Revolver miss-fire

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ArchiePerry

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Lets say I have a double action revolver.

I shoot it 99 times in single action with no issue but the 100th time it goes click.
I wait 1 minute, turn the cylinder back and shoot again. This time bang.

The 100th casing looks like this after.



Do I have a problem?
 
I would say that if you were shooting it single action and your firing pin strike was that far off you probably cocked the hammer way too slowly. Some will say that the speed of cocking doesn't matter if the timing is spot on and this is not absolutely true. Many guns, especially single actions I find, need to be cocked in a quick smooth manner. I have a single action that has slightly retarded timing and unless you really snap the hammer back the momentum of the cylinder spin isn't great enough to get her to lock up. If you cocked 99 times out of 100 and things were okay, I'd bet your thumb was tired and you just didn't pull back hard enough. If this happens almost EVERY time, then you have a timing issue.
 
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Thanks for your info HandofZeus.

To Tengoo, The dimple above the 3 in 38 is not normal. This caused by the firing pin during the miss-fire.
Just barely missed the primer.



I have experienced the same issue when firing double action. I wonder if inconsistent trigger pull could be the cause in this instance as well. I've shot probably 600+ rounds through it and its happened maybe 5 times.
 
ArchiePerry said:
I have experienced the same issue when firing double action. I wonder if inconsistent trigger pull could be the cause in this instance as well. I've shot probably 600+ rounds through it and its happened maybe 5 times.
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Your revolver is out of time; the cylinder is not turning a full one-sixth of a revolution each time it cocks, thus the primer isn't being placed directly under the firing pin hole.

What kind of gun is it? New-ish or lots of use/abuse?

Can you see wear on the star in the centre of the cylinder, particularly on one tooth more than others? Any noticeable marks around the cylinder stops? Is your extractor rod and everything screwed in tight?

If it's happening both single and double action I'd say you shouldn't ignore it. If you take it to the range and carefully watch that it's indexed for each shot, you might get away with live ammo, but it's much better to test it at home with dummy rounds. That way you can do hundreds of attempts, SA and DA, slowly and quickly, to see just how the problem presents. You can try marking the chambers in a way you can see while firing, or just keep careful count, and see if it only happens on one hole.

ryan said:
I suggest getting it fixed before something bad happens.
Click to expand...

That shot was luckily far enough out of time, but if it lines up enough to hit on the live edge of the primer with the bullet not pointing well enough in the forcing cone, it will damage your gun.
 
ryan said:
Your revolver has issues. I suggest getting it fixed before something bad happens.
Click to expand...

BINGO! The gun has some issues with the action.

Given the way you said it went "click" and what you did to make it go bang it could be that the cylinder bolt (the arched tab that comes up from below to lock the cylinder into place) is not coming up at the right time so the cylinder spun a little past the proper lock point.

In any event take that casing along with the gun to a smith and have it checked and corrected because SOMETHING is wrong.
 
09outlander said:
I'm guessing S&W.
Click to expand...

Had the same thing happen to me on the weekend. 145 rounds single then the last 5 thought I would double. 3 shots no issues then had a very heavy triggle and click. Waited, went back to single and bang. I have a Charter Arms in .40 S&W. Tried my snap caps when I got home, and same heavy trigger on the same chamber. When it finally went it seemed to rotate past not even striking. Tried it in single and had to help the cylinder rotate on the same chamber. Need to find a gunsmith in the Calgary area.
 
You definitely need to get that checked out. It could lead to more serious problems.

A member of the old Mythbusters forum, Rick4070 (all the Discovery forums were shut down Novermber 7, 2012), mentioned that when he was a gunsmith at a shop (I think in Washington), a Colt Anaconda came in with the top of the cylinder and part of the frame blown off.

The owner said it blew up while at a range, and claimed to have been firing factory Winchester ammo.

The shop repaired the frame and replaced the cylinder, but a dispute between Colt and Winchester occured; Colt claimed it was defective ammunition, Winchester claimed it was a poorly constructed gun. Rick recently said that when he left the shop, the dispute was still on-going.
 
The model is an Astra. The barrel has been cut professionally to 4.2 inches from the standard length, what ever that was. I bought this from a CGN'r about 6 months ago. I've fired about 800 +/- factory rounds. In that time I've noticed perhaps 5 or 6 of these miss-fires. Almost all of them have occurred in double action, with only 1 in single. I've spent most of my time in single because I find my accuracy improves significantly which is what I was interested in at the time.

Anyway, here are some photos while I decide what to do with the old bastard.

Anybody who lives near a gunsmith want to make an offer?





















 
I had a few light strikes with my Astra and I adjusted the hammer to a heavier pull and its good. The hammer spring is easy to adjust if you haven't done it already.
 
To the OP. My S&W 625-3 is in at a reputable gunsmith to fix the exact same issue you are having.
Only difference is it is happening 2-3 times per 6 rounds.
Will let you know what the outcome is. Should hear from him this week.
 
BCRider said:
BINGO! The gun has some issues with the action.

Given the way you said it went "click" and what you did to make it go bang it could be that the cylinder bolt (the arched tab that comes up from below to lock the cylinder into place) is not coming up at the right time so the cylinder spun a little past the proper lock point.

In any event take that casing along with the gun to a smith and have it checked and corrected because SOMETHING is wrong.
Click to expand...

Do that do not monkey with it..
 
Found it.
blown_up_gun.jpg


The owner swore the ammunition used when it blew up was that box of Winchester Super X.

Like I said earlier, Colt blamed the ammo, Winchester blamed the gun. The outcome is unknown.

Based on the evidence presented, it's likely a factory double load, or could have been an overloaded reload presented with a partial box of factory ammo.

But whatever it really is, it's almost impossible to determine.

Sooo, probably not the same problem you're having with your Astra.
 
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With any revolver it is a good idea to make sure the chamber lines up with the barrel before pulling the trigger, I had a .45 Colt go off when the chamber was misaligned to the barrel...shaved half the bullet off and it fell onto the bench the other half -keyholed into the target close to where I was aiming.
 
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