Colt Trooper MK. III - Is it a Timing Problem?

[HighRez]

Just got my first Colt revolver, a beautiful Trooper III that appears to have been fired very little if any since it left the factory. When firing it for the first time yesterday I was doing most of the shooting single action. On several occasions the cylinder evidently rotated two chambers instead of one. At first I thought I had an ammo misfire, but when the cylinder was opened I found that the hammer had just struck an already fired primer and the live round had rotated past the firing position. I'm obviously thinking timing issue, but my question is can this be fixed by a relatively competent local gunsmith or do I need specialized help? Being my first Colt and after some research, I now understand that they are subject to timing problems, at least more so than S&W. True? Any help is appreciated.

Bob

[mapsjanhere]

Before you go off to the gunsmith, have you checked if your cylinder latch (the part that engages the notch on the outside of the cylinder) is moving freely? If the spring is weak or some dried up lubricant is slowing it down it might not engage quickly enough to prevent the cylinder from slipping past the next notch. A good soaking with oil might be all you need.

[Casimer]

You need to inspect the timing directly - i.e. retract and then release the hammer while watching the cylinder rotation and bolt engagement.

There's a revolver check-out procedure describe here that details what to do - http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57816

Like mapsjanhere mentions, it may be that the cylinder bolt/stop isn't rising to catch the cylinder notch, so with a little momentum, the cylinder rotates to the next notch. The dangerous thing, if this is the case, is that the cylinder might stop outside of a locked position, with the chamber offset on the breech. Firing from this position could be catastrophic. You should figure out what's happening before firing this revolver again.

[HighRez]

Thanks for the info guys. I performed the check as outlined in the procedure and everything checks out fine. Lockup is nice and tight. The cylinder bolt does not begin its travel until the trigger pull is well underway, and it pops back up with authority as it should. As I said before, all my shooting was single action and I believe I was thumbing the hammer back quickly and without a hesitation. Could cocking technique cause a potential problem? Thanks again.

Bob

[mapsjanhere]

It could be related, if you're manually cocking you're putting a lot more "kick" into the cylinder than if you're slowly pulling the trigger in double action. Since you're having a hard to reproduce problem you might have to have it inspected, as Casimer pointed out, if your gun goes off with the cylinder a 1/16" off center you might get some serious damage (I don't think catastrophic, there's a limit on how far you can be off and still hit the primer).