GP-100 Wiley Clapp question

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

I have a new Wiley Clapp that has shown action binding issues while shooting. The cylinder eases into and out of binding during shooting, but only irregularly. It has been bad enough that I have had to use both thumbs to cock the hammer back. The other thing with this binding is that it comes and goes, irregularly. No issues/changes in trigger pull of function, just the cylinder rotation/hammer cock is affected.

I cannot see any undue lead buildup anywhere, there are no drag marks on cylinder other than the cylinder latch ring... And the cylinder rotates freely when hanging out of the frame.

I have around 250 rounds through the gun, straight from the box, NIB from dealer, no cleaning has been performed. I have never had any issues like this with any of the other revolvers I have (Smith 19, Taurus 65, Ruger blackhawks) so any advise will be appreciated.

[texassako]

I had a similar issue with my Security Six. It ended up being an occasional primer not seated deep enough dragging along. A little crud under the extractor after some shooting would make it worse, and I was using to much straight LLA at the time as well(soot everywhere). Changed priming methods and lube because of that along with joining the forum.

[Ickisrulz]

Take the cylinder off the crane and give it a cleaning and see if that fixes it. There may be "stuff" on the crane. You will have to look for instructions on the net to remove the cylinder from the crane as they are not in the owner's manual.

[gray wolf]

You did strip and clean it before you shot it --correct ?
Take the grips off, remove the hammer spring and plunger, remove the hammer, remove the trigger and housing,
cylinder slides off the crane. Reassemble. Dry fire and see if it does it with an empty gun.
Look at the face of the cylinder, the hole the crane slips through, see if it has drag marks.
Look for high primers or a primer backing out, check under and the top of the ejector star for burs, rough spots.
ejector rod not bent + about 50 other things.


It has been bad enough that I have had to use both thumbs to cock the hammer back.
I would have stoped shooting at that point and tried to isolate the problem.

[MtGun44]

High primers or crud on the front of the cylinder. Spend some time holding the gun
up to a bright sky background when it is binding - looking at the front and rear gaps
in the cyl to bbl and case/primer to recoil shield. Should be able to see it.

My money is on high primers. Human error is a good bet when I am doing something,
probably for others, too.

Bill

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

I guess that I musr clarify. The gun was not cleaned from factory:shooting straight out of box. And the dragging problem occurred whether there were shells in cylinder or not.

After posting my first post, I took gun and put a fair amount of oil on the crane, cylinder, and on the action. Then I put snap caps in the cylinder and proceeded to work the action by dry firing repeatedly. After doing this it has not seized or dragged at all . Like I had speculated and you had said, I think it just needs a good cleaning. I think possibly just a bit of crud was in there binding up the action when I didn't need it to.

I had held a gun up and inspected the cylinder gap, that's where I knew there was nothing binding in there.

As far as taking apart new guns to clean them, I have never needed to do that even with much cheaper less superior firearms. And even considering using 1911's right out of the box and never worrying about it, I didn't feel any need whatsoever to clean a Ruger revolver. I guess I know better now.

[Gus Youmans]

I sent an SP101 back to Ruger for a similar problem. Turns out there was some crud between the crane and frame when the cylinder was closed and that was causing the cylinder to bind. Ruger took it apart, cleaned it, and sent it back to me. Made me feel stupid.

Gus Youmans

[Ickisrulz]

I guess that I musr clarify. The gun was not cleaned from factory:shooting straight out of box. And the dragging problem occurred whether there were shells in cylinder or not.

After posting my first post, I took gun and put a fair amount of oil on the crane, cylinder, and on the action. Then I put snap caps in the cylinder and proceeded to work the action by dry firing repeatedly. After doing this it has not seized or dragged at all . Like I had speculated and you had said, I think it just needs a good cleaning. I think possibly just a bit of crud was in there binding up the action when I didn't need it to.

I had held a gun up and inspected the cylinder gap, that's where I knew there was nothing binding in there.

As far as taking apart new guns to clean them, I have never needed to do that even with much cheaper less superior firearms. And even considering using 1911's right out of the box and never worrying about it, I didn't feel any need whatsoever to clean a Ruger revolver. I guess I know better now.

