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I saw this video on another forum. This is an excellent video on the RAP takedown. It also explains a lot about the RAP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wzAe0kw_v4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wzAe0kw_v4
RAP Video, Excellent !
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Great reference video.
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He made one error. While he didn't actually remove the extractor, he made reference to driving out the pivot pin. That will not work, and will damage the slide and/or the pivot pin. The extractor pivot pin is a new type, and rather ingenious. It has a circumferential groove in which the extractor sits, but the pivot hole in the extractor is large enough to let the full width of the rest of the pin pass with no resistance. The extractor spring tension holds the extractor in the groove in the pin. To remove the extractor, you push it inward at a point over the pin, fiddle with it till the hole lines up, and push the pin up and out easily. You shouldn't ever have to replace the pin, unlike the roll or coil pins used in extractors of this type in other pistols. It's a nice feature. But don't try to drive the pin out!
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I just watched the video to about the halfway point. I can't stand to watch any more. There are too many errors in terms of how the fire control unit works. I suggest, if you watch this, use it as a guide for disassembly and assembly, but don't pay any attention to his explanation of how the gun works. There are just too many misconceptions. If I have the time sometime I'll catalog everything I disagree with and list it in detail with photos. I can't do it right now. Or maybe I'll do my own video. I've never done that before. Might be fun if I get the time.
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NH Photo Guy,
You're photo would be welcome as well. I am sure everyone would love to see it.
You're photo would be welcome as well. I am sure everyone would love to see it.
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I took the fire control module of the Ruger American Pistol apart again this afternoon. Here are a couple of photos. They aren't very good. I went to use my camera, only to find out that the battery was all but dead. I had to use my phone. I didn't even try to document the takedown, reassembly, and function on this trip. I'll do it again properly soon and post some real photos with some decent documentation. It's a tricky reassembly, so I should practice a couple more times before I "go live". I apologize for this half baked effort. We are just coming to the end of a major home remodeling project, and it's all I can do to find a lot of my stuff, which was packed away in boxes.
The first photo just shows all the pieces of the fire control module. The second is more important. It shows the extractor pivot pin. Note the circumferential groove. That's where the extractor sits, held in the groove by the extractor spring tension. To remove this pin in order to clean the extractor, you push the extractor inward fairly hard and fiddle a bit until the hole in the extractor lines up with the full diameter portion of the pin. While doing this, apply upward pressure on the pin with a punch from the bottom of the slide. Once you get the extractor lined up just right, the pin pops out of the top of the slide with very little pressure. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TRY TO DRIVE IT OUT LIKE YOU WOULD A ROLL PIN OR A COIL PIN. THAT WILL DAMAGE THE PIN, THE SLIDE, OR BOTH.
The first photo just shows all the pieces of the fire control module. The second is more important. It shows the extractor pivot pin. Note the circumferential groove. That's where the extractor sits, held in the groove by the extractor spring tension. To remove this pin in order to clean the extractor, you push the extractor inward fairly hard and fiddle a bit until the hole in the extractor lines up with the full diameter portion of the pin. While doing this, apply upward pressure on the pin with a punch from the bottom of the slide. Once you get the extractor lined up just right, the pin pops out of the top of the slide with very little pressure. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TRY TO DRIVE IT OUT LIKE YOU WOULD A ROLL PIN OR A COIL PIN. THAT WILL DAMAGE THE PIN, THE SLIDE, OR BOTH.
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There's no way I'm going to get the time to make my own video, and I'm getting sick of taking this gun apart just for the fun of it. So I watched his video again, and made notes of points where I disagree and what and why.
Apart from these points, I think it's a useful video for someone that wants to detail strip the Ruger American Pistol. Apart from his less than idea way of trying to put the Slide Stop back in, and not removing the Trigger Bar Spring sooner, he didn't actually do anything I would disagree with.
3:49 You cannot "Knock" the extractor pin out. See my previous comments in this thread.
8:27 This doesn't seem to be a issue on all of these pistols, but it is on mine, and I
saw that it was in another post somewhere that it was for at least one other person. The Trigger Bar Spring can be quite unstable, and once the Fire Control Insert Assembly (FCIA - what he calls the chassis) is clear of the frame, any little movement of the trigger bar can cause that spring to fly off into the ether never to be seen again. It happened to me twice, and by the grace of God I found it both times. The very first thing I do now, after removing the FCIA from the frame, is to remove that spring. The Trigger Bar will then flop loose, and you might as well remove it and the trigger first.
9:32 What he calls the locking bar is actually the Takedown Bar.
11:14: He claims that the Actuator Spring is what tensions the Sear. This is false. The spring that he will later claim has no purpose (The Sear Spring) is what pushes the Sear upward. Really explains this in detail all the way to 11:58, and he's just flat out wrong. The Actuator Spring tensions the Actuators. The Sear Spring tensions the Sear.
12:40: claims the Sear Spring doesn't really tension the Sear. Well, I took it out, and the Sear didn't return, and the gun didn't work. He claims it's mainly to hold the FCIA
in place, which it has no need to do. It's the Sear Spring. Period. The Sear won't work without it.
