Thanks to a nice break from work (two week vacation) I'm finally in a position to do some testing with my Super Redhawk .454
This is the result of discovering sometime last fall that when shooting loads primed with CCI small rifle magnum primers, the energy transfer from shooting DA mode (trigger cocking) lacked sufficient force to ignite these very hard primers. There are no issues when hammer cocking to set off this primer.
The use of small rifle magnum primers in the .454 Casull is necessary when using full charge loads, which operate in the vicinity of rifle-level pressures.
I've spent a cumulative several days worth of time researching possible causes of this. In Ruger aficionado circles, it's a very well known problem and repeated efforts by some individuals to notify Ruger of this has not appeared to change anything.
Some people address the problem by installing a longer firing pin (Hamilton Bowen makes one). Some reduce the thickness of the hammer where it contacts the frame to increase its forward travel somewhat. That's the route I took after using feeler gauges to determine the difference in firing pin protrusion between manually pressing the transfer bar forward compared to letting the hammer push the firing pin forward is about .004" greater when manually pushing the transfer bar forward.
With extreme judicious use of a coarse, oiled Arkansas stone and keeping the profile of the hammer nose, I have removed approximately that amount of material from it. Prior to today there was 100% failure of the DA mode of this revolver to set off the CCI small rifle magnum primers, so if I get any DA ignition with these primers today, even one, that will tell me I'm heading down the right path. Otherwise I guess it's back to the drawing board.
I've measured headspace on a new case at .014". I'm not sure where that measurement falls in Ruger's range of acceptability, but it's possible that could be a few thousands too long and something I would have to ask them about or possibly return if necessary to set back.
I've gotten varying advice from others on the best way to proceed with this, and there is a balancing act to it all...too much firing pin protrusion could possibly result in pierced primers on softer primer cups, so that is to be avoided at all cost. But no one wants a gun that is only reliable in one mode of firing or one restricted to only using certain primer brands.
So...if I get a positive result, I will be comparing several different softer primers to see how they behave as well. As much fun as it is to shoot full charge loads, I shoot lower lever .45 Colt loads much more often, as they are less fatiguing to the wrist over a protracted range session.
If you've gotten this far, thanks for enduring my saga!
This is the result of discovering sometime last fall that when shooting loads primed with CCI small rifle magnum primers, the energy transfer from shooting DA mode (trigger cocking) lacked sufficient force to ignite these very hard primers. There are no issues when hammer cocking to set off this primer.
The use of small rifle magnum primers in the .454 Casull is necessary when using full charge loads, which operate in the vicinity of rifle-level pressures.
I've spent a cumulative several days worth of time researching possible causes of this. In Ruger aficionado circles, it's a very well known problem and repeated efforts by some individuals to notify Ruger of this has not appeared to change anything.
Some people address the problem by installing a longer firing pin (Hamilton Bowen makes one). Some reduce the thickness of the hammer where it contacts the frame to increase its forward travel somewhat. That's the route I took after using feeler gauges to determine the difference in firing pin protrusion between manually pressing the transfer bar forward compared to letting the hammer push the firing pin forward is about .004" greater when manually pushing the transfer bar forward.
With extreme judicious use of a coarse, oiled Arkansas stone and keeping the profile of the hammer nose, I have removed approximately that amount of material from it. Prior to today there was 100% failure of the DA mode of this revolver to set off the CCI small rifle magnum primers, so if I get any DA ignition with these primers today, even one, that will tell me I'm heading down the right path. Otherwise I guess it's back to the drawing board.
I've measured headspace on a new case at .014". I'm not sure where that measurement falls in Ruger's range of acceptability, but it's possible that could be a few thousands too long and something I would have to ask them about or possibly return if necessary to set back.
I've gotten varying advice from others on the best way to proceed with this, and there is a balancing act to it all...too much firing pin protrusion could possibly result in pierced primers on softer primer cups, so that is to be avoided at all cost. But no one wants a gun that is only reliable in one mode of firing or one restricted to only using certain primer brands.
So...if I get a positive result, I will be comparing several different softer primers to see how they behave as well. As much fun as it is to shoot full charge loads, I shoot lower lever .45 Colt loads much more often, as they are less fatiguing to the wrist over a protracted range session.
If you've gotten this far, thanks for enduring my saga!
