Ruger Red Label 20 Gauge Over/Under problem

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italiansport

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I just acquired an older Ruger Red label Over/Under shotgun that won't cock. I've tried everything I can think of. If you break open the gun,close it and then push the safety selector either way it releases the trigger but nothing happens. Any ideas as to how to solve this problem would be appreciated.
Jim
 
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Doesn't this have an auto safety you need to push off? When you mean either way, are you meaning side to side or back and forth?
 
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Not to offend you but starting with the basics. Usually left and right on the shotgun parties selects either bottom or top barrel. Forward and backward is the safety. Just making sure you have tried both barrels with selector up and down. When you open the gun do you hear it click halfway as the cock. You may not if it's already cocked and not released?? I always start basic and work up to more complicated.
 
Ok: Here's what's happening. Open and close the gun and I hear nothing cocking which leaves me to believe both barrels are already cocked. You can move the safety/selector lever on a bias either right or left and this unlocks the trigger. However the lever will not move straight forward if this is what it's supposed to do to fire and I should have probably stated this in my original post. Bottom line; I suspect the gun is cocked but I can't get the safety to release.
Jim
 
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Shotgun safeties with barrel sectors are notorious for being hard to move. Try moving it all the way left or right and then pushing forward. Sometimes it is a real bugger to move. You can try a few drops all around the underneath of the safty. With the drops on there try moving back and forth in both the all the way to right position and the all the way in left position. The gun oil may losses in up enough to move then keep working it to get it to smooth out.
 
If you are comfortable doing so, take off the stock and watch how things move, or don't move. I don't believe Ruger will work on the Red label anymore as it is a discontinued model. Won't hurt to give them a call.
 
Is the action fully closing?,,sounds like a goofy question but the auto safe mechanism works off of the locking system/top lever.
If it is unlocked just a bit then the auto safe engagement is still to the rear as if opening the gun. That has the effect of not allowing the safety to be pushed forward (off).

It doesn't happen often,,but sometimes..
Don't be shy about dropping the bbls shut on the gun. Don't baby the top lever closed.
Let it snap shut on it's own and see if it makes a difference.

You should be able to select the top or bottom bbl by pivoting the safety to the right or left (a T or B will show stamped on the tang)'
You can only do this selection with the safety button in the SAFE (rear) position. Once the bbl has been selected, then the safety button can be pushed forward to the fire position if it's working right.
The second bbl won't require a second manual selection. Also the second bbl should fire on those even if you have a dud round on the first bbl.

If you can't get it to work,,I'd pull the butt pad off,,reach down in there and unscrew the stock bolt and remove the stock.
Nothing will come flying out, it's just a one piece attachment stock.
You can then better see the safety and bbl selector mechanism.
Might be something as simple as a wood splinter dropped in there and jammed it..I've had that before.
Might be a small part that has broken. There are a cluster of strange shaped investment cast small parts, coil springs, plungers and pins inside those and their cousin the Ruger Gold Label.
 
Sorry, no experience with this particular model but here are a couple generic thoughts.
If you put shells/snap caps in it, will it extract /eject them on open? This may indicate if it's cocked or fired.
Also, does this model have an adjustable trigger?
If so, try adjusting it for a heavier pull? The trigger may not set if set too light.
Have you tried calling Ruger?
 
Pig Hunter said:
If you are comfortable doing so, take off the stock and watch how things move, or don't move. I don't believe Ruger will work on the Red label anymore as it is a discontinued model. Won't hurt to give them a call.
Click to expand...

Two guns that Ruger should never have discontinued, the Red Label and the Old Army. I always loved the design of the Red Label with its shallow receiver and it really shines with the 20 ga. Sweet handling gun.
As far as the Old Army-a beast of a horse pistol and you can make some fun harmless noise with them by just loading a wad over your powder.
 
As someone suggested you need to take the butt stock off. It is possible there is a piece of wood that has come loose and is blocking something.

I dont remember if Red Labels have an inertia trigger or not, but I have seen guns with them that the works were gummed up with WD-40 or the like and inertia device was stuck. That usually only affected one barrel though.
 
