Warning Ruger Wrangler dry firing.

[Jay]

Hey Guys;

Here's a YouTube vid warning Ruger Wrangler owners not to dry fire EVEN THOUGH the manual says it's okay to do...

Have a look at 5 mins in...

Cheers
Jay
P.S. I have not received mine from Cabelas yet, but I am looking forward to being a cowboy!

 

[OkayShooter]

Same with 10/22. I had a barrel with noticable damage from dry firing.

Yellow dry wall anchors, make cheap 22 snap caps.

 

[pirate604]

Yikes! I have dry fired my Wrangler A LOT. I'll have to have a look at the cylinder when I get home. Thanks for sharing Jay.

 

[Ribstaylor]

I was an idiot and dry fired my Pietta. She's screwed now lol. Was like okay at least i got the extra 22wmr cylinder. Turns out she don't fit... While I'm an idiot, and accept I'm often a moron and do stupid ####. I was not happy that my extra cylinder is just machined wrong. Should of just purchased the Wrangler lol.

 

[tiriaq]

Little divots like that can be corrected - unless really dramatic.

 

[Ribstaylor]

Little divots like that can be corrected - unless really dramatic.

I wish I was good with tools and machining. I honestly don't know how to fix the ones I made. They are bad enough to prevent me from putting in and removing a cartridge with any sort of ease.

 

[Brutus]

Rimfire. Generally speaking it's the nature of the beast.
There are very few 22s that have an option to dryfire (trigger release) without actually cocking the firing mechanism.
A select few "Free Pistol" target handguns from Europe.
That's all I can think of at this moment. It's quite possible a select few Walther &/or Anschutz target rifles have this ability too. But I am unsure.

 

[DANS40X]

I wish I was good with tools and machining. I honestly don't know how to fix the ones I made. They are bad enough to prevent me from putting in and removing a cartridge with any sort of ease.

As stated by tiriaq

Ribstaylor-
IF your cylinder is counterbored as per the pic posted by Jay

A #4 or #6 Swiss pattern needle file will remove said firing pin peen marks in approx 5 minutes to get your pistol back up & shooting.

 

[tiriaq]

If you can't access a needle file, a small chainsaw file will work.
Or an ironing tool can be used to push the displaced metal back, so that loading and ejecting are not affected. Didn't have a look this morning, but check Brownells. A friend with a lathe could make one in a few minutes. Basically a little steel rod with a flat, polished smooth. Insert in the chamber, then rotate to push the steel back. Gently file/polish as required.

 

[B]

I learned the hard way not to dryfire a Beretta 950. A quick minute with a file and my mistake was corrected.

 

[Johnyy]

I need to get one of these Wranglers. Read some threads on USA boards, of guys talking about 22WMR, pressures, diameter, bores etc, which are similar & getting an extra cylinder & (slightly) modifying it ] for .22 magnum case diameter/length. Anyone thinking of trying/doing this?

A dedicated .22lr has a slightly tighter bore, From what Ive read, literally only 1/100th larger? {.223 to .224} on a 22 WMR Combo revolver.

As for dry fire, snap cap or a spend round only it seems.

 

[Gindryden]

Have the Chiappa 1873 and the Heritage Rough Rider which are similar class guns, and both revolvers have dry fire damage warnings in the instructions.

 

[Falconflyer]

I've seen several Colt Scout's and Frontier Scouts that have been dry fired with no damage to the chamber edge. If they are dry fired out of time they will certainly peen the space in between the chambers though.

 

[Johnyy]

Have the Chiappa 1873 and the Heritage Rough Rider which are similar class guns, and both revolvers have dry fire damage warnings in the instructions.

Hey, in your opinion having both of those, is the Chiappa the lower end? I like the Heritage, & Rugers obvi. but reviews Ive read, the Chiappa usually fairs on the lower end of these single action .22's.
I also like when the Cylinder 'Clicks' when you spin it. I think Rough Riders do that? The Wrangler or Chiappa do not I believe.

 

[OldDirtyGatMasta]

I wish I was good with tools and machining. I honestly don't know how to fix the ones I made. They are bad enough to prevent me from putting in and removing a cartridge with any sort of ease.

A few years ago I bought an H&R Sportsman 999 sight unseen from an online retailer. It had been dry fired a lot and a few chambers where near impossible to load a round. A little research on the net I found something called the Menck(I think?) Chamber iron which is a tool that very easily swages the metal back into place. Problem is they don't seem very widely available. So I did some more research and found that before said tool existed people would use a tapered punch to accomplish the same task, but it's a little slower.

Anyway, a trip to CT later I'd bought a cheap set of tapered punches that were onsale and had a go. The steps involved were: give everything a good cleaning, oil up everything and keep it generously oiled throughout. Insert the tapered punch as straight as you can into the chamber then give the punch a very light tap with a plastic mallet. The punch should sort of stick in place and you then lightly rotate the punch a few degrees. Then lightly wiggle the punch out to check your progress and repeat as needed. I stress that both tapping and rotating is done very lightly, if you try it, keep in mind your not removing, or trying to widen anything, just simply moving the metal back into place.

It's one of those jobs that's pretty easy, but also nerve wracking because you feel like one slightly too-hard tap is gonna blow the whole thing. Simple job for any gunsmith too if you don't feel up to it yourself.

 

[nitroxace]

Jay thanks for post this. I have been guilty of dry firing my wrangler. So for no issues.

As stated by tiriaq

Ribstaylor-
IF your cylinder is counterbored as per the pic posted by Jay

A #4 or #6 Swiss pattern needle file will remove said firing pin peen marks in approx 5 minutes to get your pistol back up & shooting.

If you can't access a needle file, a small chainsaw file will work.
Or an ironing tool can be used to push the displaced metal back, so that loading and ejecting are not affected. Didn't have a look this morning, but check Brownells. A friend with a lathe could make one in a few minutes. Basically a little steel rod with a flat, polished smooth. Insert in the chamber, then rotate to push the steel back. Gently file/polish as required.

DANS40X and tiriaq thanks for the excellent tips.

 

[wayupnorth]

Hey, in your opinion having both of those, is the Chiappa the lower end? I like the Heritage, & Rugers obvi. but reviews Ive read, the Chiappa usually fairs on the lower end of these single action .22's.
I also like when the Cylinder 'Clicks' when you spin it. I think Rough Riders do that? The Wrangler or Chiappa do not I believe.

I've had several different 22 single actions.... and still do.
I would say the Chiappa, Heritage Arms and these new Ruger Wranglers are all the same for quality - low end.
you are getting what you pay for.
I show people my Ruger Wrangler beside my Ruger Single Six and people just laugh.
there is a massive quality curve between a $200 single action and a $900 single action even from the same company.
the Wranglers are just Ruger getting ticked off at Heritage Arms for stealing a lot of their Single Six customers so they make a cheap version to cash in.

i even have some pics from 2 years ago when I was comparing them.

the bright stainless one is the Ruger Single Six, the burnt copper is of course a Ruger Wrangler, the matte silver with green handle is a Heritage and the blued one with wood is a Herbert Shmidt.