Range Report 1/24/2018

[smokeless joe]

Ok guys I made it to the range today. I took 100 rounds of lr ammo and 100 rounds of magnum ammo (50 Hornady critical defense and 50 CCI maxi mag) I started with the 100 rounds of the lr ammo and had no issues whatsoever. The Ranger performed like a dream. 

Next I loaded the CCI mags and started having some issues. On the second set of five I experienced the cartridges sticking in the cylinder and they would not eject proplerly. After a few more rounds I could feel it becoming harder to cock the hammer and the cylinder did not want to rotate. I unloaded the CCI ammo and tried some of the Hornady critical defense. I shot all 50 rounds of critical defense without issue.

I had about 25 rounds of CCI left so I figured I finish them up and head home. Unfortunately I had issues again as with the first half of that box of ammo. Hammer getting tight and cylinder failing to rotate.

When I got home I planned to clean the gun an get it ready to send back to NAA for the once over. When I opened the the gun I noticed that it seemed a bit loose at the pivot point. I don't remember it being like that before range time. Can some please check theirs and let me know if there is play or if it's nice and tight. Oh I almost forgot at the end of the cylinder it seemed to begin to unscrew. I took a pic to show what I'm speaking of.

Any way I decided not to even clean it this way NAA will see it as it is. I'll just send it back after they return from shot show.

Well looks like I can't post the video of the wobble at the pivot point so I'll just post the pic where the cylinder "pin" was unscrewing.

[Warthog]

BummerJoe, I will check mine for these things but haven't been able to take mine for serious shooting yet.  It is still cold here but it is getting better so maybe this week or next I can give mine a real shoot.

I have had to deal with my State Disability, after many years I have to be recertified every year again.  So I had to get the doctor who seems least likely to do this for me to do it.  She did though and I have to call tomorrow to the State of IL to see if the fax went through OK.

[smokeless joe]

I can't say that I'm not a little disappointed but you can't fix the problems til you identify them. All part of the process so it's all good.

Oh I think I can post my video now. Here's a link.

https://youtu.be/7xfQ4BZMkhI

[Warthog]

OK, watched the vid, will check mine out soon and LYK.

[smokeless joe]

Thanks Warty

[Warthog]

OK, the one I plan to leave LR doesn't show the trouble yours does, so when I go to the range I will switch cylinders so I can be sure it will take the Magnum stuff too.

The only Ranger I have fired, the Magnum (at least the one I planned on leaving Magnum), also seems fine on both counts.  Remember, I have only fired 20 rounds, GoldDots,loaded by CCI.

So I hope to get to the range and shoot them a lot more, I will check the stores for different brands of Magnum Ammo, right now I have the God Dots and some Winchesters.  I will let you know how things go.

Maybe mine will need to go back to NAA too.  At least they can fix them so that is good.

[Bigbird48]

Joe sorry about your gun seems you had the same problems I did including the wobble. my ejector would not retract also.I didn't get an LR cylinder just the mag. I shot Win dyna point mags . I hope this gun is not going to be ammo dependent. for plinking I tend to buy what evers on sale, mags arn't cheap even on sale LOL 

[Bj]

My cylinders look good as to coming unscrewed.  There is a little play in the pivot point, the most when open, less when closed without cylinder, and less yet when closed with cylinder installed.  But still a little tiny bit.

[smokeless joe]

Joe sorry about your gun seems you had the same problems I did including the wobble. my ejector would not retract also.I didn't get an LR cylinder just the mag. I shot Win dyna point mags . I hope this gun is not going to be ammo dependent. for plinking I tend to buy what evers on sale, mags arn't cheap even on sale LOL

Hey it's the price we pay to be the first and I'm ok with that. Still love the gun and I'm sure I'll love it even more when I get it back. My ruger lcr 9mm is finicky when it comes to ammo. It prefers 115 grain over anything else. But I too am hoping the Ranger won't be so particular in the long run.

My cylinders look good as to coming unscrewed.  There is a little play in the pivot point, the most when open, less when closed without cylinder, and less yet when closed with cylinder installed.  But still a little tiny bit.

I'll bring it to NAA's attention when I send her back. If its in tolerance then I'm sure they'll let me know and if not I'm sure they'll tighten her up for me.

[Bigbird48]

I got an email this afternoon at 103pm saying I forgot to put my return address on the repair form. I sent my reply 15 mins after I got that email I then got an auto response saying we all went to shot show the phones are turned off and will be back next week . So it sounds like they will not get to my gun till sometime next week evem tho the got it on Modday this week

[smokeless joe]

I got an email this afternoon at 103pm saying I forgot to put my return address on the repair form. I sent my reply 15 mins after I got that email I then got an auto response saying we all went to shot show the phones are turned off and will be back next week . So it sounds like they will not get to my gun till sometime next week evem tho the got it on Modday this week

Sorry buddy I'm sure it is frustrating but in the grand scheme of things it is just a short time. You'll be fondling again before you know it

[RangerJim]

Hey, Guys:
Sorry I'm just responding now, but I'm traveling for the next 3 weeks, and am responding with a fork in my hand as I eat dinner in a restaurant booth in Boston.  I have not been able to fire mine yet, but will definitely look into the issues you describe, Joe.  Good luck to both you and BB!  Hope you get them back in perfect working order soon. 

