Ruger SP101 - Trigger Work Questions

[faiello5]

Just picked up a used SP101. Want to polish the internals and install a Wolffe spring kit. Can anyone provide the details as to:

1. How to take it apart
2. What internals to polish
3. How to intall the new spring kit

Obviously, I have never done this type of work on a revolver before, so go heavy on the details. Thanks.

Regards,
Frank

[Art Eatman]

First, buy one of the books on guns which includes your Ruger, with "how to" instructions and exploded drawings. This helps immensely in disassembling the bloomin' thing and then getting all those little pieces back where they belong.

I've been too lazy to do this, myself, and I have both an SP 101 and a new model Blackhawk to do some trigger work on... :)

I'm no revolver expert. About all I know is the Colt 1911. But, the areas to work over are the sear engagement with the hammer, and the weight of the hammer spring. The critical points are the angle of engagement--DON'T CHANGE IT!--and the amount of engagement--BE CAREFUL! Use very fine, very hard stones and clean up just a little bit at a time. You can either buy a lighter weight spring or cut coils off yours. (I'd buy a lighter spring; and a standard spring; and play with coil-cutting. Springs are cheap, and I'm willing to experiment on cheap stuff.)

I like to do a little bit of work and then reassemble and test. Repeat. Patience is the greatest virtue, here.

And I'll take a back seat to any pro's comments on this.

FWIW, Art

[zot]

call Ruger or mail them for a free manual.

[George Stringer]

faiello5, I am sending you disassembly instructions but I hope you will only use them for cleaning. Attempting to work on triggers without experience isn't a good idea. You should leave that to your gunsmith. Replacing springs is one thing because if you wind up getting light strikes, etc then it's easily corrected. But if the angles and sear engagement of your parts are changed there may be no other way than replacing parts to repair. It's not as dangerous working on a revolver trigger as an automatic or rifle would be but I still recommend you leave that to your smith. George

[George Stringer]

faiello5, I'll need you e-mail address to send the instructions. E-mail me and I'll get them out to you. George

[faiello5]

Hi George. Tried to email you at your TFL registered address but it bounced. Please email the instructions to me at [email protected] The more detailed, the better. The only polishing I plan on doing is with my dremel and some jewelers rouge, no files or stones will be used. I am smart enough to know that I am dumb enough to not mess with any metal removal or angle changes. I simply want to clean up and polish the internals and replace the springs. Thanks for your time and help, it is appreciated.

[4V50 Gary]

Absent members of the dental profession (dentists & hygenists) I shudder at the thought of using a dremel for polishing critical parts of a revolver. I've always used a soft and hard arkansas stone myself.

[faiello5]

Gary, I should have added that I will be using the felt bob with the dremel so there will no little, if any, chance of doing damage. Your concerns are well heeded.

Regards,
Frank

[4V50 Gary]

Thank you Frank. You're definitely not one of those spark & chips lads. My apologies.