Base pin walked out on SBH

[emptyhead]

Hi guys . Was just shooting my ruger SBH with the lyman des. 44 bullet. after about 30 shots i looked and seen the base pin sticking out. Wondering if my load is to stiff. .44 lyman des. bullet, 21 grns wc820, win. lp primer. It is moving along at about 1300 fps.

[felix]

Load might be too stiff. It depends on the lot you have. I am assuming a 250 grainer boolit. Cut load back to 18.5 grains, standard primer. The pin problem is just that, a pin problem. Replacement pins are common, and they lock into place. Cut back on the load and use gun as is, pin and all. If not satisfied, then get the new pin and increase the load until the primer pockets become looser on the next reload, and then drop back one full grain to preserve the cases. ... felix

[StarMetal]

Load might be too stiff. It depends on the lot you have. I am assuming a 250 grainer boolit. Cut load back to 18.5 grains, standard primer. The pin problem is just that, a pin problem. Replacement pins are common, and they lock into place. Cut back on the load and use gun as is, pin and all. If not satisfied, then get the new pin and increase the load until the primer pockets become looser on the next reload, and then drop back one full grain to preserve the cases. ... felix


....also a stiffer spring on the pin catch.

Joe

[primersp]

i have the same problem ,buy a custom base pin with a retaining screw
andre

[jar-wv]

Pretty common with the BH. Thats why they make the one with the set screw.

jar

[Lloyd Smale]

contact Belt Mountain Base Pins and buy a locking one. There only about 35 bucks and will sometimes tighten up the gun as a bonus. I have them on all of my rugers.

[emptyhead]

Thanks guys

[rockrat]

I just took a Dremel grinder with a stone for a chain saw and cut the notch in the pin a few thou. deeper. Cold blue and worked fine for over 10K rounds. This was 30 years ago.

[pietro]

If the cylinder is tight on the issue cylinder pin, it's head can easily be D/T'd for a long 6-48 (whatever) setscrew, made to bear against/into a small dwell point made in the barrel bottom with the tip of a small drill bit.

If it's done DYI, the cost = $0.00.

.

[freedom475]

It's probly not your pin or load. It is your base pin retention latch. Remove it and I'll bet it has a whole bunch of little dents all the way around it. A quarter turn on the latch will make it seem like the problem went away until it finds it's way back to a dent. Then you pin will pop out again.

Belt Mountain makes a hardened steel base pin latch that work very well. They only come in Blue but its still looks just fine in a stainless gun.

[Shuz]

Freedom 475--I have a stainless steel Belt Mtn pin on one of my Rugers. Do they no longer offer stainless?

[JesterGrin_1]

From what I have seen they still offer Stainless. :). But they had the blue ones first. :) I looked it up lol.

[44man]

It happens but most Rugers will not have a problem no matter what the load.
Lots of good advice here if you do have a problem. I guess I am lucky and all the Rugers I owned never had a pin move.

[freedom475]

Freedom 475--I have a stainless steel Belt Mtn pin on one of my Rugers. Do they no longer offer stainless?

The The "hardened steel" retention latch is what I am talking about. Not the base pin itself. Been about 8 months but last time I ordered one, the hardened retention latch is only avialable in Blue. I don't even know if it is offerd in there catalog cause I talked to them on the phone.

I just checked and I can find no mention of the hardened steel retention latch mentioned on there site so you will have to call them, but they do offer it. A new base pin will do nothing for you if you don't replace the latch. All of the so called "bad base pins I have seen looked fine...but the latches were trashed.

All old Rugers had a milled quarter moon cut out of the base pin for the latch to engage.(just like the Belt Mountain) These worked great. But since they have gotten cheap they now lathe turn a groove all the way around the basepin and this allows the pin to turn and move around, damaging the retention latch.

