Ruger SBH-Hunter 44 mag base pin

[LJ Barrero]

I bought the Bell Mountain  #5 keith style base pin from Brownell's and without delay, I went to the range to see my groups shrink as I heard from other users.  The base pin made the revolver fell a little tighter than with the factory base pin.  The results:  :  :evil:  The #5 pin kept coming out even with mild loads and the groups were widened more than what I wanted.  I went home and I simply replaced it back with the factory base pin.  What a disappointing $27 plus the trip to Montezuma, IA.  Do you think I've got a bad one?

LJB

[Iowegan]

Ruger designed the SA revolvers with some intentional slack. The fired bullet forces the cylinder to align with the bore. The stop bolt provides a little horizontal slack and the base pin provides some vertical slack. If you happen to get a gun where the bore is not perfectly aligned with the cylinder, tightening up the cylinder with a snug base pin will make the gun's accuracy worse instead of better.

Belt Mountain Base Pins are great for keeping the pin from launching during recoil. As far as accuracy, some guns improve, some don't.

[Lloyd Smale]

next time you buy one buy the one that requires fitting there a little larger and take a little emery to get fitted. Keyle makes the standard non fitted pin as big as he can but rugers vary so much that it works in some and not in others. They will tighten a gun up and do alot toward the pin jumping especially if you use the lock screw but in my experinence accuracy isnt effected drastically.

[lisa1lacy2]

get the spring kit from wilson and it will fix it it comes with a more power spring for the base pin plunger my bisley was doing the same thing

[AntlersDS]

Hello LJ,

Thanks for this kind of info.  I am not an expert at all the extra things you can do to make you SBH Hunter better, but I had considered doing the same thing you did after reading several posts about the #5 base pin replacement.  I haven't had a problem with the factory base pin yet so I think I will not fix it till it breaks.  Mine shoots pretty good right now and about all I have done is make sure the screws are tight and put locktite over them to hold them.  I also put locktite on the small pin below the rear sight because it was a little loose.  Thanks again for the feedback.

[Onty]

The #5 pin kept coming out even with mild loads  LJB

A friend had the same problem with his 44 Flattop using traditional Keith load (22 gr of old 2400). At one moment he discovered that latch didn’t go all the way in. He pressed it and since then he didn’t have that problem. When I got my first 45 Bisley I made sure that any time cylinder is installed pin latch is in its place. I was shooting 45-325 SWC with 22 gr of H4227 and didn’t have a single pin jump. Another Bisley 45 and 41 had the problem with latch not going in its place. I fixed that problem immediately after receiving them. TLA #5 has a beautiful design of the latch, and it’s idiot proof.

So, don’t rely on latch spring, always press the latch before slipping first round in the chamber, that’s my routine now... I agree with suggestion that stronger latch spring is good addition. BTW, check latch nut periodically. Better yet, apply some Loctite or something similar on this nut, and frame and ejector housing screws, they do get loose.