[Amos]

I've had occasional problems with two of my Ruger revolvers, a New Blackhawk and a Police Security Six where rounds fail to fire as if the hammer isn't striking the transfer bar hard enough or the transfer bar is, somehow, not passing the pressure on to the primer.  I've given the unfired "duds" to various others who happen to be an the line at that time and every "dud" has fired as was originally expected.  None of these other guns, revolvers and semi-autos, were Rugers.  The rounds were both 9mm and 38s with CCI primers.  The NBH is nearly new while the Security Six has had some but not a lot of use, carried by a security guard originally.  I strongly suspected the primers until I passed them around.  Any others with this problem?  Help/hints?

 

[bulletsbob]

I have had the same problem with the double action Rugers. When I called the factory, I was told Rugers may not work with handloads. So, I proceed to fire a couple of hundred factory loads with no problem.
Showed the gun to a gunsmith and he said it was a common problem. He added a little bit of metal to the saftey bar and I never had another missfire.

 

[weave]

I've had the same problem with my Redhawk in the past but I have a lighter mainspring in mine.  I also use CCI primers.  I found that I need to pay extra attention to getting the primer pockets clean.  Also, make sure the primers are fully seated.  I use WW brass and need to have those primers seated about .002" below the rim.  

My theory:  With a little crud in the primer pocket and/or the primer seated a little high, part of the hammer energy is being used to fully seat the primer, therefore not enough energy is transferred to the primer.  

As long as I am consistant about clean pockets and seating depth my Ruger is as reliable as they come.

Maybe the CCI primers need a harder hit?  Anyone ever notice this?

 

[MikeG]

I believe that it's an issue with the way the transfer bar fits.  I've never had this problem but seen it discussed on Sixguns/Sixgunner several times.  Might post over there and see if Carl or Roger, both Ruger experts, tell you anything.

Basically, the hammer has to hit the transfer bar hard enough to fire off the primer, but not so hard that it wears the transfer bar out prematurely.   So... one of the things that you can do is stone down the hammer nose 'just a bit' so that it hits the transfer bar a little harder (hammer nose normally contacts the frame).  But you don't want it just smacking the crap out of the t-bar.  There should be just a teeny bit of clearance.

The stuff about handloads is total crap, it's the factory covering their behinds.  This problem occasionally crops up with factory ammo as well.  It is reputed that CCI primers are harder than most others, however.

It is probably a job best left for the gunsmith, in all honesty.