S&W revolver issue?

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rustynut1

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I have been on a sorta mission to collect K frames of late. I get two good ones and one bad one, like that. I bought a K 66-2. This is a stainless steel M19 I think. Had it out before and it seemed OK but today if jammed steady. I even tried factory ammo and it jammed. Basically would not rotate when you pull back the hammer, might rotate for a couple rounds and than jam. This is with 38 Special ammo, mostly reloads. I had 3 other S&W Ks out and none of them had an issue with my reloads. Empty it cycles OK, maybe a little stiff.

Wondering if anyone on here has clever advice for me. The gun is a beauty, like it to work.

Thanks EH!
 
Check that your ejector Rod is screwed tight. Most common cause of malfs. Second most common is that the strain screw - in the front of the grip has backed out. Out too far, the link 'knuckles' and everything stops.
After that make sure your ammo is good, NO high primers, nothing under the extractor star, cartridges seat fully. If it all works empty, then the first thing to suspect is your ammo out of spec.
 
T&G said:
Check that your ejector Rod is screwed tight. Most common cause of malfs. Second most common is that the strain screw - in the front of the grip has backed out. Out too far, the link 'knuckles' and everything stops.
After that make sure your ammo is good, NO high primers, nothing under the extractor star, cartridges seat fully. If it all works empty, then the first thing to suspect is your ammo out of spec.
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This. Extractor rod backing out is very common. When you put it back clean the threads and use some blue loctite. - dan
 
my smiths are good, but that rod is a problem if not tight ; I sold ssa piatta that was so tight that the brass has to be exc or brass would drag on frame 38sp.
 
Well I don't have the tool and don't want to scar the rod. It is hand tight for sure but that is as far as I went. The gun will almost lock up empty on DA cycling, maybe once in 2 rotations. There are marks on two of the lugs that turn the cylinder as well on the inside of the lugs. This is what you get buying used, been there done that a few times, when will I learn? Going to stew on this for a while.

Thanks for the responses guys.
 
When you tighten the extractor rod don't forget to insert some brass into a couple of chambers so that you don't damage the two tiny positioning pins on the cylinder.

Auggie D.
 
rustynut1 said:
Well I don't have the tool and don't want to scar the rod. It is hand tight for sure but that is as far as I went. The gun will almost lock up empty on DA cycling, maybe once in 2 rotations. There are marks on two of the lugs that turn the cylinder as well on the inside of the lugs. This is what you get buying used, been there done that a few times, when will I learn? Going to stew on this for a while.

Thanks for the responses guys.
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Take a thick piece of leather and wrap it around the rod, then tighten with pliers. You could also have a bent crane, I suggest Kuhnhausen's book on S&W's for repair and test instructions. - dan
 
I had a problem like that with my Model 17-2. Turned out that the front face of the cylinder wasn't flat & the outside edge was rubbing on the rear end of the barrel. It was O.K. when clean, but after a few shots, powder residue would build up & cause interference. I took the cylinder off & rubbed the front face on 320 grit sandpaper laid on the edge of a table. Problem solved!
 
Rusty your problem is tough to determine without hands on. . The best advice is to take your revolver to someone who's familar with S&W revolvers as your problem could very well be the result of an inexperienced person taking the gun apart and trying to get it right. . I've repaired a few S&W's from that exact cause. .

The obivious thing to check is make certain your reloads are crimped and the bullets are not backing out from recoil and touching the frame on rotation. Aside from this, check to make certain the barrel to cylinder gap is adequate as I had one pre-model N-frame that had such a tight B/C gap that after a half a box of ammo the cylinder would begin to seize up from carbon deposits. . A B/C gap adjustment and everything was good again.
 
rustynut1 said:
Well I don't have the tool and don't want to scar the rod. It is hand tight for sure but that is as far as I went. The gun will almost lock up empty on DA cycling, maybe once in 2 rotations. There are marks on two of the lugs that turn the cylinder as well on the inside of the lugs. This is what you get buying used, been there done that a few times, when will I learn? Going to stew on this for a while.

Thanks for the responses guys.
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Don't despair it could be as little as dirt behind the extractor.

Graydog
 
The book mentioned is out of print. Going price is like $70 Can. and up to 250. Recommend a different book?

Looks like I can get it for around $50 and that is about as good as it gets I think. Another trip to USA!
 
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I just went over a as new old model 17 that real tight and stiff. There was a lot of carbon on barrel face and top strap.
Unburnt power under the star, the gun was a club gun that never used because of the problems, hince looked like new.
I have never seen a model 17 with out of square cylinder face, could be possible, I would have checked the barrel face before I took sandpaper
to a model 17.
in the above case, the hand was pushing the cylinder ahead enough that the cylinder was hanging up on all the carbon and lead build up on top frame and barrel .
On a stainless gun I can't see that it could get that bad.
 
rustynut1 said:
The book mentioned is out of print. Going price is like $70 Can. and up to 250. Recommend a different book?

Looks like I can get it for around $50 and that is about as good as it gets I think. Another trip to USA!
Click to expand...

Go look 0n Abe Books. No, if you want the best manual on S&W's, his book is the one to get. - dan
 
Auggie Doggie said:
When you tighten the extractor rod don't forget to insert some brass into a couple of chambers so that you don't damage the two tiny positioning pins on the cylinder.

Auggie D.
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AMEN! I prefer to load all 6 chambers with empties rather than two. But any amount is better than none.

I find I take my cylinders and ejectors apart for cleaning on a regular enough basis that I prefer to not use a locking adhesive. But finger tight doesn't do the job either. What I do is use a strap of leather as a pad and use pliers to SLIGHTLY tighten the ejector just a hair more than I can do by hand. And I do mean SLIGHT! ! ! ! Those threads are small and fine. You don't want to deform them. And it's very easy to get carried away with the leverage of the pliers.

But when tightened this way just a pinch more than I can do with just my fingers the ejector doesn't come loose. If it helps the way I do this is to hold the pliers quite firmly so the leather doesn't skid on the fine knurling. Then I "torque" the cylinder to tighten it with only a thumb and forefinger. And it's only a light duty sort of "pinch". I doubt the cylinder moves at one of the flutes more than a couple of mm's.

Still.... it sounds like your issue isn't about being able to open the gun up but rather it's locking up and won't index to the next chamber. That's not the ejector rod coming loose. It may be that the chambers have a hard crud ring buildup that is preventing the rounds being able to move easily. You can check for that by simply pushing some empties into place and see if they become at all sticky or need to be slightly urged to seat fully. If they do the ring can be hard to clear. One trick is to use something tapered to swage out the mouth of a .357 casing and then use a knife to sharpen the lip. You then push the snug fitting casing into the chambers and seat it firmly. This does a great job of chipping away much of the buildup. After that finish it with a .40cal bronze bristle bore brush held in a short cleaning rod extension and running it with a hand drill. Dip the brush into cleaning solvent to aid with cleaning away the grunge.

And yes, I'm another K frame addict. The proper number of K frame revolvers is always N+1 where "N" is the number you have at present.... :d
 
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