broke a transfer bar on a Blackhawk!!!!!

[bamaranger]

In a case of nostalgia, I carried the 1977 Blackhawk .357 to woods, I've owned the gun since the early 80's. Never abused, well maintained, shot a bit, carried alot. Archery scouting ......and of course, it rained, and me and it got soaked. So a cleaning was in order, and afterwards, I picked a knot on the wall and dry fired a few times (please, no safety Sally's, the revolver was clear and I was certain).

About 3 reps in, something felt and sounded wrong with the hammer fall. The pistol was tied up, as in, could not be cocked, nor could the loading gate be opened. Some dorking and the top half of the transfer bar fell out. It cycles now, but of course, won't shoot. Well......................shucks!!!!!!

A phone call to Ruger, they are sending me (2) transfer bars. I've watched the disassembly videos, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[shafter]

It's happened to me before with a Vaquero. When revolvers fail there's no quick way back into the fight.

 

[2damnold4this]

I am sorry that happened but I am glad Ruger is making it right. It's better that it happened when it did than if you were trying to harvest a feral hog or a deer.

 

[Jim Watson]

The transfer bar does seem to be a (slow) wear part. Interesting they don't consider the transfer bar to be a factory installed part. Saves a lot of time and money, though. And now you have a spare to be needed in 2050.

 

[gwpercle]

I know dry firing a Ruger Blackhawk is supposed to be fine and dandy...but what were you doing when the transfer bar broke.....Oh Yeah ..dry firing !
I just can't get over the notion that dry firing wont hurt a gun... You were dry firing and the gun broke.
I don't do it unless I have proper snap caps and even then I don't do it much....
It just seems wrong to keep dropping the hammer to hit parts it shouldn't be hitting .

 

[Sevens]

I'm not buying that argument ^ because even though I cannot reverse time and go back and suggest he do it differently, I will put my money down that if he had loaded the revolver and started to shoot the revolver for target work or plinking... that transfer bar would have snapped just the same way.

 

[Drm50]

I do buy dry fire deal. I have put transfer bars in 4 Ruger SAs. All 4 broke when
dry firing. I think this is based on the firing pin, not prone to breakage as older
model guns that had FPs on the hammer ( not Rugers). H&R revolvers made the
transfer bar a big selling point. Hammer the Hammer was their gimmick. I don't know how many H&Rs I've came across with broken transfer bars. Owners would
claim it broke while shooting. The 22rf guns you could see from cylinders that they had been dry fired more than once. So without snap caps dry firing can't be
good for any firearm.

 

[Salmoneye]

Transfer bars breaking is a known issue on Ruger single actions...

The usual cause is 'Transfer Bar Pinch'...

This can be easily diagnosed, and cured...

http://www.cylindersmith.com/Transferbar.html

 

[T. O'Heir]

"...a knot on the wall..." Ya just can't trust 'em. snicker.
"...owned the gun since the early 80's..." 1980 is 38 years ago. Aged parts will break. Never broke a single bone in my carcass until a couple years ago when I tripped over a hunk of wire left on the sidewalk and crashed. Busted my right ulna at the elbow.
"...dry firing wont hurt a gun..." It won't. It wasn't dry firing that caused the transfer bar to break. It was metal fatigue. Snap caps wouldn't have made the slightest difference.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Metal fatigue? Sure. Metal fatigue caused by dry firing.
Regardless what ANYONE says- smacking 2 metal parts together with force causes metal displacement and work-hardening. It may take a long time but work-hardened metal becomes more and more brittle and eventually breaks.

Shooting, or dry firing with proper snap caps cushions the parts that are hit when dry firing-preventing (or, greatly reducing) the blow.

 

[dgludwig]

H&R revolvers made the
transfer bar a big selling point. Hammer the Hammer was their gimmick.

That would be Iver Johnson...

 

[Jim Watson]

A friend hammered a Ruger transfer bar so thin it would no longer transfer. It did not break, it was ductile enough to get beaten down by a lot of shooting.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Jim- I can guarantee it was much harder than before it was smashed!

 

[Jim Watson]

No doubt.
He just took it out, filed the hammer face to hit the firing pin direct, and kept shooting.
Until he cracked the forcing cone, after which, Ruger completely overhauled the gun for a very low fee. The only way you could tell it from new was the wear on the grips.

 

[Dano4734]

That’s why I love ruger, never any issues on making things right

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Transfer Bar Pinch has been happening with Rugers for many years. I hear about it in the CAS world from time to time.

Here is a post regarding this in The High Road from 2012.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ruger-new-vaquero-transfer-bar-pinch.649912/

Notice the bit about transfer bars not being properly heat treated at one time. Also, continual battering of any part will probably eventually cause work hardening which may lead to fractures.

For what it's worth, I have a Blackhawk from 1975, about three 'original model'
Vaqueros, and three New Vaqueros. I have never broken a transfer bar, but I usually shoot Colts in CAS.

The only change I would make is in the photo with the arrow pointing to the hammer. I think I would thin the transfer bar a bit instead of removing material from the hammer.

 

[rep1954]

Power Customs makes a hammer that eliminates the Ruger transfer bar. Of course this turns the action into a Old Model style and allows you to load only five rounds safely. They make you sign a waver before sending it to you and no it doesn’t make your gun illegal by modifying it.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Power Customs makes a hammer that eliminates the Ruger transfer bar. Of course this turns the action into a Old Model style and allows you to load only five rounds safely. They make you sign a waver before sending it to you and no it doesn’t make your gun illegal by modifying it.

Howdy Again

I have installed Power Custom Half Cock hammers in several Ruger Vaqueros. These hammers do need a transfer bar, so at first I thought you were incorrect when you stated that PC was making a Transfer Bar-less hammer for the Ruger Single Action revolvers.

But I checked, and you are indeed correct, Power Custom is now offering a hammer that does not use a transfer bar.

http://powercustom.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=1119


For what it's worth, lots of Cowboy Action shooters send their Rugers to custom gunsmiths who will weld up the hammer so it strikes the firing pin directly, without a transfer bar. This is because a broken transfer bar is the last thing you want at a match.

 

[SIGSHR]

Perhaps they had a bad batch ?
The transfer bar on my Dan Wesson M-12 broke, the factory made it good.
That's one reason why I prefer Old Models.
I wonder if it a design flaw. When you design a new part to fit into an existing mechanism as opposed to from the ground up, I wonder if it maybe it's a little too thin or whatever.

 

[bamaranger]

still waiting

My 2 transfer bars have not yet arrived. Not sure from where they were sent, but I called the SC customer service office. Not disappointed, just an update on my circumstances, I will keep you posted.

Must be one of those weeks for me....got a flat on the Bronco, AND my ATV, on the same hunting trip the other afternoon. When it rains, it pours. The Bronco tires (a pair) will be expensive, Ruger is sending the pair of transfer bars for free!!!