Vaquero problem

[harpman]

I have the older model Vaquero in 44 mag...today while shooting, after about 25 shots, gun was hot...and it started to not want to cock, would not rotate the cylinder, the trigger would not come back even halfway...I took out the cylinder and piddled with it some, put back together and nothing....then all the sudden it started working fine again..anyone have an idea why it did this ?

[Cyrille]

I really have no idea as to what could have been the problem, except it is possiable that a small bit of foreign matter may have been the culprit. Sometimes bits of lead from the bullet may fly out and back from cylinder. It is possiable that a small bit of lead became lodged in the rear of the cylinder causing the lockup. And when you removed the cylinder it fell out. Or perhaps the gun was fouled with powder residue and removing the cylinder loosened it up particularly if you were shooting the "Holy-Black" Or the revolver may have been dropped. There are a plethora of reasons.
I have two OM Vaqueros in .45 Caliber and have never had that problem even though I have shot bp out of them.
I have heard, however that if the bullet isn't lubed so that the fouling stays soft or is allowed to build up the cylinder will bind after about the number of rounds you mentioned. If you were shooting the Holy Black I suggest that you wipe the barrel and cylinder clean after 10 or 12 rounds.

[Mustang Gregg]

There is iron in the words of Cyrille.   

Debris can be the problem.
MG

[L.G.]

The cylinder pin may not have been all the way back.

[Will Blastem]

The cylinder pin may not have been all the way back.

Yep...O'm with you, LG. he might have unknowingly pushed it back in when tryin ta figger out tha problem. Them nasty lil base pins Rooger uses can cause an awful lot of head scratchin

[harpman]

I gave it a good bath, kroil and eds red..The pin was seated good...If it does it again I will take the whole thing apart..seems to be ok for now..I was using smokeless, I know its a sin, but its all I had at the time fellows.

[litl rooster]

Lack of the fine Holy Black and a big lube bullit is probably the problem.              I have myself forgot to seat the base pin but usually find it on the first stage or the loading table.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

If it happens again, check to be sure that the cylinder base pin is securely latched all the way to the rear.

The single most common problem with Rugers is the cylinder base pin jumps forward under recoil. There is a small spring loaded plunger at the rear of the cylinder base pin (the pin the cylinder rotates around). The purpose of the plunger is to push the transfer bar to the rear as the hammer is cocked. If the spring plunger is not contacting the transfer bar, the transfer bar can become wedged under the firing pin as the hammer is cocked. You can pull the cylinder base pin forward about 1/4" and see this for yourself. Pull the pin forward, and try cocking the gun with the barrel pointed down a bit.

Sometimes the cylinder base pin jumps forward under recoil. Actually the pin stays still and the rest of the gun jumps back. Heavy recoil can agravate this situation. There are several fixes to the problem of cylinder base pins jumping forward under recoil.

Another problem that sometimes arises is the spring plunger built into the base of the hammer gets hung up. You cannot determine this unless you take the gun apart, so it is best to be sure of the cylinder base pin first. There is a small spring loaded plunger built into the base of the hammer. It's job is to push the bolt stop down to release the cylinder. Sometimes a tiny burr forms on the hole where the plunger is mounted. If a burr prevents this plunger from moving smoothly, it can bind up the entire gun.

[Mustang Gregg]

There is an "extry heavy duty" base pin spring that comes with Wolff trigger/hammer kits. 
Most folks never bother to put them in. 
Ya might install one of them springs. 
It is an easy installation usin' 2 flat tip screwdrivers (one needs a notch ground in it, however).

MG

[El Peludo]

All of the above mentioned things are the most likely causes of this; but, here is an annecdote to feed the fire with some more odd thinking:  I have a Beretta trap gun that does the exact same thing; after a couple of fast rounds of trap, it starts to become hard to open, close, or fire.  I have taken it completely apart and cleaned it from one end to the other, to no avail.  I finally decided that since the fit and finish of this thing is so fine, it must be binding from heat expansion.  If I set it aside when it starts to act up, and shoot something else for a half hour or so, it goes back to working fine, until it gets hot again.  Just a bit of fodder for the bullshoot mill.