Ruger blackhawk stuck casings

[Polinese]

I bought a ruger blackhack in 357 magnum with the 4 5/8 barrel. It shoots/groups great, but often times the casings get stuck in the chambers and the ejection rod doesn't reach far enough to completely eject em and I end up having to pull em out with my fingertips.

Is this normal? Is there a fix for it?

[Smoke & Recoil]

Probably shot a lot of 38 Special...cylinder needs a good cleaning.

[Polinese]

I'll give that a try! Probably be a bit before I can get back to the range. Only experience it with fired cases.

[44 AMP]

Used gun? Sounds like the chambers need a good cleaning. However, I'm curious about the ejector rod not being long enough. My Blackhawks all have longer barrel, and I assume, longer rods.

You are holding the muzzle up (vertical) when unloading, aren't you? With the muzzle up, the brass should drop free once pushed out (or nearly out) by the ejector rod. If not, a flick of your fingernail against the rim should do it.

You said "often times" but that's not "always" so if this is only happening part of the time, there are several things that could be the reason.

One could be the load being shot. Another is rough chambers, or dirty chambers, or not holding the gun so cases fall free. Too short an ejector rod, or even a misunderstanding of what is "normal".

I'm aware of the problem of the long .357 cases not being full ejected due to the short stroke of the ejector rod in snub nose DA revolvers, never heard of that issue with a Ruger Blackhawk before though.

Clean the chambers. Try some different ammo. Try some .38 Special to see if the shorter brass makes a difference. If it did it all the time, with everything, I'd say call Ruger and talk to them.

Someone might come along and tell you that your need to polish the chambers. Some people will always tell you to modify your gun to "fix" what ever the issue is. I say having work done to the gun is the LAST step to be considered. First steps are to make sure it is a problem, then figure out if its a GUN problem, or an ammo problem, the fit between the two, or a user problem.

One thing the (stock) new model Blackhawk doesn't do is perfectly align the chamber with the loading gate window by itself. I've found that is is possible for a .45 Colt case to rub on the frame window as it is ejected, if the cylinder isn't in just the right spot. I doubt this would happen with the smaller diameter .357 brass though.

I see your situation as more of an irritation, not an actual problem, at this point. There's no "speed drill" for loading/unloading an SA revolver. Muzzle up to empty, down to load. If you have to flick out a fired case once in a while, that's the way it sometimes works. try some different things and see if there is any difference.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[FrankenMauser]

Sounds like you need to give it a good cleaning.

What ammo are you using?
Some brands and loads are known for being a bit too spicey and causing sticky extraction.

Probably shot a lot of 38 Special...cylinder needs a good cleaning.

A nasty carbon ring from .38 Special would cause stiff initial extraction, not when the case mouth is the only thing left in the chamber.

[stinkeypete]

Polishing the chambers:
Take a once fired piece of brass. Push the primer out WITHOUT RESIZING the brass. Insert a stick and hot glue in place from inside the brass. Bamboo shish kabob skewers work great and are always handy to have around.

Now you have your tool.

Slide the tool in and out of your cylinders, it will scrape away "38 special Bathtub Rings".
Coat the brass in Flitz or another metal polish. Use the tool to gently clean all the cylinders with liberal amounts of metal polish. It's better to do too little than too much.

Clean out the Flitz with clean patches and gun lubricant. You will feel the difference.

You may feel that some of the cylinders are slightly larger than others. That's life, these days.

The shorter barrel single actions need a shorter ejection rod, so point the empty pistol barrel up and give the ejector rod a snappy push.. pop it! If you push slow, it may stop at the extension of the rod. You'll get the feel for it.

[jrsgunbooks]

I had this problem with the .30 carbine blackhawk. They were not just stuck they needed to be pounded out with a wooden dowel an a mallet.

As far as .357 goes I would clean and polish the inside of the chambers with
0000 steel wool. It will not remove any metal but will remove any lead or debris that may be causing extraction issues.