I am not sure where the ones I removed are at, but if I find my old latches I'll post a picture. You wouldn't believe how damaged they are from the poorly made base pins.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive never fooled with the improved latch but have boughten the extra power retention springs. Belt mountain sells them too and it may be all it takes to cure the jumping. Me i go with the pins, there not expensive and if you buy the one that requires fitting you will tighten up your gun some. I dont worry about the retaining assembly as it has a screw to hold it from jumping and thats all freedom arms and magnum research even use on there guns they dont even have a cross pin.

[cbrick]

I had this problem on my OMSBH, tried a stronger spring and it helped but didn't stop the pin from moving on occasion. I installed the Belt Mountian base pin along with an indent in the barrel under the set screw along with the stronger spring, no problem with it since.

Rick

[Char-Gar]

Big bucking 'Rugers throwing base pins is just a fact of life. Changing springs sometimes helps, but is mostly a waste of money. I have found two way to cure the problem for once and for all.

1. Buy a Belt Mountain pin and drill a little detent for the set screw.
2. Replace the pin with a male and female screw of the right size. It has no spring and it takes two screwdrivers to insall remove, but it does stay put.

[softpoint]

The reason the Ruger base pins jump in the first place isn't the pin or the latch, although sometimes tinkering with latch springs and base pins will fix it, sometimes the only thing that will completely fix it is a screw retained base pin. And some never jump at all. The reason they jump to begin with is the the latch pin hole is slightly out of place. I have had Rugers that the only way they could be stopped was by putting in a screw retained base pin(belt mountain.) I have had some that never jumped, no matter how hot the load. I've heard of people complaining to Ruger and ruger would send them a new base pin and latch assy. and after installation they would jump just as bad as before until a screw retained pin was put in. Ruger knows what the problem really is ,too, they just don't like replacing frames. Your best bet is to put a Belt mountain base pin in right away, and the problem will be fixed.

[jhrosier]

In forty years and probably 50 or so Ruger Single actions, I've only had one problem gun. It was an old model super. After fighting with springs for a while, I had my gunsmith make a solid two piece latch that did not use a spring. That was well before the days of the Belt Mtn. pins.

I would try a Belt Mtn. pin with a new retainer screw, as well as a new latch and heavy spring.

Jack

[JesterGrin_1]

This might be a dumb question but how many rounds would one have to shoot to feel they have a problem with the base pin?

[softpoint]

This might be a dumb question but how many rounds would one have to shoot to feel they have a problem with the base pin?

Often they will start doing it right away. They do it because the hole for the base pin latch is too low in the frame. I have a little 4 5/8 .45 Blackhawk that has never done it, even with HOT loads , My 4 5/8.44 Blackhawk always did it, even when brand new. I put a Belt Mountain base pin in it.
In my experience, anyway Ruger is not much help on this problem. You are better off to deal with it yourself if you have it. Not all of the Blackhawks do it, I've probably had 20 over the years and Ive only had about 3 that would do it a lot.
Of course, the hotter the loads the more prone they are to jump the pin:drinks:

[JesterGrin_1]

Well I have put about 50 rounds through my Bisley Hunter thus far. But not sure if they are what you would call HOT loads. They are the 300Gr HP 44/444 GB mold and the Lee 310Gr with 21.0 and 21.5 Gr of H-110. And thus far the pin has not moved. But it is still new lol. :)

[S.R.Custom]

This might be a dumb question but how many rounds would one have to shoot to feel they have a problem with the base pin?

As noted by others, it depends. I once had a SBH that would sometimes loosen up after about a box of ammo. On the other extreme, I'm currently working on a 5.5" SBH that can't get through a cylinder full without the pin coming out.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that sometimes the groove on the pin and the hole for the latch aren't directly under each other when the pin's shoulder is fully seated against the frame. As a result, the latch can not come out fully to engage the notch in the pin.

If this is the case, chucking the pin up in a drill and 'lengthening' the notch by spinning the pin against a round file is a quick fix.

[Char-Gar]

Two or three cylinderfuls ought to tell the story.