Let us know how it does after you put a few hundred rounds through it.

[roberts1]

Had same issue with an sp101 turned out to be a high primer which i looked for initially but had to take a really close look to find. Turns out they dont need to be very high to cause issues.

[Piedmont]

The most common cause of this problem on a Ruger will be some crud under your ejector star. You can get to that without taking the gun apart. Don't put oil there as powder will stick to it. Always eject your cases with the muzzle pointing up so powder granules won't get under the ejector star.

Another real common cause of this on a S&W is the ejector rod coming unscrewed, but the Ruger GP-100 isn't set up like that.

[400short]

Crud. Either under the star or on the crane near the hinge. It doesn't take much. I changed powders and my problem went away.

[Char-Gar]

My standard drill with any firearm that is giving cycling problems is to clean it thoroughly and re-lube. This cures the vast majority of problems. Only after doing that, and it not working do I try and chase down the issue.

[Big Steve]

Had that problem with a GP100. Cylynder/barrel gap out of spec. As the gun heated with shooting the metal expands causing even tighter tolerances. Ruger fixed it right up. Works great now.

[double bogey]

My gp100 binds after I shoot .38 sp, and then go back to magnums. Carbon ring in front of 38's, make the 357's hard to get in the cyl.

[Green Monster]

I always clean lube and inspect all my firearms when i buy them used or factory fresh. I dont know who touched it and did what with it before i got it. Its just a thing i do to be 100% sure of it. I trust it was handled correctly but i need to be certain before i trust the firearm.

[Magana559]

Crud. Either under the star or on the crane near the hinge. It doesn't take much. I changed powders and my problem went away.


Yes this was my same problem, junk under the ejector star.

[Groo]

Groo here
An old smith I used , said at least 1/2 the guns that he saw just needed cleaned.
Do you eject cases up or down? down allows dirt to fall out , up and under the star the dirt goes.
Pull the grips and soak in k-1 for a day or so,then allow to drip or use air to remove.

[Outpost75]

Whenever reloading and extracting fired cases from a DA revolver, it is important to do do with the MUZZLE POINTED UPWARD so that any unburned powder falls out with the empty brass, rather than having the muzzle held horizontal or downward, which permits unburned powder particles to fall under the extractor/ejector star.

When I went through the police armorer's school at Ruger, back in the stone age, when .38 Special revolvers were the norm for street carry, it was standard practice in the proof range to hold the extractor back and to blow out its recess in the back of the cylinder with compressed air, before installing a safety disk and placing the proofed gun on the inspection rack.

It only takes ONE particle of powder to back out the extractor of a DA revolver and cause binding. S&Ws and Colts are also subject to this problem.

THAT is why DA revolver shooters should ALWAYS, without fail, carry a toothbrush in their range gear, to clean under the extractor, its recess in the cylinder, around the barrel extension, under the top strap, around the crane arbor, face of recoil shield, etc.

This is basic revolver handling 101.

Ron Adams and Thomas McTernan's book Street Survival has the best section on cleaning and maintaining a DA service revolver of any book out there. This is the way we were taught by Sgt. Fred Flintstone at the Bedrock Academy back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. http://www.amazon.com/Street-Survival-Tactics-Armed-Encounters/dp/0935878009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400016148&sr=1-1&keywords=street+survival+tactics+for+armed+encount ers

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

Thanks for all the advise guys!

Gonna have to try some of the cleaning suggestions and post shooting case removal techniques.

Book looks like a must buy.

[9.3X62AL]

Similar revolver with similar problem......my Redhawk's cylinder would bind in rotation, whether swung open or closed into the frame. Made certain that all the possible crud crevices I could reach were CLEAN--I'm from a slightly later class than Outpost at the Bedrock PD Academy, but no joy--crud was unremovable from the cylinder arbor, and I didn't have enough hands to re-assemble the crane/cylinder assembly after getting it apart. I FedEx'ed the parts back to Ruger on 12/21/12, and got it back on 01-08-13 in much better shape. Cylinder has remained free-spooling since that time, with several hundred rounds fired. Ruger Customer Service ROCKS!