[Bigbird48]

 Burrrrrrr Jim stay warm

Hey, Guys:
Sorry I'm just responding now, but I'm traveling for the next 3 weeks, and am responding with a fork in my hand as I eat dinner in a restaurant booth in Boston.  I have not been able to fire mine yet, but will definitely look into the issues you describe, Joe.  Good luck to both you and BB!  Hope you get them back in perfect working order soon. 

[heyjoe]

thats a lot of wobble

[Bigbird48]

Yes it was and mine was about the same

[45flint]

Makes me start to wonder if the pressures of a 22 mag are too much for this design?  Or if the design is too easily foiled by the slightest imperfections? Seems like too many guns with issues.

[Bigbird48]

Well if it can handle the mags maybe they will give us EB guys a LR cylinder 

[redhawk4]

Ok guys I made it to the range today. I took 100 rounds of lr ammo and 100 rounds of magnum ammo (50 Hornady critical defense and 50 CCI maxi mag) I started with the 100 rounds of the lr ammo and had no issues whatsoever. The Ranger performed like a dream. 

Next I loaded the CCI mags and started having some issues. On the second set of five I experienced the cartridges sticking in the cylinder and they would not eject proplerly. After a few more rounds I could feel it becoming harder to cock the hammer and the cylinder did not want to rotate. I unloaded the CCI ammo and tried some of the Hornady critical defense. I shot all 50 rounds of critical defense without issue.

I had about 25 rounds of CCI left so I figured I finish them up and head home. Unfortunately I had issues again as with the first half of that box of ammo. Hammer getting tight and cylinder failing to rotate.

When I got home I planned to clean the gun an get it ready to send back to NAA for the once over. When I opened the the gun I noticed that it seemed a bit loose at the pivot point. I don't remember it being like that before range time. Can some please check theirs and let me know if there is play or if it's nice and tight. Oh I almost forgot at the end of the cylinder it seemed to begin to unscrew. I took a pic to show what I'm speaking of.

Any way I decided not to even clean it this way NAA will see it as it is. I'll just send it back after they return from shot show.

Well looks like I can't post the video of the wobble at the pivot point so I'll just post the pic where the cylinder "pin" was unscrewing.

I had that piece unscrew on my magnum cylinder.

[smokeless joe]

I had that piece unscrew on my magnum cylinder.

Seems easily fixed but I just wanted to bring attention to it so others could keep an eye out.

[Uncle_Lee]

Wow - Bummer - ain't good.
One of mine has zero "wobble".
The other one has very little. You can feel it move a little but not enough to see the movement.
Maybe OV is correct and the design can't take the magnum.
OH well, they will make a nice 22 LR.

[smokeless joe]

Wow - Bummer - ain't good.
One of mine has zero "wobble".
The other one has very little. You can feel it move a little but not enough to see the movement.
Maybe OV is correct and the design can't take the magnum.
OH well, they will make a nice 22 LR.

OV or 45flint

I hope that is not the case. Hoping this is something that can be corrected. Time will tell.

[Uncle_Lee]

Wow - Bummer - ain't good.
One of mine has zero "wobble".
The other one has very little. You can feel it move a little but not enough to see the movement.
Maybe OV is correct and the design can't take the magnum.
OH well, they will make a nice 22 LR.

OV or 45flint

I hope that is not the case. Hoping this is something that can be corrected. Time will tell.

OV has been hollering it for over a year. (maybe two)

[smokeless joe]

Gotcha. I thought maybe he hid from me and I couldn't see his post 

Again hopefully that will be incorrect.

[Ruger]

Wow - yeah, that's quite a wobble Joe.  Neither of mine have any wobble. 

But I did send in an E-Mail requesting the information on how to send 85 in since you can not cock the hammer back, let alone fire it. I had hoped to slip it in before they all left for Shot Show, but no big deal.  I, too, have no issues with having problems with a first issue firearm, especially with the reputation of NAA's  customer service.  Participating in the EB program was an interesting adventure.  I have cleaned 86 after firing, and have not noticed the cylinder nut coming loose, but it is a good thing to check.  Thanks.

[ds10speed]

I checked mine after reading this thread. My Mag cylinder had a tight screw but the LR cylinder screw was loose but I fired more LR than Mags.

Maybe this loose screw is causing the cylinder binding issues. I know this happens on S&W 617's sometimes and it will cause binding.

