Hard To Remove Grip Frame Pivot Lock Screw

[azdover]

I'm not sure if this a common problem, but this is the first time I've run into this during my limited experience with Ruger single actions. When trying to remove the grip frame pivot lock screw ("long grip frame screw" for short), it would back out about a quarter turn and then lock up. I tried heating it up with a propane torch thinking it might be thread locked - still no luck. Just as I was reaching for the trusty angle grinder, I thought I'd try one more thing. I tightened the screw and then backed it out repeatably. It finally started to rotate counter clockwise a bit at a time and then finally came out. Taking a close look at it, the tip of the screw that engaged the hammer pivot was severely deformed.

Compared to other few guns I have, this screw was pretty mangled although all of them were slightly deformed. Looking at the parts involved, the long screw tip is wider than the grove in the hammer pivot which must have caused the deformation. Maybe it was designed this way so the tip would deform to help lock the screw in place, but I wouldn't know.

To help prevent this problem in the future, I'm going to round the tip slightly so it just fits snuggly into the hammer pin groove taking care not to shorten the long screw at the same time.

Just something you guys might want to keep in mind next time you're trying to get that "@*!" grip frame pivot pin out before resorting to heavy equipment or high explosives. Hopefully, more knowledgeable folks will speak up in case I'm way off base here (which I frequently am).

Pete

 

[contender]

Interesting!

I can't recall seeing this before. And I've had a bunch of Rugers apart.

 

[azdover]

I posted this problem in another forum, and a couple of folks said to make sure the long grip frame screw was installed on the load gate (right) side or it might get damaged. It was although it easily went into the left side also.

I went back to double check everything. All the online parts diagrams showed the long screw is installed on the loading gate right side. Looking at the original grip frame, I noticed that the left indexing lug had a small scallop cut in it but the right one didn't. Here is a picture to show what I am seeing. I also included a couple of other grip frames for comparison. The center is from the Single Six problem child. The left is from a recent NM BH which has relief cuts in both indexing lugs although it's a little hard to see. The right is a Midway Bisley grip frame, which has no indexing lugs at all.

After screwing the long screw into the right side cylinder frame hole without the grip frame in place, it looks like the screw shaft is not flush within the cylinder frame indexing lug cut. It sticks out a couple of hundredths of an inch. Could this be what caused the damage in the first place? If it had been installed on the left side, the screw probably wouldn't have made contact with that lug.

And with the newer BH grip frame and the Bisley grip frame I have, it doesn't seem to matter which side you install the long screw, as long as it's on the same side as the hammer pivot grove.

It seems to me that if the long screw has be installed on the left side, corresponding to the scalloped grip frame indexing lug, it wouldn't have been damaged and hard to remove. Could there have been design change somewhere along the road? A little help here - what am I missing.

Confused in the desert,
Pete

 

[azdover]

Went back and corrected my terminology in my earlier posts after some help from Mr. Dave Bradshaw on another forum. I should have be using "indexing lugs" instead of "ears". Ears are the two parts that stick up out of the top of a plow handle grip frame. It appears the Bisley frame doesn't really have any ears or indexing lugs for that matter.

Bottom line - If your grip frame only has one scalloped indexing lug, it will probably be on the left side opposite the load gate. Tthe grip frame hammer pivot pin screw (long screw) should go on the left side opposite of the load gate corresponding to the scalloped indexing lug. And the hammer pivot pin should be installed with the groove also on the left. This is opposite most of the parts diagrams I've found on line. Guess not everything you find on the internet is true. Somewhere along the line, somebody put the long screw on the wrong (right) side which was not scalloped causing the damage.

Hope I haven't confused everybody,
Pete

 

[Johnnu2]

You confused the heck out of me....!
I've taken a few NM Blackhawks apart (albeit quite awhile ago) and the ONLY thing I can remember about grip frame screws is that ONE of them is longer than the others and THAT one has to go back into the same hole it came out of. I don't know from "indexing" thingies, but I can almost guarantee you someone make a big mistake putting your gun together and you'd best send it back to Ruger before any more damage is done IMHO.
I'm going for a nap.
BEST OF LUCK
J.

 

[contender]

Johnnu2,, he's already fixed the problem,,, no need for it to return to Ruger.

I guess the reason I've never had any issues,, is that I lay out the parts in a manner to where they go back in the way they came out. It comes from the "layout sheet" the military used to use for recruits to take their guns apart, and re-assemble them. I just don't have any paper diagrams to use for Rugers.

PS; David does know his stuff!

 

[Johnnu2]

Johnnu2,, he's already fixed the problem,,, no need for it to return to Ruger.

I guess the reason I've never had any issues,, is that I lay out the parts in a manner to where they go back in the way they came out. It comes from the "layout sheet" the military used to use for recruits to take their guns apart, and re-assemble them. I just don't have any paper diagrams to use for Rugers.

PS; David does know his stuff!

Thanks Ty..... I do what you do.... never had a problem. I sure got wound-up in my underwear trying to read thru his problem
p.s. Tell Mr. Bradshaw I said 'thanks'.
J.

 

[azdover]

The day I think I know what I am doing something will be a Sign Of The Apocalypse.

 

[contender]