Ruger Redhawk don't shoot no more?

[DonMountain]

I have a stainless Ruger Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel that I bought new maybe 30 years ago. Bought it and a Leupold 4x scope to use for deer hunting. And that's about all I have used it for over all of these years, along with some minor target shooting when preparing for our pistol deer season. I had it out a few days ago and shot up some low pressure target ammunition I had loaded many years ago, and some more recently. (All 310 grain cast projectiles over 12 grains of W-571) In one cylinder full I fired 2 shots, and then the hammer came back real easy and the gun would not fire anymore. Like the hammer spring had broken. I can work it manually by pushing the trigger forward and pulling back the hammer like to fire it, and the hammer comes back real easy, but when pulling the trigger nothing happens. So, what is wrong with it and is it fixable? I have not tried to dismantle it yet, and I think I have the book for it somewhere?

[BLAHUT]

IMO, You will need to take it apart and see what let go ??? Contact Ruger and see what they will want to fix ???

[THM81346]

I haven't had to contact Ruger in some time, but the number I have for service on pistols is 520 778 6550.

[DougGuy]

This WAS the number for handguns: Customer Service - Newport, NH. 411 Sunapee Street, Newport, NH 03773. Telephone: 336-949-5200. But they have several customer service centers I am sure they will direct you to the right department.

Call them and tell them you were shooting the gun and suddenly the hammer went limp and it won't shoot. They will likely send the brown truck to your door with a label in hand.

[LeonardC]

If you get brave...and want to DIY, I see Midway has some springs for the RedHawk.

I "needed" to send a RSRH cylinder to DougGuy (it's in the mail on its way back) and Youtube was my friend for seeing how to take it apart. I also needed a $12.50 screwdriver bit along with $12.95 shipping from Brownells. I hope it goes together as easy as it came apart!

Long ago I had to send in a BH to Ruger for rebarrel and refinishing $$$. They didn't care for my DIY gunsmithing and replaced all the aftermarket springs and parts that I'd worked on...all back to factory stock. But the gun looks better than when it was new AND who ever put it together spent some time doing it right because it really feels and shoots GREAT!

[6string]

The entire lockwork pulls out in one piece with the triggerguard.
It should be pretty easy to evaluate.
On the other hand, reassembly can be a bit quirky like the Mk. II .22 cal. pistol.

[Winger Ed.]

There's only a few moving parts in there. It shouldn't be any big deal to replace one or two.

Edit:

The heads on gun screws are usually cut different than common hardware store ones.
I'd encourage getting some gun smith style screw drivers (or snap in bits) that fit the screws correctly
to keep from dinging up the top edges of the screws on the Ruger.

[Snakeoil]

Never saw a revolver that was too complicated to work on. Dive in. You'll learn something in the process. Does sound like the mainspring broke. Never been inside a Redhawk so not sure if another part can fail and defeat the mainspring action. Do a search on the web for an exploded diagram and that will tell you a lot and also let you know what to expect inside. Numrich may have one on their website.

UPDATE: Was curious. Here's a diagram for you. https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-man...-ruger/redhawk

I see small pins that look like they are part of the mainspring mechanism. One may have come out of place. Coil springs are not known to break. So my guess is something in that assembly has come loose or failed. Looking at the diagram, I suspect that if you just take the grips off you'll find the problem. Be careful when you do. One of those pins may be loose and fall out when you remove the grips. I always put a clean white towel on the bench and work on that. Things don't roll off the bench, bounce into never-never land and you can find the small parts on that white towel. Good luck.

[racepres]

IMO..If Ruger will do what is required to Make it Right...Send it...I have plenty of "clunkers" that Need Attention

[Winger Ed.]

I always put a clean white towel on the bench and work on that. Things don't roll off the bench, bounce into never-never land and you can find the small parts on that white towel. Good luck.

I do that too.
However; I did have a small piece of a Rem700 bolt jump out, and I think it is still in orbit around the moon.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP>>>

So, what is wrong with it and is it fixable? I have not tried to dismantle it yet, and I think I have the book for it somewhere?

There is nothing like a good youtube video to help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hen4iApKtMg

[racepres]

I do that too.
However; I did have a small piece of a Rem700 bolt jump out, and I think it is still in orbit around the moon.

LOL The world will someday marvel at the Multitude of small parts that have escaped detection (Forget about recovery), in such a small space as my gun room!!!

[megasupermagnum]

It is certainly repairable. I'm guessing it isn't a broken main spring, but it is possible. There is a good chance you can see what is wrong by just taking the grips off. I would look for either the spring or linkage binding, or a pin that fell out. I would actually lean more towards binding than anything, especially if it hasn't been apart in 30 years. Both rust and goop from years of oil can do that. I wouldn't send it to Ruger unless you find a major part broken.

[megasupermagnum]

There's only a few moving parts in there. It shouldn't be any big deal to replace one or two.

Edit:

The heads on gun screws are usually cut different than common hardware store ones.
I'd encourage getting some gun smith style screw drivers (or snap in bits) that fit the screws correctly
to keep from dinging up the top edges of the screws on the Ruger.

