Smith and Wesson 586/686 "jamming"

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Hi all looking for some advice.
I bought a new 586 a couple months back and life got in the way. Took it to he range today and it's jamming. It seems to index fine but every few shots the hammer and trigger stick and won't pull back. If you wiggle the hammer and trigger it will eventually catch again and allow you to #### it.
Is this a known issue or am I doing something wrong?
Should I just return it or any tips to stop this?
Thanks
 
Hmmm..... As Alice said, "Curioser and curioser!"

First off, does it function properly when unloaded? Can you dry fire it without any problems? When loaded with live ammo, will it cycle OK if run in single-action (without firing- just cocking and gently releasing the hammer, then recocking)?

What ammunition are you using? Factory or handloads? If handloads, sometimes the bullets may "creep" forward under recoil if not sufficiently crimped, and jam against the forcing cone after a few rounds. This likely to happen only with heavy (ie long) bullets and quite stout loads, though.). Does the gun jam up after the same number of rounds, say 4 or 5, or is it random?

If you reload the chambers with fired cases, will it work OK? (In both D/A and S/A)

Another - perhaps remote - possibility would be the internal lock (the hole under the cyl. release latch that takes a tiny hex key, fitted to all S&W revolvers for several years now) somehow getting activated. Unfortunately I don't have an exploded diagramme that shows the mechanics of this feature, so am not sure exactly how it works.

As it is a new gun, it is possible that there could be a few machining or other bits floating around inside, although this isn't common, despite assertions that "they don't make 'em like they used to." If so, it isn't difficult to get access to the inside, but there is a bit of a trick to getting the sideplate off- assuming you have proper screwdrivers. (Do NOT attempt this with a typical "home" screwdriver.)


Addendum: FWIW, There is a YouTube vid. here that shows the inside of the internal lock, starting at 1:43.
 
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If you are shooting reloads, also check the primers , make sure that they are seated all the way down, a proud primer will brag on the frame and jam things, and make sure the cylinder is indexed properly with the lock and in the notch, If that is not happening, than you need to send back for warranty, But on a new gun , I would be surprised if it was not locking up, if the ammo is not dragging, I have never looked at those built in locks either, thou I do have anew 686 in stock
 
Yes- high primers on reloads can cause problems. I was only thinking of the other end of the cylinder!

BTW, I found a YouTube vid of the details of the internal lock and added it to my orig. post.
 
I had a 586 many years go . the same thing happened to me . somehow a flake of powder got underneath the extractor and it was binding things up. lift up the extractor and clean under it and see if this helps. I couldn't believe it a flake of 700x or something like that would bind it up . and as others said high primers . and if you can't figure it out send it in for warranty work . if you bought it new from a shop.
 
Thanks all for the replies.
I'm wondering if as josquin says there are some machining bits floating around as it seems to be an intermittent problem whether loaded or unloaded. Ie the first 20 shots were fine then the hammer stuck and trigger stuck for a shot and it was fine again for about 5 shots then stuck repeatedly for 4 or 5 shots then it seems good for a bit and then starts jamming again.
It appears the trigger is not fully resetting as if pushed forward when it's jammed you hear a slight click and then it's ok for that shot.
I'm hesitant to take the side plate off in case that voids my warranty. Maybe best to just send it for service?
I'll contact SFRC next week and see what they say as I bought it there.
 
It's still under warranty so have it looked after before attempting to muck with it.

I've seen and experienced a similar dead trigger hiccup when a too light of a trigger rebound spring was used. Your gun is all stock factory so you should not be experiencing this problem.

If you pull the trigger and very, very slowly reset it, does the hammer/sear reengage every single time or do you get that dead trigger once in a while?
 
cement head said:
I had a 586 many years go . the same thing happened to me . somehow a flake of powder got underneath the extractor and it was binding things up. lift up the extractor and clean under it and see if this helps. I couldn't believe it a flake of 700x or something like that would bind it up .
Click to expand...
I had the same thing happen to my 686.

I would really recommend against removing the sideplate unless you’re sure of what you’re doing.
 
I had a model 29 do that a few years ago.The barrel/cylinder gap was very tight and after a few shots would bind up,I eventually had to dress the barrel face back a bit to open up the gap.As mentioned other possibilities are,loose ejector rod,gunk under extractor star,high primers,?super long reloads with bullet dragging on rear of barrel?.I would also take the grips off and give the action a good flush with brake fluid followed by compressed air to dislodge any junk followed by a bit of lube(dont take the sideplate off!).If all else fails,send it back to dealer as its likely then something more significant than the above
 
Trinimon said:
It's still under warranty so have it looked after before attempting to muck with it.

I've seen and experienced a similar dead trigger hiccup when a too light of a trigger rebound spring was used. Your gun is all stock factory so you should not be experiencing this problem.

If you pull the trigger and very, very slowly reset it, does the hammer/sear reengage every single time or do you get that dead trigger once in a while?
Click to expand...

I do get the dead trigger sometimes. It may cycle the cylinder but the hammer won't ####.
 
4n2t0 said:
Can I assume this is your first revolver? Do you shoot a lot of revolvers? I think you're not letting the trigger fully reset. I had the same problem when I started shooting revolvers coming from a "shoot to reset" semi-auto pistol background.
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It is my first but I believe Ibam allowing it to reset. I take my finger fully off the trigger before trying to shoot the next round.
Is there more to it? I notice if I slide off the trigger and let it flick forward it maybe doesn't happen as much.
 
This same thing happened years back with my ruger gp100
.......took it to a gunsmith....he states the tolerances are very tight on some new revolvers.....I was also shooting some.pretty nasty dirty lead reloads....try different ammo
 
My Model 19 would lock up periodically as well. I went through all the good advice given so far and it came down to the ejector rod backing out. Worth a look, and as said before, it is a left-hand thread.
 
S&w have a lifetime warranty, even in Canada. I had a friend send his Model 28 into the S&W warranty centre in Canada (Murray Charlton in BC) and got it back two weeks later, no charge, fixed. He's at least the third owner and the gun is older than him. But they fixed it.

Check to see if there's any crud under the ejector star, as that's common. Also check to see if the ejector rod looks bent or crooked. That can throw it off.
 
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