Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Ruger Blackhawk Indexing Problem

I just bought a Ruger New Model Blackhawk in 45 Colt, that has me literally scratching my head. The gun is pretty much brand new, and I don't think the 45 Colt cylinder had ever been fired before I got it. I loaded up some warm loads for it (not max, but pretty warm), and went to try it out. It would cycle & fire one round, then the cylinder would hang up, and WOULD NOT index to the next round, until taking the cylinder out and re-inserting it. Then, one more, and the whole thing again. Thinking maybe it just didn't like my loads, I tried some factory loads in it, with the exact same problem. Either empty, or loaded, it cycles fine, UNTIL you fire a round. Any idea what it could be? A simple fix, or does it need to go back to Ruger? Thanks, Troy.

Is there space between the barrel and the end of the cylinder? Should be a tiny little air gap. If the cylinder is hanging up on the barrel breech this could happen

Yes, the cylinder gap is fine. The cylinder is not hanging up, it will move even after firing a shot. Just the hammer won't fully cock back, and the cylinder will not index in to position for the next shot.

Take the grips off and see if the spring is hanging up on anything

Looks fine, not binding up on anything.

Make sure the base pin plunger inside the end of the pin is free. If it is stuck down or the basepin isn't fully seated the transfer bar will catch on the firing pin stopping the hammer from moving.

I checked the plunger, and, though it would move, it seemed to be kind of rough. I depressed it and shot a couple drops of oil in there, and then tried shooting it again. Worked perfect! Ain't it crazy how something like this can be fixed by a drop of oil?

Thanks for your help, guys. This had me really puzzled.

Awhile back( years)was not there a problem with Ruger base pins in 44 mags and Belt Mountain came up with a replacement fix. Would this be the same problem?

send it back to Ruger they will make it right

Exactly what I was going to say. I bought a Super Blackhawk with the 5.5" barrel when they first came out. Had this same problem. A little oil helped, but I went ahead and disassembled it. There was rust, probably from leftover bluing solution that wasn't properly removed, inside the hole the base in slides in. Once I got that cleaned out there were no further issues.

Tom

Check to be sure that your overall cartridge length isn't to long. Don't laugh. I've seen it happen.