Ruger Redhawk

I knew a guy that worked for Ruger in Newport.He still might. The SRH I have has that same finish. Anyway I asked him what finish that was. He said they call it a tumble finish. Once it's sratched or worn there is no touch up for it. I already decided if and when my SRH gets scratched or allot of holster wear I'll have it bead blasted.
I would like the bead blasting better anyway so the tumble finish doesn't concern me.

He didn't say how it was done or what chemicals are used. All he said was it's a tumble finish. It's probably one of Ruger's secrets.

KJS

You certainly make a fine argument for it as a viable carry gun. One thing I notice about .38 snubies is how much velocity they lose due to their 1.9" barrel. Reviews I've seen put the velocity of a standard 158 gr load at under 600 ft/sec. That's down from the published velocity of 750 ft/sec from a 4" barrel.

The humble .22 starts to look a whole lot better when compared to .38s that have been reduced to a snail's pace by such a short gun.

pennhead

That looks like physical damage atop the crane, like the material is being eaten away. Same for the frame just above the forcing cone, it looks like flame cutting.

KJS

It's hard to tell based on the pics if the material is raised (lead deposit) or if the gun is cut into. But since my S&W 617 has looked just like that I'm pretty sure they're lead deposits.

The issue seems that something is wrong with his LCR for it to be spitting such large amounts of lead. I find it hard to imagine that LCR .22s would be selling well at all if this was normal operation for them.

Jack D

That's what I thought and the reason I sent it back to Ruger the second time. It is just lead. I have scraped it off with a pen knife and the crane is fine. The crane is stainless steel and it would take an awful lot of heat and flame to eat into that.

westgl

The Fix is:

I have found that I get a VERRRY DIRTY gun with CCI Blazer, and i will NEVER, EVER use them again in any gun I own.

The Blazers had Lead fouled my gun on several occasions, till i realized how Crappy they are, IMHO

Shoot Cleaner ammo; Like the ones listed below

1. Federal Blue box or Red box
2. CCI Tactical
3. CCI Mini mags
4. Winchester M22

blbolin

I have had two LCR .22s never had a problem like this, but I use copper clad bullets in my .22s, they are are cleaner to shoot especially in revolvers. Most guns shops sell a cloth which removes lead, I use these cloths to clean all my revolvers. It takes some rubbing to get the lead off with these cloths but they do work.

Jack D

Update:
After gettng it all cleaned up and looking decent again, I fired ~150 rounds of Federal copper clads. Photo below. The cylinder was, again, sprayed with lead, especially at the back of the flutes.

I tried cleaning with a rag dampened with Hoppe's to no avail. I scraped it with my fingernail and all that did was polish the lead. Frustrated, I grabbed my wire "toothbrush" and brushed the lead. It came right off.....along with the finish. Or so I thought. The bright stainless did not look bad, so I brushed the entire outer surfaces of the cylinder with the wire brush. It looked good.....just like the stainless finish on my SP101.

Then I wiped it with the rag that had Hoppe's on it and danged if the black didn't come back! It looked just like new from the factory. How can a stainless cylinder be silver one minute and black the next after wiping with Hoppe's????

It is what it is. I'll clean with a wire brush and if the black ever stops coming back, I'll be happy with a bright SS finish on the cylinder. Problem solved!!!

Attached Images

	CCClad.jpg (51.4 KB, 10 views)
	CCCLadClean.jpg (59.6 KB, 9 views)

westgl

It was Probably the lead that you were moving around on the gun.

That is why you NEVER, EVER, EVER want to stand next to, or beside someone that is shooting a revolver.

They Spray lead and Hot gases, & Powder out between the barrel and cylinder right out the side of the gun.

If you standing next to them that stuff will spray side ways at you.

I watched a youtube video of a paper target that was laid over the side of the Cyl. and barrel then fired.

It SHREDDED that paper target with all the debris, imagine your eye, or side of your face, a lot of crap blows out of a revolver.

There is a spacing tolerance between the cyl. and the Barrel, your Gun tolerance may be to large, and blowing excess out between the two parts

Jack D

Update:
I wrote Ruger again using the online form. They promise 3 days max. for answers, but it took 7 full working days for a reply. And all it said was they would call me. Waited around the phone all day for the call that never came. It's Saturday now, so I doubt I'll be getting that call at least until Monday. They must be getting tired of my complaining. I'm not normally a complainer, but this gun is still not right and I think it should be. I suspect the reason for all the lead spray is excessive cylinder gap. It gauges at .014". Almost 3 times what many have said it should be (.005").

bearcatter

I had originally thought the finishes on the LCR-22 were pretty weak, after my first range trip of 350 rounds. I just wasn't agressive enough in my cleaning.

I did some thought and recleaned my forcing cone area and cylinder face, with patient use of a lead removal cloth. Turns out my frame and cylinder finish are okay.

What I had thought was bare metal was actually thin smears of lead. It all looks 99% factory new now.

Jack D

Exactly what I thought. I used a wire brush (brass) on my cylinder and it turned bright silver. I thought I had removed the finish, which was OK with me. But it turns out that wiping with a cloth with Hoppe's on it, brings out the nice black.....just like new. I've used a wire brush twice now and it's still looking good. I'm not liking all the lead, though.

Did yours look like mine after ~ 150 rounds???