If I look straight down on the extractor star when opening it fully I can see it will turn left and right a little. This tells me that the cam that pushes the end to remove cartridges can possibly unscrew it if it is loose. Maybe loctite on the threads will fix it, but maybe should contact NAA before doing it.

Also I noticed the pivot point seems to wobble more than when new but I think it may have been caused from cleaning the gun with Rem oil because I didn't really shoot it that much. I think there may have been a thicker lube or grease in there at first and the cleaning I did washed it out. I know when I grease my tractor that loose things seem to tighten up.

[ikoiko]

Mine, #134 has not been fired, seems to have the same amount of wobble as Joe’s video.
My LR cylinder has one chamber and corresponding area of star extractor with very rough machining.
The extractor on the LR fails to reseat unless I go through some manipulations.

The mag extractor has no reseating problems.

The cylinder pin/screws are fully seated on both cylinders.

Don’t have any problems with the cylinders (LR or mag) locking up the hammer/trigger so long as a cylinder chamber is aligned with the bore when closing the break-top.

Again, has not been fired, do not know how it extracts spent shells.
Will contact NAA when they return from SHOT.

[redhawk4]

The cylinder screws need a good dose of loctite, if that's not part of assembly in the factory. Otherwise it's only a matter of time until it will come loose. If it drops out when you are changing cylinders, then good luck finding it, I don't know if it can back off enough to cause the cylinder to jam in use, but given how the extractor also is the part that turns the cylinder, it's possible. I found mine had backed off after cleaning, when I couldn't close the gun and found the extractor was standing proud of the cylinder.

If you have a Ranger II then you need to check this part is tight and will stay that way IMO, to avoid a problem at some point down the line.

[redhawk4]

Also I noticed the pivot point seems to wobble more than when new but I think it may have been caused from cleaning the gun with Rem oil because I didn't really shoot it that much. I think there may have been a thicker lube or grease in there at first and the cleaning I did washed it out. I know when I grease my tractor that loose things seem to tighten up.

Mine didn't seem to have any noticeable lube on it when I got it, but after lubing it did seem everything was looser, there was a dirty look to most of the running surfaces at the front that cleaned off, possibly powder from the test firing, which made things tighter. I pointed the play in the barrel pivot out to them when I tok mine back. So far the new barrel is tighter, but when the action is closed there is still play between the barrel and frame. Given the rear sight is on the frame, the slight movement will affect accuracy.

[Bigbird48]

I mentioned that my extractor would not return. The tube didn't look as if it was loose or had back out, But if I removed the cylinder and put a small dia wood dowel in the tube you could push the spring or what ever is inside the tube back down.

[Chacha77]

Joe I had the same thing happen I tightened the little nut that backed out and it brought the ejector back into correct alignment, put it back in and it ran like a top again

[smokeless joe]

Joe I had the same thing happen I tightened the little nut that backed out and it brought the ejector back into correct alignment, put it back in and it ran like a top again

I wonder if that's why the cylinder got tight and didn't want to rotate when using the CCI ammo. I'll still send her back and let them address the wobble. I want it tight and ready for a fight 😄

[Ruger]

Great thread Joe.  I is always good to hear of other's difficulties, but this thread is tending to offer more solutions than most.  Keep it going . . .

[redhawk4]

I took mine to the range yesterday for the first time after it's return from NAA. All I can say is I'm glad I took my 44 mag Lever gun as well, to sight in the peep sight I'd added to it. I really enjoyed shooting clover leaves and bullets in the same hole at 25 yards with that. My Ranger experience was not positive and I'd have been taking "an early bath" if that had been the only gun I had with me. It was more accurate with the new barrel, but I suffered what seem to be the classic problems and after shooting some 22 Mag and some stiff ejection, my cylinder started coming loose again and popping out. Unlike last time it's latching again, now, but I wonder if the magnum case head is big enough to some how expand and get under the catch, as the cylinder rotates when you open the action. Gold Dots again produced one misfire and the cases were very hard to extract. Also had several cylinder/hammer seizes when cocking the gun after a reload, despite setting the cylinder in position each time. I had to pull the hammer back to the jam point and the open the cylinder to then get the hammer to cycle with some fiddling and then it would work. It seems it has something to do with my big finger getting up against the back of the trigger as I cock the gun, from half cock to full, so it only happens after a reload.

[Bigbird48]

Sorry to here that Redhawk. I'm beginning to wonder how many rounds NAA shoots for testing and what ammo they use. Sounds like not enough of either tho. Mines been back at NAA for a week now. I can't imagine that all the gunsmiths and people that send the guns back have gone to shot show. Hopefully their working on our guns trying to get them perfect.

[Chacha77]

Yes joe it made mine tight and hard to close, I believe if the screw was reverse threaded it wouldn't back off when the cylinder rotates but is regular threads