Ruger GP100 difficult to open cylinder

M

mgulino

New member
I have a stainless GP100 in 357 that has a difficult to open cylinder after firing. It doesn't matter if I fire commercial loads or my own reloads, full power or downloads. The cylinder release seems to function properly; it just takes some effort to swing the cylinder out. Empties drop out easily, and a full cylinder will close easily and allow the revolver to fire perfectly either SA/DA.

The only cleaning I have done is to scrub the bore and cylinder, scrub the forcing cone, and clean inside the cylinder frame. The cylinder swings out easily after minor cleaning. I have not taken the revolver apart for a deep clean.

Any ideas?
 
I'd put about one drop of oil at the cylinder crane/yoke pivot point and swing the cylinder in and out several times to work the oil into the joint.
 
Sounds like the cases might be rubbing against the recoil shield. The cases expand and back up upon firing. Does the recoil shield seem rough?
 
"...taken the revolver apart..." There is no reason to do that either. You do not need to disassemble any revolver to give it a bath.
How well does it work without firing? Any problems opening the cylinder other than after firing? Sounds like a head space issue to me. Have you talked to Ruger?
 
My ruger did that, under the cylinder release there is a screw, that might be loose. A little lock tite, might do the trick.. Did for me. Hope it works for you.
 
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The recoil shield appears fine. No marks or scratches on the heads of fired cases either, and fired primers appear fine. Fired cases appear normal.
As indicated in the OP, once it is fired (one shot or all six) it is difficult to open. Once opened, it operates fine, until fired again.
Will try oiling the crane/yoke pivot point, and will check the cylinder release screw. Also had a suggestion on another forum to clean under the cylinder star.
 
Cleaning up under the star should be part of a normal cleaning. But dirt under the star typically causes problems opening and closing regardless of whether the cartridges have been fired.

Another possibility is that the front latch is dragging a bit, though I'm not sure why that would only be a problem after firing. Might take a look at that and make sure the latch and cavity are clean. Also make sure it has just a bit of oil on the front latch pivot as well. You can observe the latch operating by pushing on the bearing/shaft in the middle of the star with the cylinder open.
 
Does everything seem to work OK when the gun is unloaded?

You may want to check that the ejector rod is not loose. Thats pretty common with S&W's, and can make it difficult to get the cylinder open, and sometimes, locks the gun up. Ive had that happen on a couple of guns, so its something I always check. Not sure about Rugers, but Id check that anyway. A "tiny" drop of LocTite solves the problem.

Junk under the star can also be a problem, but you generally feel that as it builds up, and closing the cylinder becomes noticeably harder/stiffer. The cylinder also tends to bind as you shoot. You avoid that by dumping the empties "muzzle up". Unloading muzzle down allows any unburnt powder to drop under the star as the cases come out, and is usually the culprit here.

I would think if the empties were setting back against the shield tight enough to make opening the cylinder a problem, that you would feel things start to bind up as you were shooting. Is that something you normally feel?

Unless theres something wrong with the gun, theres really not much to go wrong here, other than maybe improper reloading, or lack of cleaning.
 
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