I bought this 1970's model 36 3" nickle revolver a couple of years ago. I don't shoot it a lot and always standard pressure ammo. Today I was shooting some Rem target loads, double action, and after two shots it locked up. I unloaded it to check the primers on the spent casings, then reloaded and it almost locked up again. It then fired 10 in a row.
The cylinder is nice and tight with very little play and it looks to be in excellent condition, it's a honey. It's also my wifes HD gun .....or was.

Is it time to see a gunsmith or retire my Chiefs Special and get a new snubby? Or better yet is their anything I can do?.... "for old times sake..."

Locked up?

How? Trigger or cylinder?

Did the fired cases show signs of primers backing out?

Did the gun function after being unloaded and reloaded with fresh ammo?

Did you reload with the same shells? Is it possible that the shells jumped crimp?

I've had that happen with a 642 before, with Selier and Beloit ammo.

Inspect the shells carefully.

1. Might need to clean/oil the cyl where it spins on the yoke.
2. Primers might have been seated high...will lock it up in a heart beat.
3. Ejector rod may have backed out and needs to be tightened.
4. The hammer rides on a pin...the pin might have cracked and needs replaced.

Thanks for the feedback.
The primers didn't back out.
The ejector rod is OK.
I do put a drop of oil where the cylinder spins.
I will check the pin the hammer rides on.
I felt like it was in the trigger mechanism.
I need to shoot it some more. To see if I can narrow it down.

Does it possibly need a tear down and complete cleaning and lube job?

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

If it is indeed in the trigger mechanism, and if nothing is broke, I bet a good detail cleaning might be the fix. I have bought two S&Ws in the last six months that have appeared almost pristine externally, that had very sluggish actions. Both had rust internally. I don't think either had ever seen a drop of lube internally. They weren't rusted bad, but just had little flecks of rust. Detail stripping and cleaning cured the problem. I did one myself, and paid my gunsmith $20 to do the other.

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Georgia On My Mind

Does it lock up when you dry fire?
My M67 from the same era does the same thing, but on a random basis and I have asked on the smithing part of the forum for help.
But the J and Ks have different works.

Sounds to me like it's time for a real deep cleaning. Time to pop the side plate (using a rubber mallet of course) and use a good carbon solvent that is nickel friendly. Those tiny springs and the little open areas fill with lint, oil, grease, and grit over the years.

All the answers here are correct, but before I opened it up I would check fit, check the ammo and then oil it...good. Work the oil in with a bit of dry fire, wipe and shoot it again. Oil / lube is not a substitute for cleaning, but the truth is that dirty, oily guns will almost always work better than clean but bone dry ones. I'm betting that the innards of that little M36 are dry...seen it many times. By all means, pop the sideplate and clean it well, but also use some good lube such as SLIP2000EWL before you button it back up.

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Run Fast, Bite Hard!

By George I think you've nailed it! I just did a detailed cleaning then added much more lubricant than I usually do. I practically dipped it in oil.
I haven't shoot it yet but if sure feels better. I cleaned out as much oil as I could and there is no oil in the barrel or cylinder bore.
I sure feel better. I was planning on buying a S&W snubby this weekend
but now I don't have to. Ya'll saved me a lot of money.

When it locked up, did the problem clear up with new bullets in the cylinder? Did it stay locked up after you unloaded it (on an empty cylinder?

If so, see if the bullets are coming unseated from recoil. If they protrude even a little bit from the cylinder, the cylinder will be too hard to rotate from the trigger alone. If they protrude a lot, you may have trouble opening the cylinder.

The 642 is a light gun, and some ammunition is crimped better than others, which contribute to this problem.

Powder and lead residue on the face of the cylinder is another common cause of cylinder jamming. Some ammunition fouls more than others, there may be a misalignment between cylinder and forcing cone, or a fouled forcing cone, leading to lead spatter on the cylinder.

The last thing I would suspect is the trigger, unless it happens in dry fire too.

I agree that your 36 is in need of a serious cleaning even if everything else checked out well. Clean the inside out thoroughly, then apply Militec-1 lube/conditioner to all of the innards using their directions. Then apply a some Militec-1 grease to ALL of the contact surfaces. Put the sideplate back on and cycle it a few hundred times. Feels like a professional trigger job afterwards for pennies. I do this to all of my S&W's when I buy em (you wil be surprized at all of the gunk inside) and swear by their product.

Good luck and keep us up on your progress.

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V/R
Roger / SG