Ever have a revolver jam or lock up on you?

[Daryl]

Yes, I've had a few revolvers lock up on me.

Always ammo related. As long as the ammo's loaded to proper pressures (low pressure can push the primer back against the recoil shield), and the bullet is crimped right, I've had no issues with revolvers locking up.

Daryl

[aarondhgraham]

The cylinder rod started to back out and I couldn't close the cylinder.

It tok me a while to figure out what had happened,,,
I tightened it up real well and it's never happened again.

Aarond

[wsp]

Ruger Super Blackhawk; Human error; Ammo; reload with primer not seated. Not my reload. One minute to fix.
S&W Model 19; Human error; broken pin jammed in the trigger spring; found no pins broken in the gun; it was a used gun and some monkey had been there before; Thirty minutes to fix.
Ruger GP 100; Human error; friends gun; light primer strikes; some monkey had cut the hammer spring; Wolf springs, $18; ten minutes to fix.
H&R 929; my bad; not a fail to fire but after 300 rounds of 22 brick ammo, hammer failed to lock back on single action; it would still fire double action; cleaned good and lubed.
I guess the moral to the story is, revolvers require some maintenance just like semi autos. And keep the monkeys away.

[MonsterB]

WSP, must be a lot of monkeys in Tennesse, huh? Stoopid monkeys!

[Underdog101]

1. The Smith & Wesson curse of backed out ejector rod. (Loc-tite fix.)
2. Empty cartridge case slipped under ejector star. (lesson learned: gravity is your friend. Get the muzzle UP when pushing empty brass out!)
3. Pierced primer blew a sliver of primer metal back into the firing pin hole. (Took a rubber mallet to pound it open.)
Revolvers don't often jam, but when they do, it often takes a trip to the gunsmith's bench to get them running again.

[sandbag]

I once had a squib round jam up my 44 Mag Vaquero-a gunsmith fixed it-the cleaning rod approach didn't work.
I've had my USFA SAA 45 Colt jam up from some debris,but after taking out the cylinder and applying a brush it went back to working.
The ejector rod on my Smith 29-2 was always backing out-I finally used LocTite and no more issues.
Many years ago I had a defective Smith 66-it was one of many where the cylinder would lock up-Smith had to recall them.

[gyvel]

(1) New Ruger SP101. Action locked up tighter than a drum in rapid double action firing. THREE trips to factory, THREE returns UNREPAIRED.

(2) Back in the day: When I was working, Charter Arms frequently came across my bench with locked up actions. The cause was the hammer strut being jarred out of it's socket, the results being a nasty surprise when the hammer went about halfway back and stopped dead.

Definitely NOT the ideal gun for SD.

[mrMONEYman]

I've had two revolvers jam up on me:

1) S&W 65-6, .375 mag. I bought the gun used, and apparently, the previous owner backed out the tension screw on the main spring before I bought it. Firing it single action, was awesome - nice trigger and all. But firing it double action, the hammer did not have enough energy to strike the primer. I was extremely close to just dumping the gun and never buy a revolver again - until I mentioned it to the previous owner (who I still stay in contact with). Tighten the screw back up and the gun has been 100% reliable since.

2) Dan Wesson v22, .22 lr. Again bought this gun used, at a no-brainer price. Then I soon figured out why it was priced so low. I guess it was shot so much that the inside was gummed up and the cylinder was also backing out from the cylinder crane. It would misfire (both single and double action) once in a while. After an extensive shooting session, it would be very hard to open the cylinder too. I opened up the action and wiped down all the gunk, and tighten the cylinder and it has also been 100% since.

[Dragline45]

Was at the range and the frame mounted pin that holds the hammer in place snapped on my 686 that I no longer own. Made the gun completely inoperable and had to go back to S&W. Was planning on selling the gun anyway because I was in need of cash at the time but that made it alot easier, the repair left an ugly circle divot under the cylinder latch where they put the new pin on. Plan on getting a 686 again in the future, just not a current production.

[MrBorland]

Was at the range and the frame mounted pin that holds the hammer in place snapped on my 686 that I no longer own. Made the gun completely inoperable and had to go back to S&W.

Plan on getting a 686 again in the future, just not a current production.

Just curious - have you ever taken the sideplate off without backing off the strain screw first? And did you then also cycle the action?

Whether it's a vintage or current production gun, backing the strain screw out beforehand can prevent precisely this kind of damage. If the strain screw's still tight when the sideplate comes off, there's an awful lot of...well, strain, on a hammer stud that's only supported on one end. Cycling the action in the condition adds a lot more strain to the considerable strain already there.

As to the OP, yeah, I've had my share of lock-ups. Squib (obviously my fault), broken hammer*, unscrewed ejector, bent yoke screw, high primer, something binding in the firing pin bushing hole, etc.



* also technically my fault, since I trimmed the hammer waaay down.

[shortwave]

A couple come to mind. High primer and loose/unscrewed ejector.

Almost forgot, bent moon clip.

[totaldla]

Light strikes, crimp jumping, and a funky primer piercing - all of them shut down the various revolvers. No "tap, rack, BANG" solutions available.

[Sheikyourbootie]

YES...340 PD internal lock engaged and locked the hammer over live round. Made the range stop, I placed a gap gauge between firing pin and live primer while I disassembled the gun. Performed a lock-ectomy on the spot.

Second lockup with the 340 pd was with wwb .357 jumping the crimp groove.

