Home Adjustment of Timing on Ruger SA?

[epochelyptikal]

Hey all,

I've been around in lurk mode for quite a while, and finally have a question needing a post:

I've been working on my Ruger Single Six .22 LR specifically and noticed that the timing appears to be off.  If I place friction on the cylinder with my fingers and cock the hammer very slowly, the hammer/sear will lock into place just a very short moment before the cylinder stop (bolt?, cylinder latch?) will lock into the cylinder locking slot.  If you continue pulling the hammer back from here until it physically stops, the cylinder latch will lock into the cylinder locking slot.  It's that close to working properly that the little extra push makes it right.  I suppose this is why I've never noticed this before.  When you thumb the hammer back, it always just goes back until it physically stops and so there's really never been a problem.  However, being a rather anal individual, I'd like to fix it.  Problem is, I'm short on cash.

So my question is this:  In order to correct the timing, is there a standard practice which one could accomplish at home?  I would suspect that one could add material to the second tooth (or maybe both teeth) on the pawl to push the cylinder a little further around and then file it until cylinder lockup occurs just before hammer/sear lock.  Or perhaps a pawl blank is available soemwhere which one could file down to do what was needed based on the original piece for shape.  Does the length of the cylinder latch have anything to do with how fast it might go into lockup with the cylinder?  With the angle it protrudes through the slot, seems there might be something one could do there, too.

Or, is this something that I really just need to take to a gunsmith or send back to Ruger?

Thanks for any info.
Epoch

Edit - Corrected some of the terminology for clearer description.

[MS Hitman]

If the revolver is shooting accurately and not spitting lead I wouldn't worry about it too much.  How often do you hold pressure on the side of the cylinder when you are shooting targets or game?  If the answer is anything other than never, maybe you should work on your technique.  

As to pawls, you will most likely find all the Ruger pawls to be the same length.  One of the Power Custom free spin pawls may be long enough to allow you to cut it to fit.  Taking metal away is very easy, putting it back is the problem.

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

The pawl is what you need to correct. I have found that Ruger pawls are often different sizes so you might get lucky and get one that would fix your situation. As suggested the Power free-spin pawls are often a bit on the long side and you frequently need to remove some material from the pawl teeth to fit it. This might also fix your problem.

[epochelyptikal]

Thanks for the info, guys.  That's mainly what I was wondering (pawl is what I would need to fix).  I'll have an order into Brownells in the next few weeks, so I'll toss a replacement pawl on there and see what happens.  At the worst, I'm only out $4.

Thanks again,
Epoch