[Polinese]

I'm holding it vertical and I didn't pay enough attention to notice if it was a specific chamber.

It's just the last 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the case that seems to get stuck even with the ejector rod pressed all the way down.

This is my first single action so it's entirely possible I'm the problem.

Have only shot American Eagle 158gr JSP out of it aside from 6 rounds of fiochi.

[gwpercle]

If you are shooting factory Magnum loads the high pressure expands the brass out and forces it against the chamber walls very hard . Any cylinder wall roughness and the brass will grip it and not want to be extracted easily ... The extractor rod ...you are dead right , it's too short and aggravating to eject 357 Magnum cases .
I bought a 357 BH in 1970 and reloaded 38 special cases for it . Magnum cases were hard to find ...38 special were free and I picked up buckets at local range.
After all these years I bought 100 brand new Starline 357 Magnum cases to load up some magnum loads in ... after shooting the first cylinder full I remembered why I didn't like magnum loads & cases ... They don't fully eject and like to stick in the cylinder .
I probably won't load any more and go back to loading 38 +P loads in 38 Special cases ... they eject right out !

Try shooting some 38 Special loads in your BH ...you will be pleased with how they jump right out when you hit them with the ejector rod !
Gary

[Polinese]

I just played around with some fired cases in it and noticed one chamber in particular is sticky. One slightly less so. The other 4 with the gun vertical dropped free or did so with the ejector rod.

[rock185]

In years past, I sometimes saw a Ruger with rather roughly finished chamber or chambers, had one myself. The 38 Spcl. extracted normally, but any .357 was a stinker to get out.

The issue wasn't dirty chambers, etc. but from circular grooves reamed into the chamber surface, into which the .357 cases expanded enough to prevent normal extraction. The mirror image of the rough machining appeared on the surface of the cases once extracted. I am not a machinist, so I don't know how this would happen, but it does sometimes. The chamber finish of my more recent DA and SA Rugers, while not the S&W glass like finish, have not displayed any issues with ammo sticking in the chambers...

BTW, Don't know if your gun is new or used, but if used, a previous owner may have used ammo just too hot, which will sometimes "jug" or expand a chamber, making extraction of .357 very difficult.

Hopefully though, just a dirty chamber as has been mentioned.....

[Polinese]

I did buy it used, but no information on the previous owner or how much they used it.

[44 AMP]

Overall, I think the most likely reason you're not getting complete ejection of the long magnum brass is your short barrel gun has a short ejector rod. I've got a longer barrel Blackhawk in .357, and have never had the problem.

you could call Ruger and ask if it is normal for that barrel length gun to have that issue. Worst case is, they'll say yes....

[DirtyHarold]

Do you need to "pry" them out or just pull them out the rest of the way - but they come out easily? If the latter, I would say normal.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Ruger Blackhawks all use the same ejector housing and ejector parts. They do not vary with barrel length.








(The same is true with Colts, by the way.)

I have been shooting single action revolvers for over 50 years. Rugers, Colts, and Ubertis.

Cleaning and polishing chambers is fine, but may not actually be necessary.

I have a 357 New Vaquero in hand right now. The stroke of the ejector rod is just enough that a 38 Special empty completely clears the cylinder, a slightly longer 357 Mag does not. There is about 1/16" or so the case mouth still in the chamber at the full stroke of the ejector rod. This is normal.

Just give the ejector handle a nice firm yank to shoot the empties out of the chamber.

The same is true of a Colt. The ejector rod does not have quite enough stroke to completely clear a 45 Colt from the chamber. I learned a long time ago, with my very dirty Black Powder 45 Colt ammo, to give the ejector handle a nice, firm yank to shoot the empties out of the chambers. I can assure you, that a Black Powder 45 Colt round dirties up the chambers something fierce, and a little bit of extra oomph is needed to propel the empties out of the chambers.