bit and it closes seemingly normal right now (not always), but is still sticky to get open.
Keep in mind, I only have just over 1k rounds through this and have cleaned it after every range trip. Up to this point it has worked just fine. I think it would be unusual for it to do this simply because it hasn't been detail stripped/cleaned.
This is also something I experienced similarly with at least one other GP100. It doesn't seem like a one-off. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Is this a problem with the gun that is developing or am I doing something? It's quite frustrating, as I thought my quest for a reliable revolver was over.
If it was an S&W my first guess would be the extractor rod backing out but Rugers shouldn't have that issue due to design differences. Not a Ruger guy but I believe the cylinder release screw on Rugers can create similar issues though. This should be the screw below the cylinder release. Might check that it's locked down.Originally Posted by SwampDweller
no one sees what's written on the spine of his own autobiography.
It's tight, I went ahead and made sure. Unfortunately it's still having the issue, primarily the cylinder not wanting to come out.
Have you pulled the trigger group and cylinder? You may need to clean that, or it might have some manufacturing detritus in there.
I have not. I didn't think it would need to be detail disassembled at this point, and I'm not sure how it could cause this. For over a thousand rounds it's run fine without being detail stripped, and I'm pretty sure a Ruger GP100 can normally go more than a bit over 1k rounds without needing to be detail stripped already, or at least not have issues this bad. I'm hoping someone has encountered this exact issue before and can explain what is happening and how to fix it, or whether it's possible some manufacturing defect. I have gotten a GP100 that has been defective (according to Ruger), but it was a 7-shot.
I’ve shot GP100’s before, but never fiddled with one. It looks like the tiniest bit of crud in the yoke could cause problems with the cylinder releasing:
I agree; do a semi-detailed disassembly of the cylinder, and clean the accumulated GSR and crud from the inside of the cylinder and the ball race; use very little, if any lubricant on contact points on reassembly.
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....-A-Ruger-GP100
Best, Jon
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Certified Glock Armorer
Ok. I’ve never disassembled a GP100 but will attempt tonight. Doesn’t the round count (no more than 1100 using almost always jacketed ammo) seem a bit low to be encountering this normally since I clean it after every range session as described yesterday? Or is this a normal occurrence? How do I determine whether this is just from debris or something wrong with the gun? It doesn’t sound like anyone here has encountered this specific issue before.
When I took the revolver class with Tom Givens a couple of years ago a gent there had his very new S&W PC gun go down because he was shooting dirty ammo. @revchuck38 was there as well, and I hope he corrects me if I am misremembering, but I am pretty sure Tom mentioned that he had seen a lot of problems with European ammo being very dirty.
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