I bought a new Ruger sp-101 in .357 a few months back. Due to the winter weather we had and a busy work schedule I shot it for the first time yesterday. It's awfully hard to cock after firing the first round. It doesn't matter if I try single action or double, it's damn near impossible to pull the hammer back. I cleaned it real good thinking there may be some dirt in there but it's still awfully tight. I'm not much of a gunsmith, but it almost seems like the firing pin is to long or not retracting. What could the problem be? Should I call a gunsmith or send it back to Ruger? I really like the gun, so I hope this isn't the way they all are.
Does it act that way with an empty cylinder too? Or just loaded?
If loaded, do you notice any scraping of the shell casing rim faces?
Could be (if that's the case) that there's just not quite enough gap between the cylinder and the rear face of the frame.
I ran into that with a brand-new Single Nine. Heads of the shells were coming into contact with the frame's face. Instead of waiting 3 weeks plus the cost of shipping I just carefully filed off about .005 of the frame face, polished it and reassembled.. It now functions perfectly..
If yours acts up when empty, then a trip to Ruger is definitely in order..