In my experience the Redhawk is one of the harder revolvers to work on, but it isn't that bad. The trigger group has a lot of similarity to the more modern super Redhawk, GP100, and SP101, but the linkage is goofy, and it it can be a pain to get it back together. There are a ton of moving parts inside, lot of them that can fly out if you don't know what you are doing.

As for screwdrivers, no need to buy them. Just take a cheap one you don't care about, and put it to the grinder. Grind it until it fits. The only real key is that most screwdrivers come tapered both front and sides. You need to grind them so both surfaces are flat. I do have a decent gunsmiths screwdriver set, but I still grind plenty of screwdrivers for different things. My favorite screwdriver for small sight screws is one I ground. My favorite one for getting jets out of Kehin carbs is one I ground. I'm just saying you can buy them if you want, but that screwdriver you have floating in the junk drawer can be just as good for a job like this.

Also along with that, you really don't need any special screwdrivers for the Redhawk. The only one I can think of is the one for the grip screw, and a normal screwdriver works fine for that. You will need a small pin such as a paper clip for the mainspring rod to hold the spring compressed. The trigger assembly is held in with a spring loaded plunger which can be pulled out with your fingers. Everything in the trigger assembly is just slipped on there or held with pins, which again can be pushed out with something like a paper clip. That's where you have to know what you are doing. Both the hand/ cylinder pawl, and the cylinder stop have a little spring and detent that come flying out if you don't know they are there. I learned the hard way.

[Winger Ed.]

LOL The world will someday marvel at the Multitude of small parts that have escaped detection (Forget about recovery), in such a small space as my gun room!!!

Oh that's small potatoes.

I heard there was a big cover up awhile back at NASA.
Remember the Space Shuttle that landed with a big giant gouge in the windshield?
They wouldn't admit it was a just a trigger return spring out of a S&W revolver.

[45workhorse]

Oh that's small potatoes.

I heard there was a big cover up awhile back at NASA.
Remember the Space Shuttle that landed with a big giant gouge in the windshield?
They wouldn't admit it was a just a trigger return spring out of a S&W revolver.

Careful they may send you the repair bill!

[Scrounge]

I have a stainless Ruger Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel that I bought new maybe 30 years ago. Bought it and a Leupold 4x scope to use for deer hunting. And that's about all I have used it for over all of these years, along with some minor target shooting when preparing for our pistol deer season. I had it out a few days ago and shot up some low pressure target ammunition I had loaded many years ago, and some more recently. (All 310 grain cast projectiles over 12 grains of W-571) In one cylinder full I fired 2 shots, and then the hammer came back real easy and the gun would not fire anymore. Like the hammer spring had broken. I can work it manually by pushing the trigger forward and pulling back the hammer like to fire it, and the hammer comes back real easy, but when pulling the trigger nothing happens. So, what is wrong with it and is it fixable? I have not tried to dismantle it yet, and I think I have the book for it somewhere?

NO, NO, NO! You need to immediately mail it to me, and forget you ever had it!

Or I suppose you could download this: https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/...ls/redhawk.pdf and then disassemble the pistol and compare the parts in your pistol to the parts in the drawings. Then you'll have an idea of what you need to do to fix it.

Bill

[Kosh75287]

On one of Ruger's Security Six model revolvers, I would (have) trust(ed) myself to remove and replace a broken hammer spring. The Redhawk's trigger assembly is sufficiently different that I would likely have to think more carefully on the matter.
One advantage to sending it to Ruger for the work, in addition to letting THEM deal with the complexity, is that they have learned over time what other problems to look for in the Redhawk, and check/head those off, while they have it apart.

[DonMountain]

It is certainly repairable. I'm guessing it isn't a broken main spring, but it is possible. There is a good chance you can see what is wrong by just taking the grips off. I would look for either the spring or linkage binding, or a pin that fell out. I would actually lean more towards binding than anything, especially if it hasn't been apart in 30 years. Both rust and goop from years of oil can do that. I wouldn't send it to Ruger unless you find a major part broken.

I finally got the time to look at all the suggested videos and instruction manual for the gun, and with everyone's suggestions took off the Hogue grips I have mounted on the gun. Fiddling around with the hammer and trigger while watching the movement of parts in the gun, it became obvious that part #22, Hammer Link was no longer hooked to the top of the Mainspring Lever. As per the videos, I removed the hammer along with the hammer link, and the mainspring along with the mainspring lever, and took a hard look at the hammer link for damage. It appears to be undamaged and hardly worn anywhere, so I cleaned up the interior of the gun, lubricated the pivot pins and parts that rub together, and put it all back together. I had a little trouble actually hooking the hammer link back onto the mainspring lever because of close clearance there. But once all back together it operates just like it did before the failure. And I can't imagine how this hammer link could have gotten unhooked from the mainspring lever with this much spring tension on it (original spring). And I thank all of you for your suggestions and help getting this Deer Gun back operating again. And now to load some more of those 320 grain cast lead projectiles over 17.0 grains of H-110 and go shooting again. We have been bothered by armadillos here in Missouri and I need a powerful load capable of piercing that super hard shell of theirs.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Nice work!