I pulled the butt stock and took these pictures of the action. I can't see anything wrong so I'm hoping a more knowledgeable person on here sees something that's not right. As far as I can see nothing is obviously broken nor is anything jammed and the action is very clean.
Jim
 

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Check the intertia weight/sear selector assembly to see if it's working freely.
That's shiny upsidedown triangular shaped part just under the safety button inbetween the tangs in the pics.

The inertia weight is a separate piece that pivots from the back side of the selector and swings backwards under recoil. A small wire torsion springs powers it..
It disengages the selector from the sears during the moment of recoil so the gun doesn't double on you.
**During that time the safety is also inoperable.
If the inertia weight part is stuck in the rearward position any amt and the sears dis=connected from the selector piece,,the safety won't operate.

Here's a look at what the inertia weight/selector assembly part looks like from Numrichs parts list.
Sear Selector / Inertia Weight Assembly | Gun Parts Corp.

Also by looking at the action in the pics,,I'd say the hammers are both down and in the 'rebound' position,,not at full cock.
But I could be wrong,,It's been a very long time since I worked on one. Just seems like a lot of uncompressed spring showing for a full cocked position and a very short hammer fall for the same as I remember it.

The RedLable hammers when fired go full forward to strike the fireing pin(s),,then rebound a short distance off the firing pins and are held there. That appears to me where the hammers are now.
However,, even with the hammers in that position (cocked or uncocked) the R/Label Safety should still be able to be moved betw SAFE & FIRE positions.

Put the bbls and forend back on the gun w/o the stock and work the action open and shut. You'll see the hammers retract/cock and can observe if they are being rotated much farther to the rear and then rotate forward again as the gun is closed. That will tell you the sear(s) are not engaging the hammers to hold them at full cock.
You may also be able to see if something is jamming the sears or the selector and then the safety from disengagement.

Just my thoughts and observations/(guesses!) from looking at the pics.
 
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Having had one in 28, it had issues that Ruger couldnt fix.

If you Google red label safety and barrel selector, Steve's Pages comes up with a scan of the manual. Pages 8&9 discuss using the safety and selector. See if something there helps. If not, you may have other issues. Since Ruger no longer supports this gun, Numrich for parts might be necessary.

Otherwise, I'd be contacting the person you got it from to see if they have any insight.
 
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Forgot to add,,, those approx 5/16" dia holes in the lower tang on each side just back of the frame allow you to see the sear nose and hammer engagement point.
You can check for proper full cock engagement, damaged sear nose, damaged or worn hammer notch, improper sear angle, ect.
Handy to see if hammer is rolling back far enough to catch the sear,,if sear spring is pushing sear into engagement, ect.
Gold Label SxS has the same feature.
 
With the butt stock off I sprayed the action with a liberal amount of CLP. I then opened/closed the action multiple times and nothing moves when i do so. The sear selector inertia weight selector will move freely under spring tension when pushed. The hammers remain immobile and pushing the safety on/off and pulling the trigger does nothing.In the off position the trigger moves freely as one would expect of an uncocked gun. Any other ideas?
Jim
I just tried something else. with the gun open I can,under spring pressure, move both hammers manually back to the cocked position. The gun will then fire when I close it back up. However upon re-opening it the hammers don't re-cock. From what I can see; the cocking pieces on either side are not moving back as one would expect upon opening the gun.
 
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italiansport said:
With the butt stock off I sprayed the action with a liberal amount of CLP. I then opened/closed the action multiple times and nothing moves when i do so. The sear selector inertia weight selector will move freely under spring tension when pushed. The hammers remain immobile and pushing the safety on/off and pulling the trigger does nothing.In the off position the trigger moves freely as one would expect of an uncocked gun. Any other ideas?
Jim
I just tried something else. with the gun open I can,under spring pressure, move both hammers manually back to the cocked position. The gun will then fire when I close it back up. However upon re-opening it the hammers don't re-cock. From what I can see; the cocking pieces on either side are not moving back as one would expect upon opening the gun.
Click to expand...

Cocking rods broken????? Maybe the issue isn't in the action itself.
 
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