13:30 His description of how the Sear Connector Blocker works is way off. It doesn't interact with the striker at all. What it does is prevent the Sear Connector from moving forward by means of a couple of hooks on the front bottom. Since the Sear Connector can't move forward, the Sear can't be released: thus the name of the part "Sear Connector Blocker". If the Blocker tried to grab the Striker, it would shove the Striker out the back of the Slide. The Striker cocks on the Sear - period.
14:32: What he's calling the "Locking Cam Actuator" is actually the "Takedown Actuator". The Takedown Bar moves it forward, basically imitating the "Sear Connector Actuator", caming the Sear Connector Blocker" up, releasing the Sear Connector to move forward, then pushing the Sear Connector forward releasing the Sear. Same things the Sear Connector Actuator does when you pull the trigger.
14:58: Both Actuators do not move when the Trigger is pulled: only the Sear Connector Actuator. The Takedown Actuator only moves when you push the takedown lever down, and it does all the same things as the Sear Connector Actuator, but from the other side.
16:16 Sear Connector, not Secondary Sear.
25:48 It's easier, and safer, to hold the Slide Stop up and forward a bit, with the spring on the "nub", angle the spring down into the recess in the FCIA where it seats, and work the Slide Stop down and back into place. This deforms the spring temporarily, but does no permanent harm. I haven't had it go flying on me yet. And it isn't at all difficult or tricky, and it only takes less than a minute.
28:40 Make sure, looking in from the side as you start the Fire Control Insert Assembly into the Frame, that the Sear Spring is seating in its recess in the frame where it needs to be. If the Sear is in the down position, you may need to move it up to do this.
I actually kind of like the order in which he put things in the actual fire control module back together. A bit different than the way I've done it, and I think it might be easier. I'll have to try it next time I need to service this module.
Apart from these points, I think it's a useful video for someone that wants to detail strip the Ruger American Pistol. Apart from his less than idea way of trying to put the Slide Stop back in, and not removing the Trigger Bar Spring sooner, he didn't actually do anything I would disagree with.
3:49 You cannot "Knock" the extractor pin out. See my previous comments in this thread.
8:27 This doesn't seem to be a issue on all of these pistols, but it is on mine, and I
saw that it was in another post somewhere that it was for at least one other person. The Trigger Bar Spring can be quite unstable, and once the Fire Control Insert Assembly (FCIA - what he calls the chassis) is clear of the frame, any little movement of the trigger bar can cause that spring to fly off into the ether never to be seen again. It happened to me twice, and by the grace of God I found it both times. The very first thing I do now, after removing the FCIA from the frame, is to remove that spring. The Trigger Bar will then flop loose, and you might as well remove it and the trigger first.
9:32 What he calls the locking bar is actually the Takedown Bar.
11:14: He claims that the Actuator Spring is what tensions the Sear. This is false. The spring that he will later claim has no purpose (The Sear Spring) is what pushes the Sear upward. Really explains this in detail all the way to 11:58, and he's just flat out wrong. The Actuator Spring tensions the Actuators. The Sear Spring tensions the Sear.
12:40: claims the Sear Spring doesn't really tension the Sear. Well, I took it out, and the Sear didn't return, and the gun didn't work. He claims it's mainly to hold the FCIA
in place, which it has no need to do. It's the Sear Spring. Period. The Sear won't work without it.
13:30 His description of how the Sear Connector Blocker works is way off. It doesn't interact with the striker at all. What it does is prevent the Sear Connector from moving forward by means of a couple of hooks on the front bottom. Since the Sear Connector can't move forward, the Sear can't be released: thus the name of the part "Sear Connector Blocker". If the Blocker tried to grab the Striker, it would shove the Striker out the back of the Slide. The Striker cocks on the Sear - period.
14:32: What he's calling the "Locking Cam Actuator" is actually the "Takedown Actuator". The Takedown Bar moves it forward, basically imitating the "Sear Connector Actuator", caming the Sear Connector Blocker" up, releasing the Sear Connector to move forward, then pushing the Sear Connector forward releasing the Sear. Same things the Sear Connector Actuator does when you pull the trigger.
14:58: Both Actuators do not move when the Trigger is pulled: only the Sear Connector Actuator. The Takedown Actuator only moves when you push the takedown lever down, and it does all the same things as the Sear Connector Actuator, but from the other side.
16:16 Sear Connector, not Secondary Sear.
25:48 It's easier, and safer, to hold the Slide Stop up and forward a bit, with the spring on the "nub", angle the spring down into the recess in the FCIA where it seats, and work the Slide Stop down and back into place. This deforms the spring temporarily, but does no permanent harm. I haven't had it go flying on me yet. And it isn't at all difficult or tricky, and it only takes less than a minute.
28:40 Make sure, looking in from the side as you start the Fire Control Insert Assembly into the Frame, that the Sear Spring is seating in its recess in the frame where it needs to be. If the Sear is in the down position, you may need to move it up to do this.
I actually kind of like the order in which he put things in the actual fire control module back together. A bit different than the way I've done it, and I think it might be easier. I'll have to try it next time I need to service this module.
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Thanks for the work NH Phoy Guy
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