Sometimes when I close my cylinder in my S + W 640-1 I can turn it to the right a few turns before locks up with notch in the cylinder. To the left it locks right up.Is that normal?
Thanks Mike

What does "a few turns" mean, exactly?

Are you reporting that you can rotate the cylinder 360 degrees a few times after closing the gun, or that it skips past a couple of chambers before it locks? Either way, not good.

If you are closing the gun and the locking bolt happens to have fallen in between two chambers, then you have to rotate it to the next chamber before it locks, that's normal.

Yes....what Murdock said.....it should lock-up when it hits the first notch.

The rotation in the direction to fire the gun it locks into the notch every time. But the other direction it sometimes skips past the notch in the cylinder a couple turns when closing it before it locks into the notch.....sometimes??
Thanks Mike

Swing the cylinder out and with the hammer and trigger relaxed...press the cylinder-stop with your finger and see if it feels "springy". The cylinder should lock on the first rotation in either direction....unless something is worn, or there is an issue in the lock-work that has the stop bound or hanging. At least.....all of mine do.

In spite of what everyone above has said, this is perfectly normal. Because of the tapered stop notch lead-in the stop can easily skip past the sop notch when the cylinder is turned backward, it depends on how fast it is turned backward. If turned slowly the stop has time to drop into the notch. The entire purpose of the lead-in is to allow the stop to drop into the notch when the cylinder is turned the right way.

A challenge to everyone who says there is someting wrong. Close the cylinder of any S&W so the cylinder stop is betweeo notches, then try to spin (not turn slowly! the cylinder backward. Come back and, if you feel like being honest about the result, tell everyone what you discovered.

You are correct....you can "make" it do it and jump the latch if you spin it fast enough. It's just all in what the man meant. Turning it a few notches is what he said and that did not sound like spinning. I think everybody can be right. It all depends on if he is "spinning" or "turning".

YES, your right if I turn it slow it pops right in.
Thanks and Thanks to all who answered.
Mike

Well.....then you don't have a problem. TURN does not mean SPIN. It's like what the meaning of "is"....is, if you remember the Clinton years.

Good to hear you don't have an issue.