Someone settle this for me

[gray wolf]

Someone is trying to tell me that a Ruger revolver ( gp100---Sp101---SRH ---locks up like a Colt.

That is, when you drop the hammer the cylinder locks up while the trigger is held back, and cancels out any side to side rotational play. Tried to say a S&W does the same thing.

I say it does NOT do this and any side to side rotational play will still be there no matter how tight you hold the trigger back.

I say Colt internals are different than Ruger internals. Never saw a Ruger or a Smith cylinder lock up like a Colt.

[dudel]

I would say they do. The slots in the cylinder are the give away. I have a Charter Arms and a couple of Taurus wheelguns that lock the cylinder when the trigger is pulled. With the trigger back, an arm comes out of the frame and engages the slots in the cylinder keeping it from rotating.

if you go to the Ruger website http://ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html you can see the arm (just above the trigger) that engages the slot. As you pull the trigger, the arm drops down, the cylinder rotates, the arm comes up just before the hammer falls.

Current Smiths seem to have it as well.

I'm sure the mechanism is different from a Colt; but there are many ways to accomplish something.

[paul h]

I think you're confusing a better fit between the cylinder stop, the recess the stop moves through and the slots in the cylinder with the internals that make the parts move together.

All revolvers have the trigger move the stop to keep the cylinder from rotating, but the only way to get the cylinder to lock tight is to remove slop from the parts. Gunsmiths will build up the parts to get a rock solid stop.

[gray wolf]

Yes I know all about the cylinder stop and how it works, I have a GP100 Julie has a SP101

They keep the cylinder from turning but they do not take the side to side play out,
the parts would have to fit meticulously well for this to happen.
The colts I have handled, Like my old duty pistol, the Colt trooper actually locked out the side to side slop when the trigger was pulled.


Refit Hand: Colt revolvers utilize the hand to lock the cylinder at time of ignition; the hand pushes the cylinder against the bolt, locking it solidly in place. A Colt cylinder, when in full lock, should NOT MOVE AT ALL. This has been referred to as the “bank vault lockup”, and is what made the Colt DA revolvers famous. By the nature of the design, the hand will wear over a period of time and requires occasional replacement. The owner is expected to check the action regularly, and have the hand replaced when it shows any sign of wear. If the gun is used past the point where there is discernible cylinder play, the other parts of the action – the functions of which are all interrelated – will experience uncharacteristic wear, and need to be replaced. This can evolve into an expensive undertaking, and can be prevented by having the hand refit whenever it starts to wear.

[44man]

Most is right and also wrong. The cylinder stop must have play for a bullet to clock the cylinder into alignment with the bore. Too tight must have a perfect alignment to start with.
Yes, some guns had the hand force the cylinder tight but is that good? Not so, you need some play.

[Alley Cat]

The side to side lockup tightness in a S&W is only a function of how much clearance there is between the cylinder notches and the cylinder stop. Some looseness is necessary to keep everything working correctly but excessive looseness is either due to mechanical wear or hurried fitting at the factory. This problem can be corrected with a thicker cylinder stop if the looseness is consistent across every notch. I'm not familiar enough with other manufacturer's designs to comment.

[gray wolf]

Most is right and also wrong. The cylinder stop must have play for a bullet to clock the cylinder into alignmentwith the bore. Too tight must have a perfect alignment to start with.
Yes, some guns had the hand force the cylinder tight but is that good? Not so, you need some play.
*_________________________________________________ ________________________*


The side to side lockup tightness in a S&W I believe in rugers also is only a function of how much clearance there is between the cylinder notches and the cylinder stop. Some looseness is necessary to keep everything working correctly but excessive looseness is either due to mechanical wear or hurried fitting at the factory. This problem can be corrected with a thicker cylinder stop if the looseness is consistent across every notch. I'm not familiar enough with other manufacturer's designs to comment.



Thank you, those are the answers I needed. I had it correct but just couldn't get the words out of my mouth.
Ooo RAaa

[Tatume]

The side to side lockup tightness in a S&W is only a function of how much clearance there is between the cylinder notches and the cylinder stop.

This is close but not entirely correct. The fit of the bolt in its window in the bottom of the frame also contributes. Some custom gunsmiths will weld the window partially closed and recut it so that the bolt is a closer fit, thereby reducing side-to-side play.

Whether minimum play is beneficial to accuracy is an ongoing argument which I don't care to join.

[MtGun44]

Not true. Colt jams the cylinder tight between the hand and the cylinder bolt
on the bottom of the cylinder just as the hammer drops. This is neat if the cylinder
lines up exactly with the bore, which happens sometimes. When it does not, which
is a LOT of the time, the boolit whacks the cylinder HARD as it jumps from the cyl
to the throat, VERY hard on the hand. Lots of older Colts have short hands because
of this hammering.

S&W and Ruger have a bit of slop so that the last bit of alignment done by the bullet
doesn't hammer the innards. Colts, if perfect, last a long time. If not (common)
they go out of time far sooner due to this hammering which is built into the design.
That little bit of rotational slop in a Ruger or S&W cylinder is GOOD, enhances
accy without beating up the gun.

[Tackleberry41]

As I understand, Colt got out of the revolver business due to the issues they had with the tight lock up. When it was right it was a work of art, when it wasn't well things got loose pretty quick. They could not get that tight lock up without all the hand fitting, something that is pretty much the opposite of building guns today. Seems to me they could have made a few changes so it wasn't such an issue, but guess thats why Colt is going thru bankruptcy.