So I have this original Ratzeburg Korth Sport in 22lr. I noticed that the cylinder doesn't rotate all the way when I try to fire the gun in double action. The cylinder does move but after a certain point it becomes incredibly stiff and I will just not be able to pull the trigger all the way in order to rotate the cylinder and fire.

This doesn't always happen but happens for some ammo, some of the time.

I am wondering for any Korth owners out there if you have a similar experience.

I am shooting Aguila Subsonic 22lr. Due to running out of my cci standards, I haven't had the chance to shoot them through my Korth.

If you have given it a thorough and complete cleaning, including brushing/cleaning under the extractor with an toothbrush to no avail, perhaps you could send Korth USA, or the headquarters an email explaining the problem.

If it's only happening on one cylinder I would suspect a problem with the ratchet associated with that particular chamber, or dirt/shooting debris at some critical location. Since I know absolutely nothing about Korth's function, this is pure speculation.

Korth-Waffen (Revolver)

Korth Waffen

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I did clean under the extractor pretty well.

So I did thoroughly clean the revolver and I went to the range. The first 40 rounds went without issue. Then the cylinder became harder to pull in double action until the trigger pull became too heavy for one finger. The cylinder does turn but it just gets harder to pull.

The problem isn't with a particular chamber either. It happens randomly.

I am not short stroking as I am slow firing, making sure the reset is complete before the next fire.

Single action works flawlessly; it is just the double action. I did reach out to Korth and they told me to completely disassemble the cylinder and clean it thoroughly. I have not done this as there is no instruction anywhere for me to follow and I don't want to ruin the gun.

If you are able to remove the cylinder assembly from the gun, perhaps you could soak (as in "dunk") it in a non-damaging cleaning solution, and then blow out with compressed air, or run it through an ultrasonic cleaner? This might get out some of the shooting debris you can't reach due to being unable to disassemble the cylinder. Or, perhaps Korth would be willing to supply instructions for disassembly of the cylinder

I would imagine the problem is directly related to a combination of the very tight tolerances, a build up of shooting debris, and heat during firing.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Dont fool with it send it out.

Are you at all familiar with Korths and do you have any idea how to remove a Korth cylinder?

I can just press the button to remove the cylinder assembly. But I don't have any idea how to remove the crane, the extractor start, etc from the cylinder. The guys are Korth was saying I should do a full disassembly.

https://uploads.strikinglycdn.com/fi....pdf?id=214017

This shows (I think) how to remove the cylinder.

Page 12.

As others have said, give it a good soaking in an appropriate cleaner.

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and what his trumpet saith

You didn't mention from which series was your Korth made?

Willi Korth was constantly refining his design, sometimes quite extensively. Each time he did, he began a new series. This is determined by the first two digits of your serial number.
The series began with 20, and all the ones up to about 30 are considered "early".
Often, there is a button in front of the trigger guard on the right side that is depressed to remove the whole cylinder assembly.

Read this:

the revolvers of willi korth - larvatus prodeo — LiveJournal

I hope you get your Korth running smoothly!

Jim

Dirty ammo build up?

Could simply be a issue of incompatible ammo. Tight chambers, along with slightly oversize brass cartridge casings? I have this issue with one of my S&W 18's. When clean, almost anything will load, but as it gets dirty, certain .22 ammo becomes harder to fully seat in the chamber. Said ammo, though it seems seated, is not, and increasingly drags on the recoil shield / breach face, making the cylinder increasingly harder to turn, especially in DA. Seems easier in SA because you have more leverage when you thumb cock the hammer.

Larry

It might be a good time to send the gun in to Nighthawk and have the whole revolver gone over. Nighthawk is authorized to work on the Ratzeburg models.