Third time was with my Ruger service 6. Just old and high round count...the lock work simply locked up. Ruger rebuilt for free.

Last one was a squib load that I had to pound out of the barrel.

[12GaugeShuggoth]

Extractor star can have a round slip underneath it

Yup. It didn't happen to me, but was with one of my guns. I was letting a buddy shoot my 85UL and he did the muzzle-down eject.........oops. Took me a lot of fiddling around before I got that sucker out.

Shot some rat-shot with the same gun and the plastic shot sleeve bound things up, but I was kinda expecting that and was shooting them just to see if it would happen. Only took a couple seconds to "fix"

As for the major internal lock ups that some others have had, luckily I haven't had any of those.........*knock on wood*

[Dragline45]

Just curious - have you ever taken the sideplate off without backing off the strain screw first? And did you then also cycle the action?

Thanks to the wonder of youtube videos I did not make that mistake, which I almost did because I am used to working on my J frames which do not have the strain screw. I did buy the gun used though, so I cannot comment on the previous owner. When I asked S&W what would have made that happen they just said it happens sometimes, they also gave me two options on repairing it. Either the free route which I went with, or there was a more expensive route which they said wasn't worth it unless I was competing with the gun. Basically the more expensive option they said would just clean up and polish all the material around where they inserted the new pin. Living in Massachusetts though does have some perks, I dropped the gun off at the factory and had it on my doorstep a week later.

[SIGSHR]

My experiences:
1. S&W M-19 4". A small piece broke inside, required professional attention.
2. S&W M-28 6". The cylinder rod would back out on its own, careful tightening solved that problem.
3. Colt Python. Compared to my trusty old Trooper it was so finely fitted that 50 rounds of wadcutters would deposit enough residue to keep the cylinder from rotating. A thorough cleaning after each range session became SOP.

[MonsterB]

Living in Massachusetts though does have some perks, I dropped the gun off at the factory and had it on my doorstep a week later.

Wow, I didnt think it was possible, but there may actually be a perk to being a gun owner in Mass. As someone who used to live there, and now live just over the boarder in NH, I find it hard to believe. Im happy, I can be at Sig or S&W withing an hour or so, either one!

[BIG P]

YES COLT PYTHON twice, how cool is that? It SUX.

[ltc444]

Dan Wesson when I changed to the combat grip the washer between the retaining bolt and the wood fell out. I over tightened the screw up into the fireing mechansim. It locked the cylinder.

Backed out the grip screw and replaced the washer. Now I allways check for the washer when I change grips.

[dnsharpshooter]

my grandfathers ruger gp100, after shooting a bunch of magnums it got hot and the action locked up both DA and SA. when we got back from the range he was about to take it apart but he tried to cock it and it worked fine. the parts got hot and expanded. its been fine ever since

[Cold Steel]

I bought a beautiful Interarms Virginia Dragoon...stainless...big, .44 mag.

At the range I held the gun out in front of me, unloaded, and snapped it. The hammer broke like glass and fell at my feet! I lived in Arlington, Virginia, and Interarms was in Alexandria, so I drove over and showed it to them. They replaced it and I thanked them and it worked reliably ever since. Then I found I couldn't hit the side of a (proverbial) barn! Later, after cleaning it, I checked the chambers and found that their throats were almost non-existent.

So I traded it for another gun and was rid of it. Too bad, 'cause it was a beautiful gun. I would have loved to keep it, but geesh, quality control is important to me. If the heat treat of the hammer was off and if the chambers were oversize, how do I know the steel isn't soft?

I've missed that gun, but I just lost confidence in it. Being from Virginia, I really hoped it would be a great gun.

[Master Blaster 2]

When I shot 45Colt uncrimped bullets on cowboy ammo the bullet would pull the other rounds in My light weight Titanium Taurus 450 and jam it.
Easy fix was shoot silver tip ammo that is crimped. (I do not reload.)


Cold Steel I still have my Dragoon i got in 1977. Mine has been a great gun.

[kcub]

Ruger Super Black Hawk .44 new model

transfer bar stuck under the firing pin when you tried to cock it

stuck with old model Rugers ever since, nary a misfire since 1976

[amprecon]

Had the tip of the rotating pawl break off of our very new S&W 442, no longer own that piece.

[rodfac]

In 50 years of handgun shooting, from Southeast Asia to the hills of Kentucky, I've had exactly 3 revolver problems (a brand new S&W 637 that wouldn't rotate past the 4th round, a M-36 Smith that needed a new cylinder stop [but still fired], and an aged Ruger that I'd allowed lead build up to accumulate between the cylinder face and the barrel forcing cone) Smith made good on both of the short guns, and on their nickle too, and I cleaned up the Ruger post haste....

But I can't begin to number the times when automatics have failed to eject, smoke-stacked, failed to feed etc...all quality guns, mostly Colts, though I did have a Browning HP that wouldn't always feed, and a 1920 Luger that was a bit finicky...

For sheer reliability, it's the revolvers that I put my trust in, given an equal level of cleaning and maintenance. We're talking civilian and police use here, not wartime muddy trench conditions...for the latter, I'd prefer an original loose fitted WWll Colt or Remington-Rand 1911-A1. Can't speak for the Glock tribe...tho I've recently acquired a G19 and it's hiccup free for the first 500 rounds now. I'm slowly gaining respect for that ugly piece of plastic and steel. It's got guts that I had not suspected...Rod